Disaster looms to the sound of impending doom.

[Godelsensei]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]Trouble's afoot. Crime is in the air. More and more, our family and friends are being killed, raped, robbed, beaten up, and generally maltreated. No longer can one ride the subway at night without being mugged, nor can one go downtown after dark without being stabbed and thrown into a dumpster. Our airspace is plagued by terrorists, and our very state of being is constantly being loomed-over by the countless horrible people in the world.

...or not. In fact, the crime rate in Toronto is at the lowest it has been since 1967 (or was it '64?), has dropped by over 30% in fifteen years, and, really, your chances of being killed in Toronto are 1.9 in 100 000. And here's the big shocker: deaths caused by terrorism are also at their lowest, and declining. In fact, terrorism is becoming less and less relavent to police and governments.
The 9/11 deaths plus all those caused by terrorist attacks that year, are lower than the number of deaths caused by terrorism in previous years.

The scary part is, everybody seems to believe quite the opposite: basically the information I bullshitted at you to begin with. Not only have most Westerners fallen victim to the media's constant message of impending doom, but they declare those who try to point out its faults terrorists themselves! : O

While violent crime has decreased substantially, the news preffers to cover it more and more. I do believe it [the coverage] has been multiplied by a non-prime positive integer.

I ask you this: [i]Who has the milk and apples?[/i][/FONT][/COLOR]

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=darkviolet]I'm not too sure what to say to the statistics around these days. I know I'm more likely to die driving to work than I am in a terrorist attack-despite what the Bush Administration would have me believe. However last week a friend of my husband's went on leave (not leave where you go to the states, but leave to Qatar for a few days) got drunk and was raped by an NCO (E5 luckily (?) so it won't take an act of congress to strip him of his rank and do a bunch of other military stuff to him. (FYI if he was an E7 or above it actually takes congress to take away the guy's rank-some stupid military rule) So I'm not sure on where I stand with that whole thing.

The crime rate in Rochester has dropped a bit. But the City schools have to use some of their school year budget to pay city cops to patrol the halls. Drug use has slacked off, but last month there was a major drug bust in my (upper middle class) neighborhood . According to statistics, homicides have gone down, but there have been 3 murders in the same city neighborhood in one week.

With all this going on you almost have to wonder if the reason statistics on things such as rape, homicide, and other crimes just has to do with population growth instead of things getting better. That's my slightly jaded very negative opinion for the time being.[/color]

[DeathKnight]

[color=crimson]Which message will get them more viewers/readers/whatever? One of drama+chaos or one of tranquility+peace? Good news is refreshing, but more chaotic events are hard to miss. The whole can't take your eyes off a car wreck thing.

I don't think anything really sinister is afoot in the general media, they are trying to capitalize on what will get people to watch- things outside the ordinary, things that will peak the common person's curiosity.

Now, the Bush Administration's policy of being the town crier is something else entirely- I'm not too sure what to think of it. I'm sure they have relatively good intentions, but they are rather loud, aren't they?

Ah well. At least the more enlightened know how things are really going.[/color]

[PrincessGoneral]

Apparently, keeping a society paralyzed with terror makes it easier to control. >_>

When you're constantly bombarded with messages that inform you that you and your entire family'll get blown to smithereens by terrorists if you don't get them first, I'd assume that, eventually, you'd be inclined to agree. (And as we've gone over, it's nothing to be afraid of, so why does the government inforce the idea? Obviously there are ulterior motives...and so on and so on.)

A rather clever ploy, I do admit. Wonder whos idea that was.

And a 'Time' magazine from some time ago... Canada should be worried to, eh? At the very least they could keep their fear-mongering to themselves.

It's fine to be cautious, but personally, I don't think one should live one's life in constant fear. But then, who am I to judge? None of these tragedies have ever befallen me.

I'm fine living my life.

[I]Sorry for the incomprehensi- Not making sense. Too early....>_<[/I]

[James]

[color=#707875]Yeah, you often hear of people saying that we should "go back to the good old days" of the 40s/50s. But really, were they that good? lol.

I mean, yeah, we hardly ever heard about rape or teen pregnancy and so on. But that's not because they didn't happen. In fact, that stuff happened in very high numbers -- but it just wasn't spoken about.

There's an illusion that this type of thing is happening more these days...but that's totally false. It's just that we [i]hear[/i] more about it these days. And rightfully so; that stuff shouldn't be swept under the carpet.

I can only say that I agree with what's been said here. The world is improving all the time. Yes, some times are worse than others, but overall, things are only getting better. It's a natural progression.

In regard to the Bush administration warning about terror...what would you have them do? If they provided no warnings, people would say that they're being secretive and not informing the public. But as soon as they actually give warnings, people say that they're trying to scare the public.

Unfortunately, they are screwed either way. Most people are going to put their own stupid spin on it.[/color]

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]In addition to James' comments on the Bush administration's reasoning, let's not forget the Iraq War. Even though it has virtually disappeared from news bulletins, people expect to hear about it, and people also...expect retaliation? To a degree, people will think that they're slacking off if 'nothing happens'.

Or that's my take on it.

I don't know any facts about what you're saying Godel, but I'll take your word for it. However, I'd say that our society has gotten more violent, and I do find those facts hard to believe. I'd believe more that they had stayed reasonably the same, or take CHW's view that it is due to percentage population increase and the rates are proportional ~_^[/size]