Community | January 25, 2012 | 69 comments

Fear of Terror Makes People Stupid

source: http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/06/fear-of-terror-makes-people-stupid.html

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maasanova
Consider the following when debating the issue terrorism and why we need the Travel Suppression Agency (TSA)

***

Scientists note that fear of terrorism makes people stupid.

As I’ve repeatedly noted, FBI agents and CIA intelligence officials, constitutional law expert professor Jonathan Turley, Time Magazine, and the Washington Post have all said that U.S. government officials “were trying to create an atmosphere of fear in which the American people would give them more power”.

Indeed, the former Secretary of Homeland Security – Tom Ridge – admits that he was pressured to raise terror alerts to help Bush win reelection.

In the real world, as the National Safety Council notes:


– You are 17,600 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attack

– You are 12,571 times more likely to die from cancer than from a terrorist attack

— You are 11,000 times more likely to die in an airplane accident than from a terrorist plot involving an airplane

— You are 1048 times more likely to die from a car accident than from a terrorist attack

–You are 404 times more likely to die in a fall than from a terrorist attack

— You are 87 times more likely to drown than die in a terrorist attack

– You are 13 times more likely to die in a railway accident than from a terrorist attack

–You are 12 times more likely to die from accidental suffocation in bed than from a terrorist attack

–You are 9 times more likely to choke to death on your own vomit than die in a terrorist attack

–You are 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist

–You are 8 times more likely to die from accidental electrocution than from a terrorist attack

– You are 6 times more likely to die from hot weather than from a terrorist attack

(Moreover, the chair of the 9/11 Commission said that the attack was preventable).
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69 comments // Fear of Terror Makes People Stupid

  • Paratus
  • jubal
  • MotherForTruth
  • hoosierdaddy
  • Arizona_Huey
  • remanns
    • +1
      remanns  
    • hoosierdaddy:

      indeed. +^d.

      - - - nd poverty sure as hell dont help ; if you cant SEE better, you dont know better ; poor folk - WILL - think it makes sense to stand in line for a scrotum search -"safety first! ",.............BUSINESS "frequent fliers" want that "fast pass" available as soon as they can get it.

      grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ...............

    • 4 months ago
  • AreOh
    • -1
      AreOh  

    • The irony is that we are way more likely to be a victim of domestic terrorism from people that resemble the folks in picture accompanying this post than anyone else.

    • 4 months ago
  • BrushwithDeathToothpaste
  • maasanova
    • 0
      maasanova  
    • BrushwithDeathToothpaste:

      Yes, the media champions Israeli airport security because Israel is the most paranoid country on the planet thinking that everyone is an anti-semite or potential terrorist, of course they have ridiculously high levels of insane security.

      But why don't you ask the Palestinians and the other Christian and Muslim Arabs how they feel about Israeli security?

      They are clearly not the model to follow, but of course Israel is the one championing their own security and trying to sell it to the rest of the world to get on board with their brand of insane paranoia and fear of terrorism.

      It's mass insanity and it must be stopped or we will all be Palestinians soon.

    • 4 months ago
  • maasanova
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • BrushwithDeathToothpaste
    • +1
      BrushwithDeathToothpaste  
    • maasanova:

      What makes you think I want the Israeli model? I was simply asking if anyone knows any Israeli citizens, and what their thoughts are on security vs. freedom. If asking a question for a little real world feedback triggers a -3 response then thank you. Glad I struck a nerve.

    • 4 months ago
  • maasanova
    • 0
      maasanova  
    • BrushwithDeathToothpaste:

      I didn't say that you wanted the Israeli model although it did seem that you were promoting it as a viable alternative so sorry if that came off the wrong way.

      My only question is, why was the mainstream media promoting Israeli security so heavily? It was a obviously a Homeland Security/White House talking point after the Underwear bomber incident because I saw it being repeated everywhere.

      Why not promote Canadian airport security measures, or French airport security measures?

    • 4 months ago
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • tverdell
    • +1
      tverdell  

    • Here is what I don't understand.

      We say 'they hate us for our feedoms', 'freedom isn't free', ya da ya da ya da.
      Yet, we give up our freedoms with thunderous applause.

      I am a bit confused as to how we reconcile this. Doesn't this mean that we lost the war against Al CIAda? Didn't the terrorists get what they wanted?

