[Infowarrior] - We’re Scared of the Wrong Things

[Richard Forno]

We’re Scared of the Wrong Things

Americans freak out over small threats and ignore big ones

Middle East. The Ebola virus spreads across West Africa. Edward Snowden, Chinese hackers and Anonymous make a mockery of national cyber security. Religious fanatics are trying to get their hands on nuclear and chemical weapons.
Americans are afraid. And who can blame us? Spend too long with any of the major news outlets and the future can look pretty bleak.
But many of things Americans fear the most more or less are fantasies. That doesn’t stop us from spending time, effort and billions upon billions of dollars trying to defend ourselves. Meanwhile, we often ignore the real threats—the technology, people and phenomena that actually can hurt us.
What are Americans getting wrong about national security? From nuclear terrorism to the much-ballyhooed “cyber 9/11,” here’s where we think our priorities are wrong. And while we’re at it, we’ll mention what we think you really should be afraid of.

< - >

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/youre-scared-of-the-wrong-things-f7b581e78aa3