Terrorism. Crime. Pollution. The French. The Middle East. The Arab. The inner-city youth. Your neighbor's dog. Your neighbor. Mosquitoes. Toronto. Diet drugs. Fast food. Illegal narcotics. Cigarettes. Socialism. Universal health care.
These are all things to be afraid of in America these days. Not an all-inclusive list obviously, but representative of our society. It's impossible to read the newspaper or turn on CNN without confronting something new of which to be afraid. If it isn't a new terrorist threat or the latest murder on our streets, the government is raising the Official Threat Level to neon pink, telling you that instead of a 15 percent chance of death today, it's 25 percent. When meteorologists can predict the weather accurately, I'll take Tom Ridge seriously.
Fear is the most pervasive emotion in our society. It's everywhere. We lock our doors because of fear. Watch our kids because of fear, bomb innocent civilians because of fear. Don't believe me? We attacked Iraq because they might someday attack us. We were afraid they'd do it one day, so we acted now. The same way we add locks to our doors and put guns under our pillows, because someday, somebody might decide to hurt us. And by God we're going to be ready. That is if we haven't killed or locked them away already.
Suburban people are afraid of everything urban. They equate the very word with murder and the drug trade. "Go into the city at night? Are you crazy? You'll be shot!" In reality you can walk down almost any street in any city with little to no problems. But all the suburbanites know about the city is what they see on the news. Murders and crime are everywhere, and God help you if you decide to enter that place of filth and decay. The public becomes sheep, much like days past when preachers used fear to control their congregations. There is no difference in reaction, just a different source.
This fear has been manipulated to the extreme for financial gain by those in power. President George W. Bush is using it to do his best to ride to another term. Entire industries capitalize on our fear. The home security business is booming, as is the gun trade. We are all eager to quell those little fears in our minds, all eager to trade our freedoms for a little extra security, a little extra safety.
This is what separates us from the rest of the world - not our success, but our fear. Other nations don't fear their neighbors or their cities. They don't shun the poor, hoping they go away. We claim to be a religious people - and statistically we are - but we hardly are by action. What would Jesus do? He'd help his neighbors, give all he could to the poor. He most certainly wouldn't live in the suburbs with a Lexus, oblivious to everything outside his town.
Drugs are another thing we're told to be afraid of. Marijuana is equated with the devil, yet it's less damaging than alcohol - a legal substance - could ever hope to be. Why? There are no marijuana companies filling the coffers of political campaigns. Our politicians make a very large sum by simply ignoring the truth. Drug companies play perhaps an even larger role. They know a large percentage of their profits come from non-prescribed uses of their drugs, and as long as marijuana remains illegal they will continue to reap those large profits.
When fear controls you, you lose every time. People who let fear dictate their actions and spending habits end up locked in their own house clutching their firearms for comfort. Our fear has led to millions of innocent deaths around the world. It has led to countless deaths in this nation as well.
It's time to stop the fear. No more nightlights and no more laser-guided bombs that land on civilians. Take a walk in the city, in the places you're told to stay out of. You'll see everything is exaggerated. There is money to be made from your fear, and it's exploited every single day. Wake up, and walk in danger.
