What exactly are you protected from?
There is this ongoing narrative that the world has somehow become this mad and dangerous place, and that we require someone to take charge and restore “safety” and “security” to our lives. It is common to see signs during rallies that read “Make America Safe Again.”
Is it possible to have too much college education? Because of a decrease in teen pregnancy? Seriously, what are you protecting yourself from? What in the name of God do we need to be protected from?
Violent crime has reached an all-time low, international wars have reached an all-time low, domestic violence has plummeted, drunk driving-related deaths have declined steadily, infectious disease deaths have declined steadily, and the child mortality rate has reached an all-time low, among other achievements. You’re more likely to be killed by a piece of furniture than you are to be killed by a terrorist strike, statistics show.
So, what are you trying to keep us safe from?
It appears that this feeling of insecurity is universal, even if it is expressed in a different language. When it comes to protecting us, politicians talk about the need to escalate the fight on terror — which is an oxymoron for anyone who has been awake for the last 15 years.
And yet, just in my lifetime, I’ve witnessed: two foreign invasions and four wars, half a dozen Middle Eastern governments toppled, 9/11, two stock market crashes and the worst global recession in the last 85 years, a genocide in Europe, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and one OJ Simpson car chase — and yet, these people believe that we are living in the most chaotic and dangerous period in recent memory.
In these modern times, it appears that there is a pervasive sense that the world is about to go insane. Despite this, by all objective measures, the world is arguably the sanest and safest it has ever been in human history.
There is nothing except negativity in the air.
Because, like you and, it seems, everyone else, I’ve had the impression that the world is spinning out of control and that there is nothing we can do to stop it from happening. After reading all of the news reports about shootings, attacks and bombings, as well as the steady stream of horrific events that are taking place around the world, I’m fatigued. As a result of the seemingly constant carnage occurring throughout the globe, which is shown live in color by the 24-hour news cycle, I, too, have become desensitized and disheartened.
Due to the fact that this sensation is fresh and distinct to me, my immediate assumption is that the world must be in much worse shape than it has previously been. After all, I haven’t felt this way in ten or twenty years, and it wasn’t like this before. So it’s safe to assume that things have become worse.
However, the world is not getting any worse. It’s just that we’re more conscious than ever before of all of the negative aspects of our lives. In the words of Ta-Nehisi Coates, “the violence is not new; what is new is the presence of cameras.”
The worst type of social media programming is
Cameras, the internet, and, most crucially, social media are all available to us nowadays. This is the latest development. This is what distinguishes us. It is crucial to understand how we obtain information, what information is delivered to us and, most critically, what knowledge and viewpoints we are most rewarded for expressing. The nasty and aggressive algorithms of social media generate profits for companies at the price of promoting a “healthy” community, according to the report.
When it comes to the information economy, people are rewarded for acting in extreme ways. For indulging their darkest prejudices and fanning the fears of others, they are rewarded with higher salaries. In exchange for portraying the world as a place on fire, whether it’s because of homosexual marriage, police violence, Islamic terrorism, or low interest rates, they receive a monetary reward. Apocalyptic ideas are praised and disseminated on the internet, and reason and moderation are seen to be too tedious and monotonous to be tolerated.
As a result, we are constantly reminded of every flaw and fault in our humanity, which, combined with an overabundance of doomsayers and self-righteous nihilists commanding our attention space, is what is creating this constant feeling of being trapped in a chaotic and insecure world that does not actually exist.
Afterwards, it is this emotion that is at the root of the recent resurgence of anti-Semitism and nationalism across the western world. Insecurity and disorder are fueling the rise of divisive strongmen with ‘autocratic’ ambitions, and it is this emotion that is lighting their political platforms. Many individuals have become captivated by this sensation, which has lead them to view their country through the lens of a fun-house mirror, exaggerating all that is wrong while downplaying everything positive.
The entire planet has gone insane.
Babylon has served as a golden cup in the Eternal’s hand, bewitching the entire planet. It is true that the countries drank her wine, and this is why they have gone insane.”
Which brings me to my second point of contention: the reality that people today, while living in greater safety and wealth than any other time in human history, believe the world is going insane and that something radical must be done to alter it.
But, in reality, it isn’t simply them. It’s the two of us. We’re completely out of our minds. As individuals, we have all been swept away by the tide of negativity, and we are prepared to demolish the basic foundations upon which the most successful civilizations in human history have been constructed.
But why is this so? What caused this to occur? And how can we put a stop to it?
