|
It's not so much paranoia as a very human inability to recognise how much risk a threat truly poses. Americans seem very very concerned with terrorism. Terrorism hasn't actually killed many Americans. The chance that you'll die from a terrorist attack are incredibly low, far lower than say heart disease or a traffic accident. Yet still you have these crazy privacy invasions, stupid security theatre at airports, wars in the middle east etcetera, etcetera. As an Australian, after moving to America I had a similar feeling about guns, especially at first. I'd moved from a world where the risk of being shot was lower than being struck by lighting, into a world where shootings actually happened. It was a brand new threat that I didn't understand and basically all of my knowledge came from movies. Do the homeless people on the streets of SF have guns? Were those loud pops on the 4th of July fireworks or people celebrating by firing bullets in the air? Is the news I see about police shooting people online hype or a real risk? Similarly, it feels wonderful to go to a place where I have less worries. When I'm in Australia, I don't have to worry about getting shot, being bankrupted by medical bills, ending up homeless ever, tipping or a variety of other problems. There's just nothing like feeling a bunch of burdens evaporate, even if, when I think about them, they're very minor. |
American government seems very concerned with terrorism. It also generates a lot of revenue which in turn produces political campaign contributions.
Do you really have less worries in Australia? I’d argue since it’s your homeland, you are simply used to the things that non-Australians would find worrisome. I don’t worry about medical bills (I have health insurance,) not concerned about ever being homeless, don’t consider tipping to be something worthy of worrying, etc.
And despite growing up in a rough neighborhood, I’ve never really worried about being shot.