Thursday, March 7, 2013

"Code name: Irene." Black Hawk Down

America is afraid.

We are afraid on any number of fronts. Environmental, economical, warfare, political, financial, and safety. What makes us afraid? What is being done about it? And what's there to be afraid of?

The uncertainty that surrounds us is what makes us afraid. Not knowing, or expecting to change, is what drives the fear. And right now, we don't have a good vision for our country. There's no end in sight. Well, hopefully four years.

Americans need to feel safe and protected. We don't because the leadership of our country is doing a piss-poor job of that. The media is a horrible influence as well, constantly berating the fact that the sky is falling. Journalism used to be worthwhile, but we've constantly been attracted to sensationalism and yellow journalism.

Most of our fears are unfounded, only propagated through media and selected information sources. Things that unfold on the world's stage will not affect any of us directly. The tsunami from Japan. Not a big deal to the US, collectively. Deepwater Horizon. Huge impact on the Gulf states and a minority percentage of the US.

We fear because we don't know. And we have a "leader" who promised transparency. Yeah, good luck with that. Our next group of leaders will be required to be the ones who will make us feel safe.