At the time of the year when many of us are preparing for the fun of Halloween, finding the right costume and attending parties and haunted houses, the question arises in the quest to discover, what do you #fear the most?
The One Thing Americans Fear the Most
Ryan Wallace October 22, 2014
The top five things Americans fear the most are as follows:
- Walking alone at night
- Becoming the victim of identity theft
- Lack of safety on the Internet
- Being the victim of a mass/random shooting
- Public speaking
The top five things Americans are concerned about are as follows:
- Having identity stolen on the Internet
- Corporate surveillance of Internet activity
- Running out of money in the future
- Government surveillance of Internet activity
- Becoming ill/sick
Outside of our phobias (: an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation (m-w.com)), where being buried alive (taphophobia), fear of heights (acrophobia); or not being properly cared for if I am incapable of caring for myself are at the top on my personal list, the results of the above lists show us what we are afraid of in our daily lives, the world today.
I wonder what spurs our fears in our general and worldwide societies today. Is it the news we see at the click of a button on television or the internet; the movies we watch or the books we read? So many people I know read horror thrillers and watch the same movie genres just for the thrill of being “scared.” I do not possess the same craving to have the wits scared out of me. However, that is so much different than the real life presented to us by what used to be the evening news but has evolved into a 24-hour information overload. We see most every day that some college student is missing and feared dead (often that is the case) because some deranged person has done them harm; or the numerous amber alerts, school violence and drive-by shootings presented as breaking alerts. Now, added to the mixture of mess and mayhem, are the terrorism threats and “acts of senseless violence,” as some would call it. First it was overseas, people having their heads cut off but then it was done here in an act of “workplace violence.”
The world provides us with senseless violence everyday with the assaults of women, children and others by so-called societal-created psychopaths (bad guys). It is no wonder most people fear walking alone at night. In addition to fear of walking alone, people fear or are concerned about the safety of their identity. Not the persona we put out there for others to see but the one thing that is truly us, the person we truly are in private. We are a culmination of experiences that makes up our personality but when it comes to us, our finances, our family and our lives, we wish that to remain ours and ours alone. It is not for anyone to take. I wouldn’t recommend anyone invading my home, I’m real protective in that arena. These are valid fears or concerns. So much so, that we are willing to pay companies to keep us safe.
So, what do we do? Well, we can pay a company to keep our home or information safe, or at least warn us when it is at risk; we can take self-defense courses or purchase weapons; shred financial and other personal papers to keep them out of the trash and we can keep as much of our information as private as whatever social media we’re on will allow. We can, although in today’s world extreme, stay off the grid. Good luck with that one. Another thing we can do is not worry about the things of which we have absolutely no control. The old saying, “change the things you can…”
So, at a time of impending zombie apocalypse, what do I fear most? I have more concerns that I do actual fears. Perhaps the one true, non-phobic thing I fear most is a government that takes away our Constitution and squashes every liberty we the Free have in order to tear us down to the level of a society afraid of everything and anything lest our government save us.
A Psalm of David.
- The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
- He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
- He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
- Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
- Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
- Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalms 23
Care to share? What do you fear most?
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