Hey! Don't Overreact to That Issue, Overreact to My Issue
Nicholas Kristof urges us not to exaggerate or overreact to the risk of terrorism based on a few high-profile but isolated and nearly-impossible-to-control events, particularly since there is no upward trend in terrorism deaths.
He urges us instead to exaggerate and overreact to the risk of catastrophic man-made climate change based on a few high-profile but isolated and nearly-impossible-to-control weather events for which data show there is no actual upward trend (e.g. hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, heat waves, etc).
Everyone today seems to be trying to stampede everyone else into some kind of fear based on overblown risks, whether it be to terrorism or climate change or immigrant-related crime or vaccine-caused autism or, uh, whatever is supposed to be bad that is caused by GMO's. It is all a quest for power. They hope that fear will cause you to write them a blank check for exercising power over you. Don't give it to them.
kidmugsy:
The thing is, Global warming makes the temperate climate of Western Europe more comfortable for moslem terrorists. Double panic!!!!
March 25, 2016, 2:03 pmSamWah:
There may not be an upward trend in terrorist murders, yet, but it can be expected. Reminds me of the movie "Little Murders" ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067350/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 )
March 25, 2016, 3:21 pmShane:
Sadly the sum and substance of human history.
March 25, 2016, 3:23 pmbigmaq1980:
"It is all a quest for power"
Should be the title of this article.
Came to the same conclusion long ago, and thus decided to be a government skeptic, and argue for significant reduction in the size and scope of government, as it has become the tool for many to abuse, in the name of whatever ill, or favors it can bestow, meanwhile the rest of us die by a thousand bureaucratic paper cuts, and lose our earnings penny by penny.
March 25, 2016, 5:17 pmJoe Mama:
Part of the reason that there is "no upward trend" in terrorist murders is that the Irish Republican Army and the Basque separatists have been dormant since about 1990. Failing to address the issue of uncontrolled immigration is likely to make those groups, and a score of others, feel threatened.
Then, guess what will happen.
March 25, 2016, 5:20 pmSamWah:
That is a GREAT heading!
March 26, 2016, 6:58 amErikTheRed:
Eh, if you really want to rustle some jimmies among conservatives, compare the statistical likelihood of being shot by a US cop (even as an innocent bystander) to being killed by a terrorist. It literally makes them crazy, in ways that are pretty funny if you skin is thick enough for the invective that will get thrown at you afterwards...
March 26, 2016, 8:43 amuncle_bill:
Nineteen muslim terrorists killed about 3,000 people and destroyed property worth billions of dollars, using box cutters. There is no doubt in my mind that if they could obtain a nuclear bomb (or even a dirty bomb), similar people would happily destroy entire American cities. Or, if they found a way to weaponize anthrax, they would immediately release it, causing untold death and destruction. There is also no doubt in my mind that some of them, somewhere, are actively working towards getting just such weapons.
It would be bad enough to lose 20 or 50 or 100 people, like in France and Belgium. But if you believe this is the extent of the threat, you are hopelessly naive.
March 26, 2016, 12:52 pmmarque2:
It probably cost over a trillion roads in lost wealth due to just the economic damage the towers cost, in the nationwide mallaise that followed - lost economic wealth also kills.
March 26, 2016, 8:08 pmmarque2:
The incidence of being shot by a cop is also incredibly high if you are committing a violent crime. What discrimination by police, they must be disbanded.
March 26, 2016, 8:09 pmmarque2:
My point here is - please people who get killed by terrorists usually can't help it or avoid it. In the vast majority of cases the people killed by cops can, and your little bit that this makes conservatives crazy doesn't mean your argument is of a valid significance.
March 27, 2016, 9:01 amt m colon:
Has it ever been different?
"Civilization, in fact, grows more and more maudlin and hysterical; especially under democracy it tends to degenerate into a mere combat of crazes; the whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary."
--H.L. Mencken
March 27, 2016, 9:13 amuncle_bill:
"...lost economic wealth also kills."
This is an under-appreciated effect. When wealth is destroyed, something else has to give. That "something" might be nutritious food, medical care, medical research (which is incredibly expensive), training of new health care personnel, improving roads, hiring police and firemen, improving waste water treatment, money spent on preventive care, and many more things on the personal and national level that have an effect on our health and safety.
When liberals do things that damage the economy, they are indirectly resulting in loss of health and life to other people. The connection is not obvious, but it is there.
March 27, 2016, 11:42 amBobcat:
The string pullers absolutely need for us to be mortally afraid of something. More fear = yielding to increased government control. Much as they try to make the preferred fear Glowbull Warming, that dog food just doesn't taste good enough. Ergo, islamic terror.
March 28, 2016, 8:14 amSamWah:
Islamic terror is real. Government doing something about it, not so much
March 28, 2016, 10:38 amErikTheRed:
Ummm... if you're paying attention, that's not even remotely the case. There are several hundred incidents a year that don't involve criminals or any sort - innocent bystanders, the mentally handicapped, etc. Good grief, there was one the other day where a guy was shot dead in his yard after 8 seconds because he was holding the spray handle for a hose in his hand.
And don't even get me started on animals.
The only thing worse than the cops that do this are the other cops that cover for and protect them, and the people who go around saying "it's only a few bad apples" - they're the enablers.
March 28, 2016, 10:59 amBobcat:
String pullers are clearly terrorist enablers. What government is doing is squashing dissent for now, and further clamping down on non-muslims going forward.
March 28, 2016, 11:08 ammarque2:
I have been paying attention, and to say the other day, for something that happened in 2010 (it was a local story for me) doesn't really support the hundreslds who die every yesr.
You go on about the Republicans who go ape over cop violence, and then you engage in gross hyperbole for your side, perfectly illustrating Warren point.
Thank you, for demonstrating so effectively
March 28, 2016, 11:40 amDavid Zetland:
Uh, no. It's OUR issue. http://www.aguanomics.com/2016/03/life-is-about-to-get-much-worse.html
What do you think of Weitzman's piece?
March 29, 2016, 4:29 am