4 ms·
It depends on who you ask. The narrative here is of precarious terror. Other people will have a different story. Seattle attracts a lot of people, and they oft
by pnathan 10y ago
It depends on who you ask. The narrative here is of precarious terror. Other people will have a different story.
Seattle attracts a lot of people, and they often have sticker shock because they didn't do enough research. And, a lot of people feel entitled to live in the hippest neighborhoods very cheap.
That said. The writer needs to contextualize this. In 2001, the year I went to college, the Twin Towers fell and a plane crashed into the Pentagon: being someone who had read some history, I was sure that day that, attackers being intelligent, a wave of guerilla attacks would go off against major military and civilian targets. Surprisingly, that didn't happen.
In 1983, deep fear of the USSR was playing out.
In 1974, the US was in Vietnam. Many people were dying constantly, and it was on the TV nightly.
In 1968, campuses rioted. Bewilderment set in over the nation.
In 1961, the Soviets/East Germans put up the Berlin Wall.
In 1948, the Cold War started.
In 1939, WW2 started.
In 1932, FDR became president, in a profound economic situation far worse than what we've seen since.
I could go on. The future is scary. But since it happens regardless of our personal choices, our best bet is to keep a stiff upper lip, our chin up, and wade into the stream, keeping a weather eye out to maximize our luck surface.
- narrator 10y agoGoing by the numbers, terrorism is a really unlikely way to die. Most people on HN are likely to die from heart disease, cancer, or medical mistakes in that order. The most likely cause of death for a person before the age of fifty is a prescription drug mistake, suicide, or dying in a car crash.
- stillsut 10y agoDepends on your denominator. For example, WTC was bombed in the 90's but it didn't fall down. Lightning doesn't strike twice but terrorism does as it seeks out theatric and thematic targets in well known areas. So I wouldn't use the all 300 Million Americans as a denominator, more like those who work/visit iconic locations events e.g. Nice on Bastille day. Also depends if being Jewish is relevant [not counting Israel] and if you frequent Kosher grocery stores, and synagogues, in which case the denominator is again much lower. Also depends if being actively Gay - nightclubs, parades, etc is part of your style. Again much smaller denominator means the proportion of untimely death is much higher. Finally, there's the equivalent risk assesment of how many people in the US have been killed by a Tsunami? The answer is none...so far but it's not impossible in the future for an order or two of magnitude greater fatalities due to terrorist attack, e.g. a whole stadium full.
- codingmyway 10y agoAs someone in Europe I just don't understand the level of fear among Americans who are in the safest position probably of any population ever. Is it just media bias? If I lived in eastern Europe any where near Turkey right now I'd be more afraid.
- pnathan 10y ago> As someone in Europe I just don't understand the level of fear among Americans who are in the safest position probably of any population ever. Is it just media bias? No. People really are that afraid. I don't know why.
- nickbauman 10y agoFear is a powerful political tool. If you can make people afraid, you can control them. Daesh knows this. Governments know this. Media knows this. The antidote is: 1. Practice information hygiene. Who is saying it? How do they benefit in making you afraid? What are the opposing viewpoints? Where is the evidence? 2. Be aware of cognitive biases. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases 3. Know history (this is especially hard for Americans). At least the history of the issue at stake.
- ethbro 10y ago> Fear is a powerful political tool. If you can make people afraid, you can control them. I don't think that's the whole of it though. A large part of the American media / news system is still profit driven -- I'd say a large enough part to swamp editorial intent if the two butt heads. It seems to me another explanation for the evidence is that people like being afraid.
- nickbauman 10y agoPeople like being afraid because it creates an instant social bond with others who fear the same. It's probably the fundamental foundation for religion.
- keithpeter 10y agoUK: 1968 to somewhere around 1997 we had a 30+ year 'emergency' with various well-funded para-military organisations operating in Northern Ireland mainly but also the UK. We got through it. The chances of dying as a result of an 'ordinary' murder were always around 30 times higher than dying in a terrorist attack. And both were vanishingly rare. General: house prices. Just build more ffs. I've been reading Robert Caro's multi-volume biography of Johnson. He writes somewhere about the US political process eventually mirroring the desires of the population (I suspect in the third and fourth volume where Civil Rights feature). Just keep going for the politics you want.