Nothing to fear

Americans should be scared of bathtubs. \nThat’s right. The seemingly innocent and inanimate basin that has always peacefully rested in your bathroom is a serious threat ... or at least as serious as terrorism. In fact, the chances that you’ll drown in your bathtub are greater than the odds of you being killed in a terrorist attack. \nAnd yet the American political climate and the prevailing mood revealed in polls would have you believe otherwise. While terrorism is a serious problem that certainly cannot be overlooked, the lack of a major terrorist attack in the past seven years paints a different picture from the one of fear and negativity that Americans tend to see – governments, working together, can effectively inhibit the efforts of extremist groups. \nFor example, Fareed Zakaria wrote in the May 12 issue of “Newsweek” that lately, Islamic jihadists have been put on the run, forced to scatter and work locally in small units with undetectable weapons while multiple governments worldwide successfully track them and their money.\nThis is a major example of the prominent attitude of doubt, insecurity and general pessimism that has emerged recently among Americans. In fact, 82% of Americans say that the U.S. is seriously off on the wrong track, which is just one point lower than the record in 1973. But while the overall attitudes and views of Americans are becoming more and more obvious, their underlying causes are a little more difficult to pinpoint. In actuality, the threats that we face today are relatively tame in comparison to threats we perceived in the late 20th century, such as the spread of Communism and its corollary effects.\nToday, such needless worry can be found anywhere from the Department of Homeland Security’s color-coded risk assessment (which hasn’t dropped below yellow or “elevated risk” in recent memory) to expert publications. \nOne such document, written by a group of 200 senior government officials and business executives, many of who are knowledgeable on security and terrorism, said that a major terrorist attack using weapons of mass destruction occurring before 2004 was “likely.” \nAnd we ill-advised citizens naturally picked up this habit of cynicism as we slowly discovered that there were no weapons of mass destruction and that the war wouldn’t actually be over in the short amount of time that many top officials predicted. \nIn reality, the world is becoming a much safer place; levels of global violence have returned to the low levels experienced in the 1950s. In fact, Steven Pinker, a polymath professor from Harvard, has stated that we are currently experiencing “the most peaceful time of our species’ existence.” Yet our skepticism prevents us from letting reality shape our worldview. We are letting this cynicism spread to our general mood about America and allowing this perceived omnipresent terrorist threat to get us down. \nAmericans need to return to optimism and the belief that “Yes, we can.” And a little honesty from the administration every now and again wouldn’t hurt.