I say the same thing to my classes every semester.  Facts matter.  All of them.  In our purportedly free society (some restrictions apply- see the USA PATRIOT Act and Military Commissions Act for details) we should think our way to reasoned conclusions, not be cowed and manipulated by emotional pablum that spews from the corporate news media and politicians of either major party. As Mark Twain once said, “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as much as you please.”  Let’s try that- applied to the so-called Global War on Terror (GWOT) and the culture of fear that has been cultivated in America once again in the post-9/11 era. FDR once proclaimed that the only thing Americans had to fear was fear itself. It seems he was onto something there.

History provides important context in the present, and context, well, if not being everything, is certainly something to ponder.  That’s why censorship of key, relevant information in the media at present creates a lack of understanding about the real world that itself constitutes an actual threat to our fragile republic.  An uniformed public is a dangerous thing.  Ignorance breeds fear and a “follow the leader” mentality that lacks not only critical perspectives about the world, but further, lacks any integrity in terms of a legitimate democratic society. We should, therefore, pay more attention to history and the facts about America’s vulnerabilities and real potential threats.

Take the notion that Terrorism is alleged to be the biggest threat to American security.  Not economic collapse; not unilateral, preemptive wars that violate international law; not torture or the suspension of Habeas Corpus by our own government.  No, Terrorism is the number one threat, with its color-coded alerts and all.  Or is it?  For example, one has as much of a chance of drowning in one’s bath tub as dying in a domestic terrorist attack in the US.  Do we have a War on Personal Hygiene?  No.  Project Censored’s Peter Phillips recently wrote that more than 10 times the number of people die every day from starvation than died as a result of the 9/11 attacks.  Where is our War on Hunger?  This election season, Americans were once again treated to fear addled, terrorist pal around, commentary.  It’s time for perspective.

Of course, this in no way is meant to demean or make light of the human tragedy that was 9/11. Americans saw a very real threat on that day. All the more reason we as citizens should demand an actual fact-based, transparent investigation of what went on that day (but that’s a matter for another post).  However, when looking broadly at the human condition, and globally, perhaps we can put things into greater perspective so as to better determine policies to address the many ills and shortcomings of the modern world. As sociologist Barry Glassner argued before 9/11, Americans seemed to be afraid of the wrong things. Perhaps the same could be said of Americans after 9/11 as well. Read on…
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Ryan Singel at Wired magazine reminded us of this recently in a piece titled “One Million Ways to Die.”

Sept. 11, 2001 was undoubtedly one of the darkest and deadliest days in United States history. Al-Qaida’s attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center killed 2,976 people, and the country recoiled in horror as we witnessed the death of thousands of Americans when the towers fell.

In the five years since that shattering day, the government has spent billions on anti-terrorism projects, instituted a color-coded alert system that has never been green, banned fingernail clippers and water bottles from airplanes, launched a preemptive war on false pretenses, and advised citizens to stock up on duct tape and plastic sheeting.

But despite the never-ending litany of warnings and endless stories of half-baked plots foiled, how likely are you, statistically speaking, to die from a terrorist attack?

Comparing official mortality data with the number of Americans who have been killed inside the United States by terrorism since the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma reveals that scores of threats are far more likely to kill an American than any terrorist — at least, statistically speaking.

In fact, your appendix is more likely to kill you than al-Qaida is.

With that in mind, here’s a handy ranking of the various dangers confronting America, based on the number of mortalities in each category throughout the 11-year period spanning 1995 through 2005 (extrapolated from best available data).

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Sources: National Highway and Safety Agency (.pdf), National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 50, No. 15 (09/16/2002) (.pdf), US Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Insurance Information Institute.

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So, in conclusion…yes, we live in a dangerous world. So watch out for Johnny Law, Guns, Electrocution, Work, and Hernias.  It seems we should eat better, smoke and drink less, drive more carefully, and pay closer attention to what we are doing.  Let’s remember we are more at risk from elements in our local communities and personal lives, including current economic realities, than from any ready made boogie men terrorists.  We should all be smarter than that. Please act accordingly.