The Age of Paranoia

Irony, Cynicism, Scepticism and Mortal Fear

“Forced conversation
Hidden agenda
You think we're stupid, how dare you
The rug has not been pulled
Over our eyes you fool
We can see right through”

-Billy Talent

Breaking news, ‘Trust’ is declared Endangered by the IUCN. Well, obviously that isn’t a real headline, but it could well be. We live in the age of paranoia. Trust is growing scarce; the world seems like a minefield, or the realm of the Hydra. The same old culprits are to blame, newspapers, news channels, an ever more daring and idiotic minority and just an aura of fear.

Parents are frightened of paedophiles at every corner, so much so that parents are too terrified to let their children past their front gardens. If it’s not paedophiles, its murderous rapists from hell, or gun toting gangs from the planet Gat. Well, that’s what BBC news said, with specific reference to abducting murderers. They presented some ominous facts about previous murders and how parents deemed that the outside world was no longer safe for the play of children or something to that effect. When it comes to a tragic story the news will inevitably want to milk it for all it is worth, every penny counts after all. They’ll plaster the headline with words like ‘CHILD’, ‘DEATH’, ‘UNSAFE’ and ’LETHAL BIZZLE’, all words that strike fear into the hearts of the average 20th or 21st century parent. If this truly was the case, every other adult who wasn’t a parent to the child would be out on the streets with the sole intention to abduct and kill your child. Political correctness is out of control, what with its absurd commandments; “Thou shalt not photograph thine babe in the school production or in the playground”. All parents can not be trusted? Taking a picture of the school production will cause them to run home and become aroused? Verily this is disturbed thinking of the most moronic degree. It would be more helpful for the doctor to supply you with a complementary child coffin at birth, for when they get beset upon by the great wide world outside. Indeed, there are villains out there, but that’s nothing a bit of neighbourhood vigilance can’t solve. We’re all so caught up with the terrors of the world that we have lost all faith in each other. Nobody is implying that you become bosom buddies with all of the inhabitants of your street, but some general awareness of each others existence goes a long way. Rather, it is ‘Every family for themselves – screw you, get out of my way you paedophile family, and stop looking at my child’.

But aside from the Political Correctness circus and the prominent Murderer Community of Britain (do they have a union?), we simply CANNOT forget about the omnipresent danger of terrorism in the civilised world! Cave/Mud Hut dwellers from the Middle East have suddenly mastered chemical engineering and are producing bombs by the truck load to blow up our Great Island! God Save the Queen! God save me! God save my democracy! God save Big Brother! Let us analyse this threat. People are worried about terrorists around every corner… there are advertising campaigns warning us about loiterers who are most likely terrorists and the news bleats about how fifteen would be terrorists were foiled before they blew up the world. Sounds like something out of a George Orwell novel to me. I know there are extremists in Britain and they probably shouldn’t be here, but as a result of these bearded maniacs the entire country is gripped in fear and worried that the island might sink under the waves. Apparently, people are worried about going into shopping centres. We shouldn’t write off the threat, but surely this is a step too far? People are still scared of planes and ‘try to spot the terrorists’? This is paranoia over the edge. The horrific events of September the 11th have ingrained in our mind that planes and terrorists were made for each other. News flash, how many flights have there been in the UK and US alone over the past decade, and how many of these were hijacked by terrorists? Now express that as a percentage and perhaps you’ll see a glimmer of the probability of the bearded bloke next to you being a terrorist… I don’t see how the beard suddenly transforms you into a suspect. Surely, this is a common stereotype that these ‘ultra-smart’ terrorists must have cottoned on to? This being the case, the terrorist would have adapted his strategy (by the concept of the evolutionary arms race), and would have gotten rid of the beard, to blend in with the majority.

In this world over-run by terrorists, paedophiles and abducting murderers, I wonder how anybody is still alive. Though I do admit, there may be some irony in the way I have presented the above piece, riddled with cynicism and fraught with scepticism. Perhaps I am just assuming the polar opposite argument to the media driven army that votes, and in doing so I’m not doing myself any favours, but the purpose of the piece isn’t to render everybody into a calm, happy-go-lucky, docile mood. The point being expressed is not one of ‘Do not worry, there is no danger, everything is just fine’, but the general view can’t be ‘Omnipresent danger, consuming us, frozen in fear’. The real world must be treated with rationality and we must just have faith in the fact that committing any of these heinous acts is easier said than done. With so many variables, it’s very easy to get caught out. The aim of these ‘Terrorists’ is to strike fear into the hearts of the enemy (being us). Being scared to go to shopping centres or constantly looking out for terrorists is only an expression of fear and is a sign of submission to the terrorists aim. They will have won. The aim of the terrorist is to strike fear, then to spread discord and enmity amongst people who normally get along, and pick apart the structure of our society. If the terrorists really were going to open hell on our door steps, believe me, we wouldn’t even be safe in our homes. Nations such as North Korea and Iran are reportedly prepared to sell weapons of mass destruction… for any hope of salvation, evolve into a cockroach or build a bunker or follow an option that is somewhat more practical – take a lesson from the Prophet Lot from the ancient scriptures and run – Run. Just run. Run and don’t look back.