    • 4 months ago
  • fiberbundle
    • +1
      fiberbundle  
    • tverdell:

      Let's look at history. At one time Europe was being "terrorized" by Vikings. Whether they liked it or not, the only successful way to repel vikings was to build fortified areas and retreat to them when necessary. This is how Alfred the Great protected his kingdom against the Danes. Pretending the threat doesn't exist or labeling the marauders as illegitimate is really not an effective defense.

    • 4 months ago
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • fiberbundle
    • +2
      fiberbundle  
    • Truthitswhatsfordinner:

      Maybe we can convert them from violent, unemployed disaffected and ignorant boys--- to educated, employed empathetic builders and family men, regardless of what, if any, religion they choose to practice.. . . But in reality what actually happens is one side exterminates the other, as you alluded. The Francs didn't gently persuade you to become a Christian---if you didn't they cut your head off.

    • 4 months ago
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • fiberbundle
    • +2
      fiberbundle  
    • Truthitswhatsfordinner:

      Another tidbit of history that relates to what you said about converting your enemy to your religion is the conversion of Mongol invaders to Islam. The Mongol attack on Baghdad 1in 1258 is widely believed to have ended the golden age of the Caliphs, yet a few centuries later many Turks were converted to Islam.

    • 4 months ago
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • cmc101
  • BrushwithDeathToothpaste
    • 0
      BrushwithDeathToothpaste  

    • Fear of government and faith in individuals to police themselves makes people stupid as well.

      I would be willing to see what would happen if security screens were removed. Go for it, I'm sure there is some sort of middle ground here, where we will only lose a few dozen people per year in exchange for less security. I just get sick of hearing how our government is not protecting us every time someone tries to light their shoes, underwear, bow ties, shampoo bottles, colostomy bags, etc on fire in an airplane. In order to check for these things, we have to scan and search even if that means the scan showed a false positive.

      BTW even with the security measures we have, over a thousand people a year attempting to board planes with guns. That bothers me more than terrorism. Security screens are not just for terrorists, they are also for "law abiding" idiots. Or at least that is what they claim when they are caught.

    • 4 months ago
  • noxidereus
    • +1
      noxidereus  

    • Absolutely! That is why those in power use this tool to control the people. There are lots of other things that make people stupid too and each and every one that they know about is employed.

    • 4 months ago
  • fiberbundle
    • +3
      fiberbundle  

    • "Terror" is too abstract a word. Substitute the words "sabotage" and "black ops". These are very effective techniques to achieve a goal. Wouldn't you defend against these types of attacks? Is that stupid? Remember someone is directing these attacks, they just don't spontaneously and randomly happen. Whistling in the dark is really no more of a defense than houses of straw or sticks. There are TWO kinds of stupid about terrorism.

    • 4 months ago
  • artemis6
  • warman1138
  • artemis6
  • Tyr
    • 0
      Tyr  

    • Like i asked in an earlier post, if there are two planes, one everyone gets checked the other one , nobody gets screened at all...which plane are you going to get on..by the way the unscreened one is a drone because there is no pilot in his right mind going to get in that coffin...

    • 4 months ago
  • thedirtman
  • noxidereus
    • +4
      noxidereus  
    • Tyr:

      I'd get on the one that was going to my destination. What is the big deal with planes anyway? What? Everyone is afraid of planes now just because planes were used on 9/11? It doesn't mean that planes are the only way to be killed. These fear tactics don't work on the intelligent. Sorry. There is no justification for these draconian security measures. OK fine we're "safe" on planes now -- so what about the literally infinitely large number of other ways a "terrorist" could kill you? Kind of blows an infinitely large hole in the justification for this nonsense, unless one wishes to have TSA agents follow everyone around with a finger up our asses 24/7!

    • 4 months ago
  • maasanova
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • Milieu
    • +1
      Milieu  
    • Image

    • With acknowledgements to Rod Serling:

      "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street

      Tuesday 22 February 2011

      by: Marty Kaplan | t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

      The power has gone out in a typical American town. Wait -- it's not just the electricity. The phones don't work, either. Portable radios are dead. Cars won't start.

      But then lawn mowers and cars and lights inexplicably start and stop on their own. What's going on? A meteor? Sunspots? Or are there, as Tommy's comic book suggests, aliens among us, preparing for a takeover? Suspicion poisons the air. Neighbor turns on neighbor. A scapegoat is blamed. A shot is fired. Panic, madness, riot.

