It's really hard for me to stay current with modern fears because I seem to have this backlog of scary things that I just haven't gotten around to. I can't really worry about swine flu right now when I haven't finished being scared about Anthrax, SARS, bird flu, and global warming. Those are in addition to my ever present fears about cancer, getting old or sick in America, the general failing of our education system, and my penis falling off. So for now swine flu, or whatever they're trying to call it, is just going to have to wait until I can sort through the others. They were thrown in my face first.
Originally when it first broke to all the various media outlets the number of cases was in the triple digits. Be afraid because it's spreading so fast! Then about three days later it was corrected when the CDC said it was more likely less than twenty. Twenty people are sick out of 6.5 billion and I'm supposed to be afraid of this why? I'm not saying I disbelieve the seriousness of swine flu, but it's a cold. Sure it's not fun to get sick and there's a chance you could die from it, but is the chance really any greater? Since April there have been 4013 deaths from swine flu, which may seem like a lot. When you compare it to the number of people who had verified cases of the virus it's a small fraction. Annually there are 440,000 smoking related deaths and about 1.2 million people die in car crashes. The number of people who have died from swine flu so far comes out to less than 1% of the people who will die from smoking. In comparison to auto accidents it's so small it's not really even a number anymore. The CDC has even said that while the virus was serious, cases worldwide are typically mild. Hospitalization and death has been from people with other underlying conditions.
Problem is even knowing this I can't help but feel a slight twinge of fear. The other day I was out and someone had the sniffles. I felt uncomfortable around them and every time they'd snort I'd shudder. My mind was picturing the little viruses jumping from their snot and raping my immune system. I can see why the zombie genre is so popular. It's just our fear of other people. You're still you and technically they're still people, but they're mindless and herd together into this seemingly unstoppable wave of humanity. If you're not careful, you'll become one of them. One of the infected. That's how people are starting to look at each other. Going onto Amazon.com and buying masks and gloves so they can stay "clean" for a little while longer. I got news for you people. Even if they find a vaccine for swine flu that they can get out to everyone who wants it, there will be another virus tomorrow. They haven't cured the common cold because it's constantly evolving. And we're making them stronger. We can't keep dodging the bullet on the real super virus. Eventually something will come along that we should be afraid of, but we'll all be so numb to the every day crap that we won't even see it coming.
A couple years ago there was a movie called Civic Duty. It's really just a modern take on Rear Window. A regular guy has lost his job and spends way too much time looking at his neighbor, who he is convinced is a terrorist. Much like Rear Window you're not entirely sure what's going on until the end. Is he just another person who has been caught up in the blitz of fear? Even if he's telling the truth, who's going to believe him? It was a great example of how we're afraid of our neighbors. What's going on behind those closed doors?
So what's the point of all this fear? Are we supposed to be distracted by all the things that could get us so we don't see what's going on elsewhere? Sometimes I feel like an audience member watching a magic show. You're forced to focus on something small and don't realize the real threat. That's not to say these issues aren't important, but think of it this way. You wake up in the morning, your paint's peeling, your curtains are gone, and your water is boiling, which problem do you deal with first? None of them. The building is on fire. They've got us worrying about our curtains. You want something to really be scared of. Any society is about three missed meals away from anarchy. If we ever lost our ability to provide food for everyone you'd see just how terrifying other people can be.
If you weren't afraid before, you just haven't been paying attention...to the right things
