It starts when you're always afraid

Back to my favourite line from the Buffalo Springfield song from 1967 ....

The chance of being killed in a road accident is manifestly higher than being killed by a terrorist bomb. By a large margin! How many people refuse to get into a car as a result? This could be the last time, some idiot might ram you, you may be badly maimed if not killed (I personally would choose the latter, given this gruesome choice).

The point is though that very very few people are afraid to get into cars with any of this in mind. It won't happen to them. Of course.

So why be afraid that some Islamic radical is going to blow you to kingdom come?  It happens - sadly, atrociously, brutally - but hardly every day. It must be due to happen in Germany, we are told (the Bundeswehr being on "Muslim terrain" in Afghanistan). When, where, how? We do not know, but we do know that the small percentage of radicals here (maybe 200 to 300 out of an assessed "Muslim" population of 3 to 4 million) are observed closely by the German security authorities.

Somebody might slip through the net? Maybe.

The point is though that the percentage chance of this happening is so ridiculously low there is no point being afraid that it will. The authorities have a job to do, they are on the case, let them get on with it.

In 2001 I was doing well in my job, my bank balance was as healthy as it gets (or as it ever got), and there seemed a lot to look forward to. Even then though I had far greater concern about economic wipeout than terrorism (or being killed in a road accident for that matter - but then I always use public transport, where the percentage accident rate is much lower).

Twice since 2001 there have been economic recessions. Twice, despite my efforts to keep working, I have been thrown on the economic dung heap. I have heard politicians of every stripe (though American and UK conservatives are undoubtedly the worst) claim that you can emerge from these successfully - it's all down to you and the usual garbage.

Since 1980, the standard of living in the North of England has fallen sizably. In Germany the standard of living has decreased by some points since the fall of the Berlin Wall (and massively in the former East).  Debt is everywhere and the future is bleak.

If politicians concentrated their attentions on preventing the sort of economic downturns and impoverishment of talented people that we have seen in that time, I might be able to take a bit more seriously all the gunge about terrorism and the like. As it is, it is an obvious shield. In fact nothing short of a blatant deconstruction of the real state of affairs.

If I have enough money coming in to pay the bills, not get into debt and have a couple of hundred Euro a month to spend - and if I have the dignity and integrity that goes with working, I am happy. As things stand I could trip over a bomb tomorrow and still not think that terrorism should be a greater concern than economic well-being. Or even worry myself unduly about being run over by a driver who is not paying proper and careful attention! Eventually the bills need paying, that is all that matters.