Bad Luck

This narrative, called “Bad Luck: Why Americans Exaggerate the Terrorist Threat,” was written by Jeffrey Rosen for the New Republic in November, 2001. Rosen’s main argument is that, although the terrorist threat is real, TV and newspapers around the world exaggerate their threat. For example, many people are concerned they will receive anthrax, when actually only a few politicians and journalists have been targeted. Through research, Rosen discovered that people tend to fear crimes they are least likely to be victims of, such as terrorism. Interestingly, it has been found that women worry mostly about violent crimes, when, in fact, young men are the most common victims. This discovery is also supported by the reality that many people fear flying more than driving. Though accidents occur much more frequently in cars, people feel they can control the situation more. Rosen has also found that people who watch TV more are more likely to overestimate their chances of being a victim of violence. To coincide, these same people typically buy more locks, watchdogs, and guns. To help prove Rosen’s point, it’s been found that 45% of crimes reported in newspapers involve sex or violence. However, these types of crimes only represent 3% of crimes overall. Moreover, TV has taken extremely violent crimes and claim they are part of a wider trend. I agree with Rosen when he says that terrorism is hard to avoid because it strikes so randomly. Rosen also found that people are filing lawsuits because of this notion of having “Total Justice;” I find this to be ridiculous. For example, there have been people trying to file lawsuits claiming there were flaws in the twin towers, which many have impeded escape during the 9/11 attacks. I agree with Rosen on three more claims he makes. Firstly, the media can and does curb their focus on worst-case scenarios. For instance, growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, most of the crimes I remember seeing on the news were of murders and or some other sort of violent crime. Secondly, politicians need to be careful about being so vague with potential future attacks. This just scares everyone and does no-one any good. Lastly, that while our government takes all of these precautions, there is no 100% guarantee or “insurance policy” for future attacks.