The new America

By Jeremy Reynalds 
web posted October 29, 2001

It's hard not to ask -- or at least momentarily ponder -- whether
the terrorists are winning. Before you're tempted to ask me how
I could even consider such a thought, look at just a smattering of
what's been happening in our country. Did you hear about the
Philadelphia man who recently ended up being denied permission
to board a plane because of the book (yes, the book!) he was
reading?

According to a Philadelphia weekly newspaper, the man was
reading Hayduke Lives! by Edward Abbey. The book's cover
portrays an illustration of a man's hand holding a number of
sticks of dynamite. As the Philadelphia paper described the
book, it's about a radical environmentalist who destroys anything
and everything he thinks is threatening the Southwest landscape.

Aspiring traveler Neil Godfrey told the Philadelphia City Paper
that when an airport security guard frowned at his Hayduke
Lives! book, "For the first time, it occurred to me the book may
be a problem."

After Godfrey cleared the security, he did what most of us do at
the airport when we have time on our hands and a book -- he
sat down to read. However, Godfrey had only gotten in about
10 minutes of reading time when his day took a decidedly
unexpected turn after a National Guardman approached him.

As Godfrey told the City Paper, "‘He told me to step aside ...
Then he took my book and asked me why I was reading it.'
Within minutes, Godfrey says, Philadelphia Police officers,
Pennsylvania State Troopers and airport security officials joined
the National Guardsman. About 10 to 12 people examined the
novel for 45 minutes, scratching out notes the entire time. They
also questioned Godfrey about the purpose of his trip to
Phoenix."

A spokesman for the Philadelphia security company that United
Airlines contracts with to man its checkpoints in Philadelphia told
City Paper that the situation wasn't her company's responsibility
and that airline personnel are the ones who ultimately decide who
can and cannot board their flights. A spokesman for Philadelphia
International Airport confirmed that, telling local media, "‘When
a passenger passes through security, it is under the jurisdiction of
the airline. We don't get involved,'" ... adding that stories like
Godfrey's are likely to become increasingly common.

I don't have an update on Godfrey, but I hope that he (somehow
and by whatever means ) eventually arrived at his destination..
Now while I pray that situations like his don't become
"increasingly common," I fear that may end up being the case,
because the fear monster has gotten out of its cage.

Let me explain. The front cover of a recent edition of a national
news magazine was headlined "The Fear Factor," and read
"Anthrax letters. FBI warnings. Bin Laden's videotapes.
Bombarded by threats real and imagined, a nation on edge asks,
‘What's next?'"

That same news magazine succinctly summarized our country's
current situation, writing "We come to realize that something
sinister has been planted in our midst, not just the threat but also
the fear of the threat."

From everything I've observed the last few weeks, it's the fear of
the threat more than the threat itself that's beginning to
increasingly dominate our lives and eat us up emotionally. First
there was the never-to-forgotten horror of September 11th. For
seemingly endless days after the tragic event, we stared at our
television screens watching mind-numbing replay after replay of
those planes crashing into the World Trade Center and thought
"This can't be in America. Things like this just don't happen
here." But it was, and they did, and we feared--that it would
happen again.

Our nation's collective initial anguish was quickly partnered with
anger followed by action. Airlines were grounded for a few days
and then security was beefed up at the country's airports. We
were all warned to be at the airport at least three hours ahead of
our scheduled departure to go through vastly increased security
checks. (The National Guard was even enlisted to show
everyone that the government meant business). But for some of
us who continued flying it was sometimes quicker than before
getting through the metal detectors because while the security
checks were more intensive the people weren't. Americans were
staying away in droves from airports– paralyzed by what they
thought might happen – the fear of the threat.

We should have been reassured by all this extra security,
shouldn't we? But while all of these precautions were being put
into place, and even after they were implemented, we still feared.
We couldn't help it; no matter how much we tried. It was almost
as if someone had opened up our brain and dropped in pure
fear.

Many people making an attempt to return to a normal daily
routine wondered if the plane they saw up in the sky would
suddenly make an about turn and end up ploughing into a
building close to them. They didn't always say anything but the
fear was still there like a dark cloud–lurking ominously in the
back of their heads. Then as if all of that wasn't enough, our
children started having nightmares and some of the adults who
had been living close to the mental edge before September 11th
couldn't handle the increased pressure and they tumbled off into
mental and emotional oblivion.

