A Society of Fear

"Protect yourself and your identity!

This one is definitely worth passing along! Please take the time to watch.

This is a 3 1/2 minute video produced by the Broward
County, FL Sheriff's Office. Identity thieves are at it again, this
time targeting people at gas stations. This sort of crime never
occurred to me, especially since many of us never leave the side of our
car when pumping gas anymore. That has apparently not improved our
safety, especially for women who carry purses--- The footage of the
actual crime being committed is shocking in how easy it is to pull off.
Please take heed and pass it along to friends, families and coworkers."

http://www.sheriff.org/videos/psa_cartheft.html


I got this link in this email warning people to be more cautious because there is a new trend of theft going on at gas stations where the thief pulls up alongside a car and opens the passenger, takes a purse off the passenger seat and drives away. So it shows two of these incidents caught on tape and then gives you tips on how to better prepare yourself to avoid this situation. As I was watching it, it reminded me of all those other safety videos that have been produced and how it seems more and more continue to come out as more dangerous situations are created. They always show you what to do to protect yourself, lock your doors, secure your purse, make sure to take your keys out of your car, always be aware of your surroundings (all these things beautifully acted out by an actor/actress showing you exactly how to do them).

Watching this made me realize how much we have turned into a society of fear. All the extra precautions we take to keep ourselves safe, protected. You see it everywhere in society. I notice the changes when I hear my parents and my grandparents say the cliché "In my day" phrase that ends in how they used to be able to walk to school for three miles without fear of being kidnapped, or how my mother would walk to the grocery store all by herself to buy her mother milk when she was six. I even start to see it in myself when I think to myself how when I was little I rode my bike to the park six blocks away or to the nearest elementary school to play on the playground by myself or with a friend. No one ever bothered me, I never feared for my safety. I was instructed not to talk to strangers or take things from strangers or give out my information, but I never felt the fear. But fear is such a dangerous reaction and it seems to be so innate. Someone walks in and says "My car was just broken into in such and such parking lot" and everyone who parks there has an initial reaction of fear "Oh, I hope my car is okay" and for the next few days many of those people will be extra cautious about what they leave on their seats and be thinking about whether or not when they go back to their car later in the day if the window will be in a million pieces.

The same tactic works on the masses as well, which is especially prevalent in politics. How fearful we have become of terrorism and how much the government has played on the fears of its people to gain support without thought. "If we don't invade Iraq they are going to help the terrorists and come destroy America." This seems to be the message we've been fed for so many years now in one way or another. It all goes back to our personal safety as a country and it is amazing the reactions that occur when mass fear is produced. Basic instincts of survival kick in and rational thought ceases to exist. This may have worked well for human kind in the beginning, but it doesn’t seem to be serving us well as of late. I saw the Dalai Lama speak last fall and I remember something he said when asked about war. He said war used to be necessary, it was a way to establish boundaries and power in order to establish societies and civilizations. He said that in the world we live in today where all the boundaries have been set and people, for the most part, are not trying to conquer each other, war is now out of fashion. There is no need to fight. If only we could convince everyone of this. I just think that living in fear is too dangerous, it consumes people, it provokes anger and hatred and stifles life. I think there is so much to learn from each other in this world. I would just love to immerse myself in the many different cultures of this world and soak up as much as possible. The more I learn about other people and their ways of life the richer I feel. I wish everyone could experience the joy I do when I learn about new things. It scares me to see how we live in a society of fear, how ironic is that. But I realize the difference is I make a conscious choice not to let fear guide my choices in life.