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American Insecurity

"How safe are we? What are the chances of another American getting hurt through acts of terrorism?"

By Raymond Hung

After September 11th, 2001, America as we know it has gone through some major changes. It seems as if our great sense of security as a nation has been shattered.

There have been many post-9/11 threats such as like anthrax, a shooting in Los Angeles International Airport, and finally the sniper attacks in Washington DC. All of these incidents have caused me to feel a great sense of insecurity. How safe are we? What are the chances of another American getting hurt through acts of terrorism?

In my response to that, I just hope that the government is doing its job — and they are because they recently arrested John Allen Muhammad, the suspected Tarot Card Sniper. But to tell you the truth, I don’t exactly feel as safe as I thought, and that’s why I am living in paranoia. The thought of being watched, followed, and then maybe shot sends chills down my spine. When will another sniper strike again? When will the next act of terrorism hit America? Will Americans, like myself, continue to live in a society of fear?

Before we can answer those questions, let’s look at a few statistics. What is the leading cause of death in the country? Murder? Terrorist attacks? Anthrax?

Actually, the leading causes aren’t very exciting. The number one leading cause of death is heart disease (958,775 deaths in 1999 according to the American Heart Association) and the number two leading cause of death is cancer (555,500 deaths are expected this year according to the American Cancer Society).

With health related problems being the main cause of death in America, maybe you should think about your chance of dying from cancer as opposed to dying from an act of terrorism. Though it might sound morbid to talk about the probability of death rates, statistically, Americans are more likely to die from health related problems than terrorism. Why, then, were Americans extremely terrified of this sniper — perhaps more so than heart attacks?

Well first of all, media coverage plays a major role in the contribution of insecurity. With headlines of murders, sniper victims, and suicide bombings, the mass media makes America a fearful society. After watching the news, you don’t even want to leave your house.
But aside from the news, there’s something about terrorism that has brought me a great deal of panic and paranoia. Even if I didn’t watch the news, I would still feel extremely vulnerable. I think it’s because terrorism seems really inevitable. If you’re being hunted there’s nothing you can do about it — there’s little you can do but sit there in fear.

Though health problems are the leading causes of death in America, we aren’t extremely terrified of them because we know a sufficient amount of information about them — and most importantly we know the precautions to take to prevent them (despite high numbers of deaths). For example, to prevent skin cancer, one can turn to staying away from the sun. But terrorism on the other hand is a different story. What can you really do about a mysterious sniper? This whole terrorism issue is more of a concern mainly because we do not know who “they” are and when and where they are going to strike next.

It’s all a matter of control. We actually have the ability to prevent problems like heart attacks (if you want to prevent high-cholesterol you can cut down on eating fatty foods) but what can you really do to prevent future terrorist attacks?

Even though the suspected Tarot Card Sniper has been caught, what do you think the chance is of another sniping maniac going off? Though it is true that I’m scared of dying from cancer or a heart attack, I am petrified of terrorism in America. It’s more of a psychological issue than anything else because you never know who these terrorists are and who and where they are going to strike next. As the Tarot Card Sniper warned, “Your children are not safe anywhere at any time.” Even though we can now momentarily take a breather because we know a suspect has been arrested, when will someone else strike again?

— Raymond Hung is a senior at Alameda High School.