      And while the humans behave monstrously, the real monsters watch from a nearby hilltop, working a little gizmo that messes with the power on Maple Street, and marveling how easy it is to manipulate these earthlings into destroying themselves.

      In what is arguably the best Twilight Zone episode ever, "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street," Rod Serling wrote a suburban Lord of the Flies, a parable about the fragility of civilization, paranoia and the susceptibility of nice folks to manipulation.

      Watching it when it first aired, in the depths of the nuclear arms race, people thought it was meant to ward off a witch-hunt for Reds under the bed. Today, watching what's been going on in Madison, Wisconsin, as well as in Washington, D.C., I can't help thinking that the real monsters are chortling at their success in pitting neighbor against neighbor, and I can't help marveling at their genius for distraction and unaccountability.

      The monsters aren't Wisconsin's public employees whose right to collective bargaining has helped their families lead middle-class lives, and who have repeatedly declared their willingness to return to the table and negotiate a shared sacrifice. The monsters are on Wall Street, where state pension funds were sunk into toxic sub-prime mortgage-backed securities. The monsters are on K Street, where lobbyists are fighting financial industry oversight. The monsters are the politicians who are using Wisconsin's deficit as a pretext to demonize public employees and bust their unions."

      continues at:
      http://archive.truthout.org/the-monsters-are-due-maple-street67972

    • 4 months ago
  • cmc101
  • kbshana
  • warman1138
  • artemis6
  • remanns
    • +2
      remanns  

    • p.s. - I am more interested in the issue of -

      HOW LIKELY am I to get the chance to cap a terrorist !?!

      I try to be a positivist.

    • 4 months ago
  • remanns
  • thedirtman
    • +4
      thedirtman  

    • Still, you are 1.5 times more likely to die from a terrorist attack than a dog bite.

      2 times more likely to die from a terrorist attack than an asteroid collision.

      6 times more likely to die from a terrorist attack than a fireworks accident.

      FYI

    • 4 months ago
  • cmc101
  • thedirtman
    • +1
      thedirtman  
    • cmc101:

      http://www.livescience.com/3780-odds-dying.html

      The risk of drowning, electrocution, and falling down is given in the article. Using the same data in the livescience article I calculated the risk of dying due to terrorist attack to be 1 in 100,000, and finally using the figures given in the article compared this data to those of dog attack, asteroid impact and fireworks discharge.

      I was hoping to find data on hangnail infections, but no such luck.

    • 4 months ago
  • cmc101
  • ThirdSection
  • bailey78
  • thedirtman
  • LivingPong
  • maasanova
  • dudefromtherock
  • letsliveinpeace
  • letsliveinpeace
  • letsliveinpeace
  • MSII
    • +5
      MSII  

    • The wrong-wingers have been expertly using hate and fear for the last few decades to manipulate and control. It's served them very well and their mad-agenda.

    • 4 months ago
  • MotherForTruth
  • MotherForTruth
  • Dagum
    • +9
      Dagum  

    • Excellent post. Mindless fear of the without-end war on terror has created something that people should truly be fearful of.

      Aside from the impending insane war with Iran, many Orwellian things are coming down the pipe line and are going to be the new "normal" domestically. The think tanks are putting out white papers that push to Federalize all local police and put them under the Department of Homeland Security.

      See: Former DHS chief Michael Chertoff's Aspen Institute Homeland Security Group
      http://www.aspeninstitute.org/sites/default/files/content/docs/pubs/HS-HPSCI-hea...

      Somewhere I saw a study that showed from WWII onward, how war changes policing. After every war the technology and tactics of warfare get sucked up by civilian police forces and applied to the American populace. Who are they really at war with?

    • 4 months ago
  • maasanova
  • maasanova
  • circlesquared
  • Vierotchka
  • letsliveinpeace
  • Anonmaly
  • TanzaniteDiamonds
  • maasanova
    • +5
      maasanova  
    • TanzaniteDiamonds:

      This bs about the phony threat of terrorism and this entire fake war on terror has reached Monty Python levels of absurdity.

      I've posted this a while back, but I thought it was time to revist the issue to try and promote some sanity with in the dialogue before all is lost.

    • 4 months ago
  • TanzaniteDiamonds
  • chew_chew
    • +6
      chew_chew  

    • "–You are 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist"

      Everyday, for me at least, it becomes more difficult to tell the police from the terrorists. They *are* different groups, right? At least, they were at one time, weren't they?

      Good post, maasanova.

    • 4 months ago
  • maasanova
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