by Alec Kohut
When did this happen? When did America, the “Home of the Brave,” become a country so afraid of everything?
As I write this the death toll for Americans who have contracted the Ebola virus in America stands at zero. Yet, also as I write this, the “Home of the Brave” is shitting itself with fear. Schools are closing, people are demanding “quarantine centers,” and politicians are ramping up the blame game. We are pathetic.
I am old enough now to remember when we weren’t this scared, or this stupid. I remember the Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak when I was a kid. It was tragic, but I don’t remember us all going bat-shit crazy if we knew a Legionnaire. And let’s not forget the more recent SARS “pandemic.” Remember when that was going to wipe out China and then kill most Americans? In the end it didn’t even kill enough Chinese for them to start having female babies again. But the fear was real, and stupid.
I remember hoof and mouth disease, H1N1 Flu, Swine Flu, Y2K, bird flu, 2012, Caddyshack 2, and sushi farts, and somehow survived them all. But somehow now, if Ebola doesn’t kill me, ISIS will come chop my head off.
Bitch Please.
If we rank Ebola by number of American deaths, it ranks behind only those things that actually killed one American. Think about that. Ebola ranks behind people being electrocuted with hotel room keys. Look it up.
But between 9/11, social-media, and the 24-hour news cycle, the culture of fear is not just prevalent in American society, it’s profitable. When cable news channels can get ratings from bullshit stories like the Ebola “pandemic,” and National Geographic can sell ad space for garbage like “Doomsday Preppers,” we in America will continue to get the scared, paranoid society we deserve.