OCR Text |
Show 9 Thursday, September 20,2007 OPINION 3 www.dailyutahchronide.com Don't fear the Reaper Americans have been raised to be terrified at all times T he only thing we have to fear RYAN is fear itself—and online predators, SHATTUCK and anthrax, and public speaking, and hippies, and air travel, and clowns. We live in a culture of fear. We're constantly warned that our toys have lead, our spinach has E. coli, and that our lesbian gangs have lesbians. We're told to worry about the decline of bees, the increase of carbon emissions and the influx of McEverything. If we don't fight the terrorists there, they'll follow us home. If a teenager masturbates, he or she will go blind. If people eat Chinese food, they'll also end up consuming MSG and/or cat. If somebody steps on a crack, his or her mother will injure either Ci or C2 along the cervical spine, thus resulting in back pain. If, if, if. Worry, worry, worry. You never call your mother anymore. While the mass media play their part in keeping the public paralyzed in fear, the current political climate in which we find ourselves also uses fear as a manipulative tool. Is such fear justified—especially that of terrorism? Rainer Huck, a "freelance philosopher" (his words) and "fulltime nut-job" (my words), recently ran for mayor of Salt Lake City, garnering an overwhelming 37 out of the 27,239 votes cast in the mayoral primary. In addition to the many opinions shared on his campaign's website, he attempted to unnerve the Salt Lake City voter by sharing such lightbulb ideas as "Mass transit is also vulnerable to terrorist activity" and "A few employees with concealed carry permits would be much more effective in deterring-.terrorist activity." His fear is vindicated, as top military leaders recently revealed the top three targets for al Qaida terrorists to be the White House, the Statue of Liberty andTRAX. They hate our freedom and commuters from Sandy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Safety Council, the odds are better that a person will die from heart disease (1 in 5), cancer (1 in 7), a car accident (1 in 84), suicide (1 in 119), a firearm assault (1 in 314), drowning (1 in 1,008), a motorcycle accident (1 in 1,020), fire or smoke (1 in 1,113), a bicycle accident (1 in 4,919), an accidental firearm discharge (1 in 5,134), a railway accident (1 in 6,842), excessive cold (1 in 8,389), excessive heat (1 in 9,396), accidental electrocution (1 in 9,968), alcohol poisoning (1 in 10,048), dying in the bathtub (1 in 10,455),a hornet or bee sting (1 in 56,789), legal execution (1 in 62,468), or lightning (1 in 79,746) than from a terrorist attack (1 in 88,000). Odds are better that I'll die from suicide? Perhaps I shouldn't fear terrorists killing me, as much as I should fear me killing myself. I recently saw the film "The Brave One," starring Jodie Foster as an NPR-type radio host turned revenge-seeking vigilante, similar to the remake of the movie "Taxi Driver," starring the host of "Delilah After Dark." While I've seen films both violent and gory, I found myself uncharacteristically emotionally attached to this film and preempted an oncoming anxiety attack by actually walking out of the theatre. The film brought up in me old emotions I once experienced many years ago when I was attacked and beaten— similar to Jodie Foster's character— while in high school. Like her character in the film, I recall being terrified of everything that breathed and empathized with her desire to protect herself. Unlike her character though, I decided I would no longer live in fear. I've looked back on my life in the many years that passed since my attack, and I realize that to live the rest of my life in fear would have been to live a very handicapped, crippled and pathetic life (no offense to the handicapped, the crippled and Corey Feldman). We can live our life in fear of everything from carbon dioxide to terrorism or we can decide that no one can dictate our lives with fear in a Svengalitype manner—whether the media or the government. Franklin D. Roosevelt said it best when he said: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." As for those suffering from phobophobia—the fear of fear— they're on their own. letters@chronicle.utah.edu Be open to all beliefs Intolerance doesn Y help anyone T wo weeks ago, I read a bold letter to ADAM the editor about the need for Mormons to KIRK remember their roots when considering others' beliefs. Being a Latter-day Saint, I agreed with this man's opinion 100 percent. No one has to make others wrong to validate their own beliefs. I believe every bit of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but I still love to and feel responsible to be open about another's point of view. As I stood by my bike at a busy intersection in Georgia, dressed up in my LDS missionary attire, a man driving by rolled his window down and yelled: "You're going to hell!" I appreciated his input and vowed to never be so intolerant. After that, I realized how wrong it was for me to go door to door inviting others to my church without being willing to visit theirs upon invitation, or even curiosity. So I started visiting the church services of other faiths on occasion. What a wonderful experience that was/not only because I realized that I could consider the beliefs of others without feeling threatened, but because others then saw the Mormons were not close-minded, arrogant people. We Latter-day Saints are taught the story of Joseph Smith and the process he went through to get an answer to his prayer, but sometimes we skim over and forget the first step he took. He visited and con- it sidered