Internal insecurity

Raleigh, NC

I haven’t been watching much television lately. I switched on the TV a few days back, tuned in to channel 29 which is CNN here and the first news story was about nuclear security. Fear mongering about how much nuclear material is out there and why you must be worried.

If I go by what CNN says, and make a list of things I should worry about, then the list would be unending. By the time I reach the end of the list, I would not know what to worry about first anymore. Discussions about national security seem to be less about national security and more about internal insecurity.

National security, finance, stock market, health and for that matter anything else. Everything seems to be driven by “sentiment”. I understand that humans are driven by emotions but is there no place for logic in our reactions? A cursory look at history would reveal that lot less people are dying today of diseases or war. USA has faced far more serious military, economic and health disasters than any conceivable problem or threat it faces today. So why this heightened anxiety and the illogical responses to them?

The richer we get, the lesser we seem to have the ability to handle adversity. Sometimes I feel like running away from this all. From this breaking news cycles, from the madness of sanitizers being installed in every nook and corner of my office because of the H1N1 scare, from draconian laws being implemented in the name of national security. Sometimes, I just feel like going some place far from this fear, anxiety and negativity.