Pavone writes that surveillance, metal detectors and other security measures, "Make people feel safer. But it is just a feeling, not a fact… There is no such thing as safety for anyone, anywhere. Not anymore." Do you think this is true?
Created: 01/14/20
Replies: 18
Join Date: 10/15/10
Posts: 3442
Pavone writes that surveillance, metal detectors and other security measures, "Make people feel safer. But it is just a feeling, not a fact… There is no such thing as safety for anyone, anywhere. Not anymore." Do you think this is true?
Join Date: 08/16/17
Posts: 173
I am not sure there has ever really been safety for anyone. We have always been threatened daily by starvation, disease, pandemics, war and terrorism. The suggestion that it is worse than it used to be in the fallacy. Humankind just tries to move forward and survived. At 5 billion strong I think we outnumber even cockroaches.
Join Date: 04/20/16
Posts: 83
I agree with the statement. Violence these days seems to be so much more random. When I go out these days I often think about some nut job with a gun opening fire somewhere. I used to never think that way.
Join Date: 07/28/11
Posts: 422
I disagree with that statement. There is violence in our world, but if we can't feel safe we can't live a successful life. One has to be cautious, but believe they are safe to be able to function.
Join Date: 10/16/10
Posts: 889
I do think this is true, although, like paulagb, I don't think this is a new thing, and that we're no more at risk today than we were 50 years ago; in fact, if anything, we're safer than we were then, at least from accidental death.
Join Date: 04/07/12
Posts: 250
Maybe we’re safer today in terms of death by disease or accidents, but it just seems that gun violence, terrorism, bombings etc are captured and broadcast to the entire world so that we all feel like they can happen anywhere, anytime, to any of us.
Join Date: 07/20/14
Posts: 50
Join Date: 02/06/17
Posts: 438
Speaking for myself, I feel more inconvenienced than safe with many of the security measures, particularly in airports. And even after we all take off our shoes, our belts, throw away the liquids over 3 ounces (in a garbage can right next to where we are all standing), someone- -anyone, like Mahmoud, could stop in the middle of the security area and open a jacket to reveal dynamite and set down a silver case with "unknown" contents.
Much of what we are afraid of today are random acts for which we receive no warning: a high school shooting, a Walmart massacre, shots raining down from the top floor of a hotel on concertgoers. None of this can be predicted or planned for- -or even stopped, until it has begun. Even if I stayed home, locked up tight in my house, a spark from the fireplace could burn down the house, or I could choke on a potato chip.
I am always aware of my environment. I think about where I go after dark. And I don't go alone. But if I thought of everything that might happen to me and allowed the fear of "what if" to immobilize me, I would miss out on many experiences and beauty that still remain in this world.
Join Date: 10/13/11
Posts: 120
I think that Pavone's statement is both true and false. I think a lot depends on what each of us defines as "safety". I, for instance, might feel safe in my own environment but not feel as secure out of my comfort zone. Is there a difference between safety and security? I don't know. I agree with adstrine that we would all miss out on a lot of beauty around us if we are so concerned with our safety that we don't venture out.
Join Date: 03/03/12
Posts: 239
Safety can't be guaranteed in today's world, but bad things happened in "the good old days," too. Personally, I feel that my privacy is compromised every time I am out in public and notice all the cameras focused on me. Personal vigilance is the most reliable form of self-protection, both today and in the past.
Join Date: 10/18/12
Posts: 29
Bad things have always happened to good people but I think in the age we live in now with instantaneous reaction and reportage of the news, we are both anxious and detached. We know it can happen but we see it like a movie. Why do people reach for their phones so instinctively rather than rush to give or seek help?
Join Date: 04/21/11
Posts: 61
When I go out now I look around constantly check everything. I cannot remember having to make sure no one was following me or trying to steal my car. It is a different world. We are scared to do things. It is getting worse. What has brought this on?
Join Date: 08/16/17
Posts: 173
I actually disagree with terriej’s assessment that we must feel safe to be productive. History shows us that humans do best when stressed and required to defend ourselves and our family. We do not benefit from being nervous as a general daily event, but threats of any kind, disease, violence, terrorism put us in a position to work to help our society and circumstances.
Join Date: 06/13/11
Posts: 107
I agree. I think the lack of mental health treatment availability and the proliferation of guns has really created a charged atmosphere. I have already decided that if I am in a store and notice someone other than a policeman with a gun, I will set down whatever I was going to purchase and just leave the store. It is enough to navigate streets with bad drivers and avoiding people who are ill without putting myself in a situation where an accidental shooting can happen.
Join Date: 07/16/14
Posts: 374
No, the world is a safe place in general--what we have too much of is a media out to get the biggest headline, the hottest topic on all these opinion forums posing as newscasts. Are there unsafe places in the world--of course there are and always have been. Growing up in NYC there were neighborhoods you did not frequent at all, others you avoided after dark. Some people did not avoid such places and often were sorry for it. There are places that are war zones, places where there are drug cartels, places where there is social unrest--they are not safe and the wise do not go there. I refuse to live in a state of fear but that does not mean I don't use my head and knowledge to avoid those places and people it is wise to fear. I don't swim with crocodiles.
Join Date: 10/13/14
Posts: 176
Time and circumstances are not things we can manipulate. Our 24/7 news situation brings everything to the forefront all of the time. The key is not to dwell on what you cannot control.
Join Date: 02/12/19
Posts: 8
I feel less secure now, but some of that is the news constantly in your face. I think more about my surroundings when I’m out for sure. I also think if someone is going to do something a metal detector won’t stop them.
Join Date: 05/13/19
Posts: 47
I agree that if someone is willing to die in order to cause mayhem and murder, they are likely to succeed. That is what has changed over the last 50 years - there is more radicalism of people. I don't feel untouchable, but I also don't allow that to dictate my life, beyond reasonable precautions. I will not be terrorized.
Join Date: 01/25/20
Posts: 21
Was anyone ever 100% safe? A crane smashes into an apartment building killing a girl watching TV lying on her couch. I am sure she felt completely safe until she wasn't. We are only one text message away from a fatal car crash, one meal away from eating tainted food, one toppled candle or errant lightning strike away from a house fire, one jog in the park away from meeting that stalking serial killer. Do I think we are at greater risk from being randomly shot or blown up by a disgruntled co-worker or a terrorist? 100%. It is unfortunately the world we live in.
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