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Spoon-fed fear keeps American public cooperative |
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Tuesday, 05 June 2007 |
As I walk the streets of New York City, where I am currently spending my summer completing an internship, I can’t help but think about the emotional recovery after Sept. 11.
For the most part, New Yorkers go about their normal business each day, seeming to have little worry about the possibility of another attack.
However, a glisten of concern is evident every once in a while.
Last week, as I ran by the Hudson River on the West side of Manhattan, a low-flying plane flew overhead.
Now, planes typically draw a glance or two in any circumstance, but one
has to wonder if, in this one, concerns of a second Sept. 11 flashed
through the minds of onlookers.
I found myself thinking about it at that moment, and I was not even a resident of New York City on that horrifying day.
It is this constant state of fear that Americans are subjected to
whether they live in New York City or the High Country region of North
Carolina.
It’s how we are convinced to buy things – everything from a new vacuum
cleaner that won’t eat the edge of our carpet to the reason we need to
be in Iraq.
Our government feeds it to us each day thanks in part to the
implementation of the Homeland Security Advisory System – the
color-coded alert system that rates the risk of a terrorist attack.
I am not sure what events cause the perceived risk to become more severe, but it seems to change on a whim.
Earlier this week, we were at a code yellow – or an “elevated” risk level.
According to the Department of Homeland Security’s Web site, this means there is a “significant risk of a terrorist attack.”
It seems a little too convenient that with this rating system, so much
fear can be instilled in the American public simply because the
government decides we need to be “code orange” today.
Is it this fear propaganda that is also keeping plans for a new building at the Ground Zero site from being realized?
Is that why the buildings surrounding the area have not yet been repaired – almost 6 years later?
I understand and do not disagree that it is important to remember the lives lost on that horrific day.
However, how many years must go by before the American public is allowed to move on?
For the most part, New Yorkers have moved on.
The threat of another attack is real every day, but it doesn’t stop
residents from riding the subway, going to work or living on this
magnificent island.
I live in New York without fear of terrorism or violence. I live here
to enjoy the excitement and array of activities this city offers.
It is time for Americans to stop living in fear and start living in the present.
For a country that fights so adamantly for freedom for all, the one we
may be forgetting to exercise ourselves is the right to choose when and
of who to be afraid.
We need not let the slim chance of a terrorist attack in our town
overwhelm our ability to enjoy the wonderful things that happen in
everyday life – the things that are not only more common, but are also
more conducive to achieving overall happiness.
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