In Michael Crichton’s 2004 novel State of Fear, a character goes on at length about the way governments and other elements of authority use fear to manipulate the masses. For the character, a manic sociology professor named Hoffman, this tactic has evolved well beyond isolated use for such situations as justifying military action, to become an ongoing and all-encompassing conspiracy to control our lives. The Cold War (look it up, kids), AIDS, crime, drugs, bird flu, terrorism, global warming — all and more have been hyped and distorted far beyond their true scope and danger in the name of keeping us compliant, keeping us put, keeping us terrified and in need of strong leadership to keep us safe.
Watch any two hours’ worth of news or read two hours’ worth of headlines, and you might be tempted to agree.
But if the latest threat to Americans’ peace of body and mind is any indication, the Fear Factory might be scraping the bottom of the barrel.
So what’s lying in wait to do in unwary humans now? Supergators? Tainted pomegranates smuggled from the dreaded Commie East? The St. Vitus Dance, Then Explode?
Actually, it’s sitting. Sitting is going to KILL YOU.