The post-earthquake tsunami devastation in Japan has developed into a tragic situation. They continue discovering more fatalities, and the number of missing people could increase the death toll significantly. Because of the impact of the wall of water, a number of nuclear power plants have malfunctioned. The issue is compounded by the fact that electrical power has been knocked out for much of the nation near the power sites, and the coolers for the systems have stopped running. News media have been awash with stories and predictions of pending doom for the Japanese, Hawaiians, Alaskans and other U. S. West Coast residents and Western Canadians.
Radiation poisoning is no laughing matter. Neither is the ingestion of any type of harmful chemical or substance whether natural or synthetic. Getting run over by a bus or drowning after an overloaded ferry capsizes are equally unpleasant ways to meet one’s end. Rusty nails, kitchen tools and power tools have the potential for deadly harm, and carbon monoxide can be sleepily fatal if one is in a confined space. Vicious animals, evil people and “wrong place, wrong time” accidents contribute to the untimely demise of people rather frequently. Risky situations and deadly circumstances surround us, but we must go on. The mass media’s obsession with hysterically identifying every source of mortality, and the government’s purported desire to protect us from ALL of them…are unhealthy for us. Fear is distracting, and morbid fear is paralyzing. Wanting to live, and being afraid to die are two radically different attitudes. The desire to survive is natural and instinctive. The fear of death limits one’s potential for living.
When government and media informally conspire to “gin up” threats to our well-being, their well-meaning actions can result in a fearful public who is afraid to take risks. Risk taking is vital for the growth and development of a society or culture. Frontiersmen go to new territory, and the pioneers follow them to establish new settlements. If today’s tenor of fear were in place some 400 years ago, Jamestown would not have been settled, Plymouth would not have been the landing point for people seeking religious freedom, and the backwoods of Georgia would not have echoed with the sounds of convicts and debtors seeking new beginnings. Although the security of the nation is a Constitutional mandate for the Congress, the analysis suggests that their duty is to protect the country from foreign invasion….not from toys in Happy Meals. Their constant pronouncements and warnings of harm have turned us into a sniveling, quivering gaggle of cowards who find any risk to be intolerable.
One of the great concerns for patriots today is the transformation of our country from a nation of producers into a collection of people who believe that they are entitled to rewards from the efforts of others. With entitlement comes the loss of need to take risks. If one expects government and others to provide every need, it follows that government should protect everyone from every risk. So, if government decides to protect us from nuclear accidents, oil spills or disasters in deep-shaft coal mines, our lights will flicker out, our vehicles will sputter and fail, our factories will shutter their windows, and we shall all shiver through the coldest days of winter.
When the great cathedrals of Europe were built, stonemasons occasionally fell from the highest walls and the laborers who quarried the stone were frequently crushed by the massive results of their efforts. They were all simple people whose names have been lost to history, but their work…their risk-taking… attracts thousands of tourists who gape with awe at what their pre-descendants accomplished. Risk taking involves risk…sometimes mortal risk. If an idea, a dream, a family or a nation is worthy of risk, it may mean losing one’s life. When the Nanny State overprotects us, it robs us of our passion for concepts greater than ourselves. It steals our humanity from us, and causes us to behave like panicky chickens who are afraid to die and incapable of living.
Psalm 31:14—“But I trust in you, O Lord; I say ‘You are my God.’ “
Note about yesterday’s “Why Libya.” I had two huge errors in yesterday’s column: 1) I referred to “Tunisia” when I meant Libya; 2) Teddy Roosevelt was elected VP in 1900 and ascended to the presidency when McKinley was assassinated. No excuse, no alibis. I blew it. Thanks to Harold, Steve, Kevin and other careful readers for informing me.
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