Donald Trump, politicians and the news kept us afraid of mass shooters, terrorist threats and the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ – all of which were least likely to kill us
This was the year the threads came together.
Spectres of mass shootings, jihadis and immigrant hordes have grown to haunt parts of 21st century America as communists and the atom bomb once did. But each fear, rational or not, generally held its own as a distinct threat.
If your children’s school went into lockdown, chances are you had visions of a gun-obsessed loner blasting his way through the classrooms. When airport security rummaged through your underwear while you were still in it, it was al-Qaida or Isis you cursed. And if you were worried about immigrants, other than because of skin colour, it may well have been because you believed the deceit that they were going to steal your job. Each fear in its place.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/...m-refugees
This was the year the threads came together.
Spectres of mass shootings, jihadis and immigrant hordes have grown to haunt parts of 21st century America as communists and the atom bomb once did. But each fear, rational or not, generally held its own as a distinct threat.
If your children’s school went into lockdown, chances are you had visions of a gun-obsessed loner blasting his way through the classrooms. When airport security rummaged through your underwear while you were still in it, it was al-Qaida or Isis you cursed. And if you were worried about immigrants, other than because of skin colour, it may well have been because you believed the deceit that they were going to steal your job. Each fear in its place.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/...m-refugees