Is it really necessary to be so afraid?

I am 70 years old. I have lived through some of them more challenging times this country has faced. When my generation was young, we raised a lot of hell and the crime rate in the country was higher than it has ever been since. And yet, today, I see more people being more afraid everyday. And, quite frankly, there is nothing to be afraid of. Unless you live in some of the deepest, darkest, most underprivileged city centers in the country, you are not likely to be accosted or stolen from or even shot. Why do people feel so afraid?

I have an opinion. I think we pay too much attention to the news. I think there are people who live in hazardous bubbles where their greatest fears are constantly reinforced. As tragic and frequent as mass shootings are, though, they remain isolated incidents and not a factor in any Americans everyday life. Yet people fear like we live in a war zone. The people in Gaza live in a war zone. They have reason to be afraid. People in Africa fear starvation everyday. And, even over 20 years since the fall of the Soviet Union, people in Russia are afraid to be heard saying the wrong thing about their government. Those people have reason to be afraid. What I fear is that, if we continue to act like there is something to fear, something to fear will find us. We will create a country in which being afraid is necessary. All of the worst of what you can imagine can be visited upon you. All you have to do is believe in it hard enough.