Elaine Tyler May's latest book is Fortress America: How We Embraced Fear and Abandoned Democracy.From her Q&A with Deborah Kalb:
Q: How would you compare the level of fear at the start of the Cold War to the level we see today?The Page 99 Test: America and the Pill.
A: The fear is different and difficult to measure. In the early days of the Atomic Age, citizens believed there was little or nothing they could do to protect themselves, and the government gave the message that everyone was responsible for their own protection.
That last message has prevailed over the decades, even though the perceived danger is different.
Now it is about crime, with exaggerated fear far out of proportion to any real threat, but citizens still feel they need to protect themselves, with locks, security systems, guns, gated communities, and a bunker mentality that leads to mistrust and more...[read on]
--Marshal Zeringue