And then just as we saw the dim light of normalcy beginning to
emerge at the end of what had initially seemed to be a tunnel
without end, anthrax reared its ugly head. And with a nation still
emotionally traumatized from the terrorizing events of September
11th, major media are reporting that the public is ready to think
the worst; even if the facts don't necessarily back up their fears.

But is there cause for concern? How safe are we? A
spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control told WebMD,
"Pretty darn safe -- so far." In addition, the CDC's acting deputy
director told WebMD, "We are not experiencing a national
outbreak of anthrax ... The cases are limited to specific
exposures. Most people have nothing to be concerned about."
WebMD pointed out , "There's no denying that the U.S. remains
a target of terrorists. Also beyond doubt is that one of the most
feared terror scenarios has come to pass -- the intentional
unleashing of a deadly disease. Lost in the media furor over
recent anthrax attacks is the fact that relatively few people
actually have been exposed to the germ. And very few people
have been infected."

However, the fear of the threat has taken center stage over the
threat itself. For example. A recent news report featured a story
about worried parents, who fearful that bioterrorists are planning
to target their children, are deluging pediatricians with (among
other things)requests for Cipro, the antibiotic used to treat
anthrax. However, Dr. Steve Berman, president of the American
Academy of Pediatrics, told media that while he understands
parents' concerns, he isn't prescribing the drug "just in case" a
child might contract the disease.

And not surprisingly, there's a good reason for Berman's caution.
Berman told USA Today that Cipro should only be used by
children if they're afflicted with life threatening conditions. He
says that's because animal research suggests it can damage the
growth of both joints and bones. Berman added that the overuse
of antibiotics for "prevention" therapy or minor bugs can end up
making youngsters more vulnerable to the serious bacteria that
cause pneumonia and ear infections.

Unfortunately, it sounds like Berman is a lone voice spitting in the
proverbial wind. In the same newspaper that featured the small
article with the caution-advising quote from Berman was a full
page advertisement from the Bayer Corporation; the makers of
Cipro.

Headlined "Our Commitment to You," the Bayer advertisement
read, "In response to the attacks on America and as part of the
fight against bioterrorism, the people of Bayer are substantially
increasing production of Cipro ... In the last few weeks we have
shipped tens of millions of Cipro tablets, have tripled production
and have committed to shipping 200 million tablets over the next
three months ... We take seriously our responsibility to help
protect and improve your welfare. We will face this latest
challenge together ... and we will succeed."

While anthrax is obviously a serious problem, isn't an action like
this by Bayer just helping to fuel the fires of fear that seem to be
running rampant around our nation? And I have to question
whether this desire by Bayer to "protect and improve (my)
welfare" is quite as philanthropic as it sounds. According to one
source, prescribing Cipro for three kids for 60 days runs up a
tab of $1,800.

I'm not suggesting you pay no attention to the terrible events that
have been plaguing our nation? Such an approach would be
totally unrealistic and would not, I believe, be how you should
react. But neither should you live your life worrying about all the
bad things that could possibly happen to you today.

The over-zealous inspection of books at airports by fearful
security personnel, the sharply stepped up production of
antibiotics to satisfy the fears of parents over a possible epidemic
that might never happen, and a lot of other over reactionary
measures exemplify as Time Magazine put it , "The fear of the
threat."

There may never again be another terrorist assault of the
magnitude experienced on September 11th. Sadly, multiplied
hundreds of thousands (and maybe millions) of Americans are
now struggling daily through an interminable terrorist assault on
their minds–from which they see NO light at the end of the
tunnel: they're fearing what MIGHT happen.

Unless we can help our fellow countrymen overcome this
nightmare, regardless of what happens with Afghanistan, the
terrorists will have won.

Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and
director of Joy Junction (http://www.joyjunction.org/), New
Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter. He has a master's
degree in communication from the University of New Mexico
and is pursuing his PhD in intercultural education at Biola
University in Los Angeles. He is married with five children and
lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His work can be viewed
here and weekly at www.americasvoices.org. He may be
contacted by e-mail at reynalds@joyjunction.org.

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