But b_b I totally agree, the fear is propagated by those that benefit, mainly the media. But that fear is allowed to take hold because there usually is some practical knowledge, in a tangential way, of the danger being levied.the ready violence available to you from people you know and things you do normally always seemed more pressing.
Without a doubt. I was 8 when this happened and it was the first time that the world seemed dangerous. Later, in high-school a couple different people killed themselves, a friend and two brothers had their car hit by a drunk driver on new years day. My friend Brian happened to be driving a few cars behind and was the first on the scene. He knew all of them and couldn't recognize any of them. "Their brains were all over the place", is all he ever really told me about it. A girl I dated came over to my house for dinner and met my family. She knew my grandmother (which we hadn't realized) because my grandmother was the director of a women's shelter. My GF had been there as a kid to escape/hide from an abusive step-father. As you get older, the dangers are unavoidable, they smack you in your face. When you're 8 though and a kid goes missing, it's a very Ray Brower kind of moment.