Name: Anonymous 2007-01-30 19:06
Maybe I'm beating a dead horse, but I really wish people would calmly look at the real practical risks of being the victim of a terror attack, weigh that against both the cost of the war on terror, and put everything in to perspective alongside other risks of death we assume in the United States every day.
Total number of people who have been alive in the U.S., 9/10/2001-9/10/2006: ~330 million
Total number of people killed in terrorist attacks in the U.S., 9/10/2001-9/10/2006: 2,752.
Chance of death from terrorist attack for period 9/10/01-9/10/06: 1 in 119,912.
That's over only a sample of five years, mind you. If we were to take a larger sample of time, the odds obviously begin to shrink tremendously. Let's see where death by terrorism ranks among the causes of death put out by the National Safety Council (nsc.org).
Heart disease - 1 in 5
Stroke - 1 in 24
Suicide - 1 in 119
Firearm assault - 1 in 314
Drowning - 1 in 1,008
Now let's get into the fun ones:
Hot weather - 1 in 13,729
Bee sting - 1 in 56,789
Lightning - 1 in 79,746
Earthquake - 1 in 117,127
Ooooh, close one there with the earthquakes, but still slightly more likely than terrorism's 1 in 119,912.
Flood - 1 in 144,156
Aha! Finally, something less likely to kill you than terrorism in the U.S.
My point is, the war on terror is fucking bullshit. Lightning has killed tens of thousands of people in American history. Why don't we spent hundreds of billions of dollars to combat that? Why? Because it would be retarded and barely decrease the likelihood of death. The war on terror is precisely the same. Go grab someone by the shoulders in the street, shake them, and tell them to stop being afraid of terrorism in the US.
Total number of people who have been alive in the U.S., 9/10/2001-9/10/2006: ~330 million
Total number of people killed in terrorist attacks in the U.S., 9/10/2001-9/10/2006: 2,752.
Chance of death from terrorist attack for period 9/10/01-9/10/06: 1 in 119,912.
That's over only a sample of five years, mind you. If we were to take a larger sample of time, the odds obviously begin to shrink tremendously. Let's see where death by terrorism ranks among the causes of death put out by the National Safety Council (nsc.org).
Heart disease - 1 in 5
Stroke - 1 in 24
Suicide - 1 in 119
Firearm assault - 1 in 314
Drowning - 1 in 1,008
Now let's get into the fun ones:
Hot weather - 1 in 13,729
Bee sting - 1 in 56,789
Lightning - 1 in 79,746
Earthquake - 1 in 117,127
Ooooh, close one there with the earthquakes, but still slightly more likely than terrorism's 1 in 119,912.
Flood - 1 in 144,156
Aha! Finally, something less likely to kill you than terrorism in the U.S.
My point is, the war on terror is fucking bullshit. Lightning has killed tens of thousands of people in American history. Why don't we spent hundreds of billions of dollars to combat that? Why? Because it would be retarded and barely decrease the likelihood of death. The war on terror is precisely the same. Go grab someone by the shoulders in the street, shake them, and tell them to stop being afraid of terrorism in the US.