Putting Fear in Perspective

Before I begin, I wish to express my hearfelt condolences to the families and friends of those whose lives we lost as a result of yesterday's bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Those of us in Canada may have been reminded of the overpass in Laval that collapsed this past September, taking the lives of five individuals, a wound still fresh in many of us. These two events have me thinking about what most of us fear, that is to say, what we're supposed to fear.

An individual of the Muslim faith clad in traditional garb, a youth of African origin in baggy pants and a ball cap, a haggard-looking street dweller: these are the images that strike fear into our hearts, yet the vast majority of us do not think twice when merging onto the freeway at over a hundred kilometres an hour, or entering an elevator to ascend three dozen storeys. Our paradigming of so-called "foreginers" - we do the same to our indigenous population, despite our being the "foreigners" - as savage peoples bent on our destruction seems to have diverted our attention away from the fallibility of our very own technological advancements. If you've been paying attention, you may have seen recall notice after recall notice appear before your eyes and ears: children's toys containing lead paint, contaminated processed food, faulty automobile parts, exploding laptop batteries - wares apart of our everyday lives - are hazardous to our health when they need not be.

Face it: you're more likely to be killed by a car - yes, even the very car you drive - than a "terrorist". You're more likely to meet your end in your poorly constructed condominium than gunned down by a "gang banger". If you're worried about your daughter being at the mercy of the city streets in the wee hours of the morning, consider yourself fortunate she lived to see the streets instead of lodging her little finger in a wall socket when she was just learning to crawl.

I'm not asking you to shun your gadgets and gizmos, sell your cars and cut your electricity supply - nature will take care of that for you when we've used up all her resources - but I'm asking you to think a bit about them, about how they made their way into your possession, about how you make use of them, and how they might fail you. Great care must go into the design of these intricate objects of convenience; unfortunately, these days, this has taken a back seat to the profit margin. Would you sleep well knowing someone skimped on the materials used to construct that roof over your head in the name of saving a few bucks? Are you still afraid of "terrorists" now?

My goal in life is to cease being afraid. I should not have to live my life in fear, nor should any of you, but we do, and we well, so long as a certain few of us have much to gain monetarily from it.

Now, before you hole yourself up in a cave, as far away from technology as you can get, remember that one day, for you, this is all going to end, so there's no point wasting your time being afraid. Be vigilant instead. Show these fearmongers on the hill you refuse to put up with their shit. Let honesty, integrity, compassion and love - what we were taught to be virtues - rule the day. Don't let fear win; our children and their children and their children deserve better than for us to leave to them a world of fear and loathing and ignorance.

Keep safe, everyone, but fear not life.