Bush perpetuates irrational fears
By Josh Macdonald
March 1, 2006 9:00 p.m.
Much can be said about the incompetence of the current U.S.
government, but it’s hard to argue that they don’t seem
to have the well-being and security of the American people in
mind.
During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, President Bush made
it clear that his thoughts on the disaster, however limited, were
focused on those in the most need.
In a quote from The Washington Post, President Bush took the
time during a press conference to reference the immense loss:
“Out of the rubbles of (Sen.) Trent Lott’s house
““ he lost his entire house ““ there’s going to be
a fantastic house. And I’m looking forward to sitting on the
porch.”
If there’s one thing the Bush administration really
understands, it’s that government is all about providing
security ““ or in Bush’s case, the illusion of
security.
I’m talking about the good old-fashioned neighborhood
watch variety, where everybody benefits but the criminals. Where
loaded rifles and shotguns hang on the walls in every house. Where
an itchy feeling in the air is enough to lure an armed posse out
into the streets.
Step one: Find a legitimate threat to public well-being. Then,
turn it into an irrational fear you can manipulate the public with
at any time. How would we know how scared to be if it wasn’t
for the Homeland Security color chart?
Step two: Use that irrational fear to gain support for
irrational solutions. Why come up with a real solution to the
complicated issue of American security when simple, irrational
solutions seem to serve the people’s irrational fear just as
well?
The mistake rationalists make is to imagine that people evaluate
security rationally. For the general public, rational solutions to
security problems just aren’t as interesting as emotional
ones.
And yet, some organizations committed to improving well-being
keep pounding away at rational solutions to potentially serious
threats.
Take Google.org, the philanthropy division of Google.com. They
use computer programs, the mother of all rational problem solvers,
to statistically determine threats to public health.
Larry Brilliant, the new executive director of Google’s
philanthropic efforts, has whipped up the idea of establishing a
global early-detection and response system for infectious
diseases.
The organization would use software to scan 20 million Internet
sites in order to compile information about trends in infectious
diseases.
What Google forgets is that discovering real, rational threats
means someone has to come up with real, rational solutions. But our
current government isn’t in the business of rational
solutions.
In fact, they’ve overinvested in elaborate irrational
solutions. It’s clear now, for instance, that more than
rational necessity fueled the war in Iraq.
The fact is, the Bush administration has realized that most
Americans will trade in real, rational security for blind
patriotism or religious fanaticism.
Americans just seem to feel better about easy answers. As long
as they can curse out a picture of Osama bin Laden and keep that
giant handgun under their pillow, they seem to be able to get a
good night’s sleep.
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