Culture of Fear
I was reading thestar.com and I came across this headline: Prepare for pandemic, expert warns!!! (exclamation points added).
I started reading along and I came to this quote from Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Osterholm said:
"Frankly the crisis could for all we know have started last night in some village in Southeast Asia. We don't have any time to waste and even if we did have some time, the kinds of things we need to do will take years. Right now, the best we can do is try to survive it. We need a Manhattan Project yesterday."
I don't know how many of you watched Bowling For Columbine, but Michael Moore did a bit on how American news media is encouraging a culture of fear. Fear of this and fear of that -- fear of the Africanized bee that was supposed to attack and kill everyone. Fear of food, every day something we've been eating for years is now going to kill us: carbs, meat, cholesterol, sugar, caffeine, salt. Fear of Black people, I know the brothers can attest to this one.Now, fear of the pandemic. Some horrific influenza virus is going to lay waste to the globe, it'll be like the movie Outbreak... or SARS.
Gasp.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not being sarcastic because I don't believe that this won't happen. I'm not saying that a pandemic may not be in the future of humankind, but I'm am saying that I'm tired of people trying to scare me about every damn thing. Don't use solid deodorant, it causes breast cancer! Don't eat McDonalds, it'll turn your liver into fat! Don't perform on American Idol, Paula will sex you up!
Really *rolling eyes*.
Yes, most of these fears stem from fact. SARS could have killed off a big set of people -- it pretty much killed tourism to Toronto for a year or so, but we live in a place where news isn't news unless it scares the pants off of you. Don't drive through Malvern, you'll get shot! Toronto is rampant with gangs! Ray, ray, ray.
Don't get me started with Dateline, 20/20 and Primetime -- those shows will have you agoraphobic and scared to use your microwave.
This is all about exaggeration. Have you been attacked by an Africanized bee? I've been hearing about these bees since I was a wee child of five or six. You would think they would have reached Canada by now.
Let's put this into perspective: the world is a scary place, but you can't be scared of everything. All this fear is making us anxious and nervous and worried of every damn thing. Scared to travel -- you'll get Hepatitis C. Scared to meet new people -- dem could be axe murderers! Scared to go out late at night -- you could get attacked!
Come on, now.
Be cautious, but don't be an idiot. The news is not as factual or truthful as it would seem.
Now, stop shivering, come out from under your bed, put on some clothes and enjoy life.
posted by Urban Sista @ 12:36 PM
6 Comments:
didnt read that article but I've seen other media outlets hint that these pandemics occur every 30 years or so and we about due for one.
also been reading the new yorker series on global warming the past couple of weeks and its scary fa true
well if pandemics and global warming reaching its not like anything i do now can help it
I think people think that in order for mankind to ever take anything serious they have to be scared first.
fear just like controversy sells too i guess
Fear is a type of mind control; a form of manipulation.
But isn't that what The Man wants? To instill fear in as many people as possible, in as many ways as possible. That way, when the end is near, one guy can rise up and (falsely) claim he is the answer to all these problems and the giver of peace to the world.
But I have different theories on pandemics and other illnesses altogether. I'm pretty sure a lot of them are man-made and genetically engineered. But that's for another day.
^ Big N, I say it 'cause it's true.
When you have time, read up on the 'Net. Some of the things you'll see are shocking. It's not as crazy as some may lead you to believe.
Very few people in this world control the wealth and the real power. Illnesses and inadequate healthcare in many parts of the world are just another part of their game.
Mister Bachelor (http://www.thebachelorblog.com) says:
The American Media at minimum, promotes a culture of Socialism and loathing of the country that gave free press meaning.
Yeah Big N, recognize.
US, I'm glad I wasn't the only wondering 'a where di bees deh.'
Interesting fact: in a class I took at DevRyerson, we were discussing biases in the media. We were trying to figure out the parallels between "KILLER AFRICAN BEES"... but the more 'tame, gentle AMERICAN bees' won't sting you, is what the reporter said. Eediot ting dat.
Watch out for Black folks, was the underlying message. Anything Black/African is deadly! Kill ya! WATCH OUT!
chupse.
The media definitely tried to control people through fear, that is the truth. It just came out that all of those "terror warnigs" were bogus, just politically motivated.
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