The resemblance between the dangerous, upside-down world depicted by the media and public perceptions of crime and other hazards is so close that it is difficult to deny a causal influence of the media. In this media world, the rare appears commonplace, and the commonplace is rarely seen. The world on television, in newspapers and on the Web is populated by serial killers, child molesters, robbers and rapists. 1 topic in dramas, news programs and movies. That is where the disconnect between reality and perception takes place. Their conception of the world as a dangerous place is one that is depicted to them and reinforced day after day in the mass media. And they seriously underestimate the hazards that pose genuine risk to them, such as heart disease or cancer.Īmericans are not stupid or uninformed. Research shows that Americans exaggerate their chances of being murdered, raped or robbed, as well as their chances of dying in a hurricane, tornado, earthquake or other rare event. have been declining for more than 20 years the murder rate dropped by half during the past decade alone, and it has been dropping relentlessly for centuries. Americans, naturally enough, long for safety for themselves and those they care about, and they take actions to secure that safety. So what exactly is the problem? The problem is that the world is actually a good deal safer than most Americans realize or appreciate, and the freedoms they sacrifice are often surrendered unnecessarily. One in five women carries pepper spray or Mace. One-third of American men have purchased a firearm for protection. Our children no longer ride their bikes to school or for play, and parents drive their children to school or the bus stop. households now lies behind locked gates, and millions of residents are afraid to answer their front doors. It’s true that stories of violent crime surround us, from the recent Houston house party where two men were shot and killed to the rape of a 13-year-old hearing-impaired girl at a Dallas park, or the terrible mass shooting at Fort Hood on April 2, these all-too-real stories and images have conditioned Americans to fear crime in their daily lives.Īccording to data from the Gallup Organization and the National Opinion Research Center, two-fifths of adult Americans say they are afraid to walk alone at night in their own neighborhoods, and two-thirds believe the national crime problem is getting worse. Too often, we needlessly sacrifice freedom for safety.
So it is ironic and even tragic that they willingly forfeit so much of that freedom in pursuit of another value: safety. They enjoy a degree of personal, social and political freedom nearly unrivalled in human history.
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