dozens of different kinds of churches and beliefs, after which he prayed. If people are unwilling to set aside being right to find what is right, they do not deserve the truth anyway. If people are the kind of people who would not have been tolerant and open-minded enough to find the LDS Church had they not been born a member, what makes them think that "the luck of the draw" will save them? I invite every preacher of every faith to profess what they believe and do it boldly. If others' sharing their beliefs causes you to feel threatened, it is not because you are threatened. It is because you are not convinced enough of your beliefs. Why that might be is up to you to decide. Maybe you care more about being right than doing right, which shows you don't believe in the LDS Church at all. An old, wise man once told me to be open-minded, but not too openminded, or my brain might fall out. I don't think it is wise to be lazy and unconcerned with what we believe. We should thoughtfully decide what we believe, then stand by and live it, because he who stands for nothing falls for anything. Now, if I'm standing by something, that doesn't mean it's going to fall down unless I shoot everything else dead. Sophistry will die naturally on its own. letters@chronicle.utah.edu The trouble with work More vacation time would help many U nlike many writers, I do not believe I'm infallible. I'll admit it. The last couple of columns weren't my best. I want to get that out of the way. I'm the humblest guy I know. I was burned out and needed a vacation, so I took one. For the last few days I've been in Chicago. I saw Jim Thome hit his 500th home run, I saw the Cubbies come from behind in the ninth inning and I drank—a lot. Not enough to kill a small elephant, but enough to wake up with one in my bed. Maybe next time I'll throw in an art museum or a play. The sky's the limit. I'm luckier than most. My company gives me more time off than I will ever need. A quarter of American workers get no paid time off at all. Government statistics also show workers who get time off are granted an average of nine vacation days a year. Add flu season, car problems and self-induced morning-after headaches to the equation, and nine days get gobbled up quickly. The United States is a nation of workaholics. I see my boss more than I see my mother. Other industrialized nations av- NICK PAPPAS 1 • m erage more than a month of time off—and it is often required. Not only that, but they seem to be in competition over who gets more time in a hammock. In Austria and Sweden, workers get paid MORE when they are on vacation than when they're at work. Also in Sweden, if you get sick while on vacation, it does not count against your vacation hours. You can literally call in sick while on vacation. One would think working harder would provide for a more robust economy. It's not so. The United States now lags behind France, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Norway and Denmark in generational earnings. Researchers for the Economic Mobility Project found that today's men earn about 12 percent less, after inflation, than their fathers' generation did. The problem is obvious. What's good for corporations is bad for people—period. If a company starts handing out vacation hours to the worker bees, queen CEO gets one less golden honeycomb. They need their honey, and investors need a high profit margin. There needs to be more government policies regulating vacation time—especially for those working more than 40 hours a week. The time could.be filled by part-time workers, and also help stimulate the economy. Think about it. No one takes vacation and sits at home. On my Chicago romp, I spent more than a poor college columnist ever should. People on vacation are always more likely to be loose with their loot. Most importantly, like all machines, we need time to cool down. A worker back from vacation is energized and that energy makes them productive and profitable. < It's too bad there is no way to make this happen. Dubya is probably at his Crawford Ranch. Dick Cheney is no doubt on a hunting trip looking to shoot his friends. I guess our vacation dreams are only dreams. Now put down the paper and get back to work. letters@chronicle.utah.edu LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Keep the families out of it Editor: How disappointing it wa£ to read Nicholas Pappas' column ("Married for power," Sept. n). It's a shame that Pappas would use his talents to present a patchwork of hyperbole about Sen. Larry Craig's wife when the senator himself has offered up such a rich source of material to comment upon. The article's subject is a case of being "penny rich, pound poor" in my book. It doesn't help that the rest of the article stereotypes women as Easy-Bake-Oven-using second-class citizens to their husbands' social bloc, which is not only unrealistic, but ignorant of the myriad issues involved in domestic life. Pappas should use his creativity to poke fun at those public figures (Larry Craig, etc.) who merit public commentary and restrain from * conjectures about their families. Andrew Sullivan Junior, Economics Someday, you'll understand Editor: I'm writing regarding Steve Coons' comments about Vermont ("There's some trouble brewing in Vermont," Sept. 12). While reading his column, all I could think of was something I learned studying the youth empowerment model of the Native Americans called "The Circle of Courage." When their children misbehaved, they would not scold them. They would respectfully say, as I do to you now, "Someday, when you are older, you will understand." Andrew Parker Norwich, Vermont I |