Paranoia..

Paranoia is striking the heart of America. And it is not being caused by the economy, war, or the presidential debates. It is being caused, in a way, in the very forum in which I am presenting this blog. Simply put, the paranoia is being caused by the invention of the 24 hour news cycle.

A person can access the latest news anywhere. Pick up your phone, get text message alerts every time the Stock Market drops a point. Maybe you don't like that option. How about receiving an email every time the price of an oil barrel goes up a cent? Don't like that, I see. Perhaps you'd like to turn on a news channel watching Bill O'Reilly hosting eight people you've never heard of arguing why we should/shouldn't attack Russia? (Speaking of which, come on now, this is not the Cold War. Maybe we should stop sticking our noses in other people's business. Different topic, different time.) The point is, a person can't go anywhere without hearing the dreadful nature of our world, and more specifically, our nation. And this is exactly what feeds into the paranoia of our nation.

Everyone, I'm sure, remembers 9/11. Mostly because our current president won't let us forget it. Well, this is where part of the paranoia started. Up to and including five years after that dreadful day, the news stations would give us constant updates on our terror level. And if it even jumped a millimeter for one minute, people would swarm to the hardware stores buying duct tape and shovels. Why shovels? Who knows, probably to bury their money, which is exactly what they are doing now with the current state our economy. Here's an example of how that starts: One tiny bank in one tiny town is a little low on money for that day. The bank has had a few extra people cash large(r) checks than usual, so cash is a little low. Suddenly, customers begin calling the local news station with worries over the bank shutting down. Next thing you know, the story is being carried nationally with fears that America is running out of cash. Then people are rapidly pulling their money out of banks, driving the economy to de-stabilize, keeping money out of circulation, thus driving down the value of a dollar, which leads to a stronger Europe, which leads to them invading us in collusion with the terrorists, which leads to us living in bunkers and internment camps, which leads to us not trusting our neighbor... And so on, and so forth, right? The main part of that is the people going straight to the news, which in today's age, is bound to be picked up nationally eventually.

Okay, I agree with the first part. Listen people, by holding onto your money at your house, you are not helping anyone. Remember the Great Depression? That's exactly what happened. People withdrew their money, the market crashed, banks went into the shit... If you think we're in one now, trying having an unemployment rate at over 30 percent. Right now we sit at barely over six. Not good, yeah, but certainly not depression-like. Stop believing every little thing you see or read or hear. Take the time to form an opinion for yourselves. Does anyone remember that? How to think for yourself? Don't like paranoia drive you to craziness and irrationality. For you people withdrawing money from the bank: There's a little thing called the FDIC that has been established. Look into it. For those of you that can't step away from the internet or watching MSNBC or your local news: take a walk, read a book, re-connect with your family, go to a movie, and let your brain refresh itself. If America takes a good long look at itself, sets asides it's paranoia, stops outsourcing (again, another point, another time), and stops believing everything Sean Hannity blurts from his mouth, then reality can be seen.

There's no doubt America is in dire times, but let's use some rationality in assessing our situations. There's no need for mass panic. Unfortunately, it starts with the powers at top. Then steps in their voice box; the media and the internet. Those two things will not go away so it's simply time to use something given to everyone a long time ago: Your mind.

Jason

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