Security

Life is a risk, so security is relative and never an absolute. In this way, we need to weigh the benefits of additional security against the costs.

There is a condition called agoraphobia, the fear of open spaces or crowded places. By staying home, one doesn’t risk the dangers in the outside world, but one gives up a great many opportunities as a result. Almost all of us agree that the benefits of stepping out of our house are worth the risks.

In the same way, we can never be totally secure, so we must be willing to take some risks. We know that there are dangers around us all the time, but we do not let fear control us. Driving or riding in a car is a highly dangerous activity. In the year 2002, over 42,000 people died and almost 3,000,000 were injured in car accidents, just in the United States. Even with these huge numbers of deaths and injuries, we still travel in cars, not thinking twice about the danger. But, if our leaders decided to have a “War on Cars” and the news media had hourly reports about people getting killed in car accidents, then the auto industry would go bankrupt because everyone would be too scared to drive. That was what happened to the airline industry after 9/11. 

The Patriot Act was a knee-jerk reaction that promotes fear, not security. The goal was to emphasize the danger of terrorism, in order to gain support for the invasion of other countries. The George W. Bush cabinet wanted control of Iraqi oil back in the Bush senior presidency, and 9/11 was an opportunity they decided to exploit (see 9/11). Now that we have control of Iraqi oil, the Patriot Act will continue to be used to promote the political agenda of the neo-cons (see Neo-cons). The neo-cons will continue to use fear, as that is their way of manipulating the American public (see Fear, Propaganda).

Security, to feel safe, is a basic human need (see Human Needs). But we must realize that we can never be totally safe and secure. We need to spend our tax dollars wisely, and not be driven by fear. To live intelligently means that we must be willing to tolerate a reasonable amount of risk.