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Hysterical America: Terrorized by Guns and Tobacco
Fear is a perfectly healthy and normal human response that comes in handy when reading the environment for clues and successfully navigating reality. But just casting an eye over some of the crazy stories making the news these days, it’s clear that as a society our fear response is completely out of whack with reality.
Reports this week from the U.S. about a ten year old Alexandria boy being arrested and taken into custody for bringing a toy gun to school, a Philadelphia fifth-grader threatened with same for making a ‘paper gun’ in class, a whole school into full panic station mode because a 12-year-old student in the Bronx was overheard talking about his toy gun, and a 7-year-old suspended from his Denver school for throwing an ‘imaginary grenade’ during class recess are but a tiny sample of hysterical reactions to non-existent threats that indicate society is seriously on edge.
These over-the-top reactions in turn cause real trauma and fear-based responses. As one commentator put it, “administrators are terrorizing and traumatizing students because of a national media panic and their own incompetence.” It’s not just happening in schools; it’s happening all across society. We’ve come to accept that smoking is banned on all commercial aircraft, but does that make it in any way reasonable? Smoking is now banned in many public places, ‘mandatory licenses’ for smoking are under consideration and ‘Obamacare’ and other legislation will covertly and heavily penalise smokers.
Why is it that society has quietly surrendered its rights, one step at a time? The authorities tell us it is to protect us from the scourge of terrorism, guns and tobacco. Then why is it that the more heavily they clamp down on these ‘evils’, the more hysterical and terrified people become? With people feeling less safe, less secure and more stressed than ever, it seems that the very things the authorities claim to be doing ‘for the good of all’ are in fact detrimental to all.
Jason Martin and Laura Knight-Jadczyk will be joining us for another lively discussion this week. We also want to hear from YOU about your ‘Twilight Zone’ experiences and your take on TSA ‘pat-downs’, government overreach and general societal madness.
We go live on air this Sunday February 10th 2013, from 7-9pm UTC (11am-1pm PST, 2-4pm EST, and 8-10pm CET), so join us then!
Hysterical America: Terrorized by Guns and Tobacco
Fear is a perfectly healthy and normal human response that comes in handy when reading the environment for clues and successfully navigating reality. But just casting an eye over some of the crazy stories making the news these days, it’s clear that as a society our fear response is completely out of whack with reality.
Reports this week from the U.S. about a ten year old Alexandria boy being arrested and taken into custody for bringing a toy gun to school, a Philadelphia fifth-grader threatened with same for making a ‘paper gun’ in class, a whole school into full panic station mode because a 12-year-old student in the Bronx was overheard talking about his toy gun, and a 7-year-old suspended from his Denver school for throwing an ‘imaginary grenade’ during class recess are but a tiny sample of hysterical reactions to non-existent threats that indicate society is seriously on edge.
These over-the-top reactions in turn cause real trauma and fear-based responses. As one commentator put it, “administrators are terrorizing and traumatizing students because of a national media panic and their own incompetence.” It’s not just happening in schools; it’s happening all across society. We’ve come to accept that smoking is banned on all commercial aircraft, but does that make it in any way reasonable? Smoking is now banned in many public places, ‘mandatory licenses’ for smoking are under consideration and ‘Obamacare’ and other legislation will covertly and heavily penalise smokers.
Why is it that society has quietly surrendered its rights, one step at a time? The authorities tell us it is to protect us from the scourge of terrorism, guns and tobacco. Then why is it that the more heavily they clamp down on these ‘evils’, the more hysterical and terrified people become? With people feeling less safe, less secure and more stressed than ever, it seems that the very things the authorities claim to be doing ‘for the good of all’ are in fact detrimental to all.
Jason Martin and Laura Knight-Jadczyk will be joining us for another lively discussion this week. We also want to hear from YOU about your ‘Twilight Zone’ experiences and your take on TSA ‘pat-downs’, government overreach and general societal madness.
We go live on air this Sunday February 10th 2013, from 7-9pm UTC (11am-1pm PST, 2-4pm EST, and 8-10pm CET), so join us then!
