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This is the absolute truth. However, what's interesting is that the world is still basically the same as 50 years ago in terms of safety. When I first went to

This is the absolute truth. However, what's interesting is that the world is still basically the same as 50 years ago in terms of safety. When I first went to school, my mother told me not to accept lollies, gifts or rides from strangers. The same fears existed, but people tempered those fears and kept paranoia in check. What has most probably changed is the social attitude which has become far more judgemental and much more intolerant. I've given a lot of thought to these social attitudes and I see today's society as closer to the Torch and Pitchfork scenes in Beauty and the Beast (think of the feminist attack on Matt Taylor by The Verge as one of many examples of extreme verbal aggression by the masses). This mob intolerance has become popular and frequent in the last 10 or so years.

ufmace 11y ago
Oh, absolutely. All of the numbers I've seen say that pretty much all kinds of danger are rarer than in the supposedly good old days. Yeah, there are some risks, but you take some reasonable precautions and get on with life instead of trying to reorganize society around reducing every risk to zero. The media and political classes just creates an environment where it seems more dangerous for their own benefit. People who are constantly afraid buy more newspapers/click more news links and will vote to reduce their own rights. All the better if the dangers are essentially imaginary - the gravy train can keep running without worrying about figuring out something to do that actually solves the problem, or the problem going away once it's solved.