When did we become ‘fraidy cats?

Not sure what you are talking about "BILL" Sorry, I used to call you that.

Anyway, are you talking about the nanny state or what?

 

My friend Izzy says the reason behind everything is "money". So if you perceive an increase in fearfulness, the question is "who is profiting from it, and how?"

 

People who are afraid are easier to control and unable to work effectively with others
It’s also easier to distract them from anything that might actually be important

 

Skeered of what?

The internet?
My fellow drivers?
My fellow humans when I’m sleeping in the small hours of the night?
My government?
Pollution?
Climate?
Some little cell in my body whose digital information got corrupted by ionizing radiation?
Big pharma?

Meh.
What’s the point of seeing another sunrise if you’re too busy worrying about junk to enjoy it?

 

Druggies and burglaries are pretty much the same basic societal inconvenience, and although no mitigation is 100% effective you can make yourself and your dwelling much less attractive to the average thief.
In the world of counter-terrorism there's a particularly vulgar phrase for this process that very loosely translated is "make you less attractive than your neighbor."
Fun fact:
THE most effective deterrent to house robberies.......a dog.
If you're a cat person?
A "Beware of Dog" sign offers 80-percent of the deterrence without the hair, odor, and chewed up shoes.

Strong armed robbery....they usta call them "muggings" back in the day, are mostly a transactional thing resulting in not very much injury/death unless the would-be victim doesn't work out the force escalation thing very well.
For me it's pretty simple.
My wallet and/or my car is not worth a human life.....most especially mine.
I'm very nearly always armed but curiously this will make me much more willing to hand over the keys and wallet than much less so if somebody closes to within a few feet.
I generally dislike the ostentatious carrying of firearms in public, but I can report that certain ah.....wardrobe adjustments will make you much less approachable by people who are sizing you up for a monetary donation.
Ladies, of course, face a much different threat equation and I will not pretend that I understand all of the nuances of their walk, but I can report that there are ladies in my orbit who are much more stout-hearted than I am who would bristle at the notion that some creep would make them afraid to step out of their house when and as they wish to.

@ ladies of easy virtue....
Play stupid games.
Win stupid prizes.


“.......We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men – not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular” ...Ed Murrow

 

i haven't noticed anything. day to day life seems pretty much unchanged around here. but this isn't typically the land of private militia and doomsday prepares. (although my 'uncle' is one, he's been that way most of his life.)

 

[ Creating | reinforcing | encouraging ] [ fear | envy | inadequacy ] do seem to be a powerful methods of increasing [ sales | viewership | votes ]. Hence, these are very heavily used and promoted.

All the more reasons to turn off or block the special targeting abilities of on-line advertising, though the old fashioned means are still quite nefarious.

 

I am more afraid of the oblivious fools on the road (typically behind the wheel of some enormous SUV or truck) constantly texting on their cell phones than any terrorist, mugger, or druggie.

A scholarly article:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-018-0094-8

 

Sells a lot of vaccines, antiseptic wipes, and sun blocks. Fires up the Trump faithful.

 

Here's an article from the Seattle Times:

‘Mean world syndrome’: In some Seattle neighborhoods, fear of crime exceeds reality | The Seattle Times