The Shocking Reasons that Americans Are Right to Be More Afraid of Bad Government Policy than Terrorism
Preface: I am not so much anti-government as anti-stupid policy. (Moreover, the problem is not bad government or even corrupt corporations. The real problem is that the two have become intertwined in a malignant, symbiotic relation.)
Multiple polls show that Americans are more afraid of our own government than of terrorists.
Sure, the government – not Al Qaeda – is taking away virtually all of our Constitutional rights. And that includes reserving to itself the right to assassinate or indefinitely detain American citizens.
But stupid government policy is threatening us in other ways, as well.
The Police
For example, we’ve documented that you are 9 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than a terrorist. (Legal experts say you should never talk to the police).
Financial Crisis
The financial crisis will also lead to quite a few early deaths. The government – together with Wall Street – caused the financial crisis … not Al Qaeda. (Indeed, the government and big banks – not Osama – have destroyed free market capitalism in the U.S.)
Suicide
The number of deaths by suicide has skyrocketed recently, and many connect the increase in suicides to the downturn in the economy.
Around 35,000 Americans kill themselves each year. Indeed, Americans are 2,059 times more likely to kill themselves than die at the hand of a terrorist.
And more American soldiers die by suicide than combat (the number of veterans committing suicide is astronomical and under-reported).
The wars that are causing the soldiers so much grief were planned 20 years ago … and are being fought for oil (and here) and gas.
Killer Drugs
According to a 2011 CDC report, poisoning from prescription drugs is one of the leading cause of death. Indeed, the CDC stated in 2011 that – in the majority of states – your prescription meds are more likely to kill you than any other source of injury. So your meds are thousands of times more likely to kill you than Al Qaeda.
After drug companies were busted for using fraudulent data for drug approval, the FDA allowed the potentially dangerous drugs to stay on the market.
And when one of the most respected radiologists in America – the former head of the radiology department at Yale University – attempted to blow the whistle on the fact that the FDA had approved a medical device manufactured by General Electric because it put out massive amounts of radiation, the FDA installed spyware to record his private emails and surfing activities (including installing cameras to snap pictures of his screen), and then used the information to smear him and other whistleblowers.
Contaminated Food
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control show that Americans are 110 times more likely to die from contaminated food than terrorism. And see this.
Yet the government is working hand-in-glove with the giant good companies to dish up cheap, unhealthy food.
The government’s response to the outbreak of mad cow disease was simple: it stopped testing for mad cow, and prevented cattle ranchers and meat processors from voluntarily testing their own cows (and see this and this).
The EPA recently raised the allowable amount of a dangerous pesticide by 3,000% … pretending that it won’t have adverse health effects.
In response to new studies showing the substantial dangers of genetically modified foods – they’ve already been tentatively linked to obesity, cancer, liver failure and all sorts of other diseases (brief, must-watch videos here and here – the government passed legislation more or less pushing it onto our plates.
When BP – through criminal negligence – blew out the Deepwater Horizon oil well, the government helped cover it up (and here). As just one example, the government approved the massive use of a highly-toxic dispersant to temporarily hide the oil. The government also changed the testing standards for seafood to pretend that higher levels of toxic PAHs in our food was business-as-usual.
Environmental Poisons
In fact, the government has long covered up environmental risks.
For example, the Centers for Disease Control – the lead agency tasked with addressing disease in America – covered up lead poisoning in children in the Washington, D.C. area.
The Bush administration covered up the health risks to New Orleans residents associated with polluted water from hurricane Katrina, and FEMA covered up the cancer risk from the toxic trailers which it provided to refugees of the hurricane.
And then there’s nuclear power. The American government has:
- Wholly subsidized nuclear power (it would never have been built without 100% backing)
Indeed, the archaic nuclear design used at Fukushima and throughout the United States was chosen solely because it helps to make nuclear bombs.
Sadly, radiation from Fukushima and U.S. reactors will kill some Americans. The National Journal reports:
“Look at what’s going on now: They’re dumping huge amounts of radioactivity into the ocean — no one expected that in 2011,” Daniel Hirsch, a nuclear policy lecturer at the University of California-Santa Cruz, told Global Security Newswire. “We could have large numbers of cancer from ingestion of fish.”
Indeed, one doctor claims that Fukushima had already killed 14,000 Americans 9 months after the accident. We doubt her numbers … but it is clear that even low levels of radiation can damage human health. Whatever the number, this was caused by the government … not Al Qaeda.
(The government also created a computer virus which threatens nuclear plants world-wide.)
Bad Government Policy Is Increasing the Risk of Terrorism
Oh and – by the way – the government’s actions are so idiotic that they are actually increasing the chance of a terrorist attack.
