The idea of a State of Fear is quite intruiging, and looking at the current condition of the media, I would have to say that the United States is in one. There are programs constantly aired announcing the newest deadly plague or condition afflicting the masses. And no matter how much the authorities do, it never seems to be enough. People are in a constant danger of something they can't see, and maybe can't stop themselves. The only thing to do is prepare ahead and hope like hell nothing too bad happens. And once the current threat is gone or lowered to an acceptable level, suddenly a new one springs into existence. SARS, and the Avian Flu are both examples of diseases from the other side of the world, yet they became a massive topic stateside, with people fearing the worst. The true impact was quite minor, in comparison.
In the book, the example of how the Berlin Wall fell, and suddenly global warming was a huge problem, is a perfect example. Until the issue is resolved, there won't be another big calamity needed, though I wouldn't be surprised if five or more are sitting in reserve. Just in case.
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I absolutely agree with your assessment. In addition take Swine flu for example. There has been this huge out poor of fear over the swine flu. Mostly brought on by the media. Watching your news you here about every cause of Swine Flu, that resulted in a death. It was big news when the first recordable death for Texas took place right here in Houston. If I am not mistaken, it was a school teacher. So now there is a mass state of fear about the Swine flu. At the present moment Congress was banking off of this State of Fear because it only reinforced their free Health care bill. They were loving it, now they had a direct reason to push their bill even further. OK, back on subject. Not much was known about the Swine flu, but in a matter of months they had the cure all vaccine for it. Ironic thing about all this was that thousands of people die every year from the common Flu, but that wasn't reported. What was reported were the many of deaths from the Swine flu that never reach 100. Like I said, State of Fear. Brought on by the media and reiterated by the Government.
ReplyDeleteGood points. I think that it is often overlooked that the media is often times a ratings game. People often view the media as this neutral unbiased entity that is just thier to keep people informed. However, they get bonuses and awards based upon the ratings that their stations draw. So if we can hype up this particular event and dramatize it, we can successfully keep the public's attention drawn to us. I remember after Hurricane Rita and Katrina there was alot of talk about the TV weather forecasters being dramatic and overreacting to every little storm in an effort to play off the fears of another major hurricane. I remember not paying much attention to it, until one morning I turned on the news and a local reporter was tossing himself all over the place and screaming into the camera that the storm was "just brutal" and that "I can barely stand". It was merely raining, and there was no wind.(The tree in the background was not even swaying.) Then the reporter "fought" his way over to a citizen on the street and asked him "why are you out in this weather, risking your life?" THe guy looked at him in the most annoyed way and was like Dude, it's just raining! All of a sudden the camera pans away from the citizen really quick and the reporter starts stammering. Priceless. Guess next time they need to provide a script to make sure they get the answer they wanted.
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