Security has become omnipresent today – determining our lives, influencing our decisions and changing our behaviors.
Is our world really a dangerous place and our rising desire for security justified?
THE DISCREPANCY OF OUR PERCEPTION
Our world has never been so safe. Negative numbers such as the crime rate, the death caused by terror and hunger and the infant mortality rate have decreased, but our fears have reached immeasurable proportions. We are afraid of the unknown, of strangers, of our neighbors, of unexpected incidents, of life itself and many other things. The dramatization and fictionalization of events by the media and politics are fueling our fears even more. Companies make use of our fears for their profit and sell us unnecessary insurance and provision offers. This accelerates our society of fear. The market and politics make it our personal responsibility to find our own appropriate protection and thereby privatize security.
SUPER SECURITY MARKET
The market’s response, a seemingly endless range of security products and services, crept in almost unnoticed. Even though some products have their justification, making use of the entire spectrum would sooner or later lead to an incredible disaster. It would lead to isolation, closing of borders, total surveillance and many other unpleasant things. Everyone would observe and mistrust everyone else. Furthermore, the products often reinforce our fears by evoking images and scenarios. The current way the market, media, politics and many other authorities are dealing with security does not help us to escape the vicious circle of fear.
INSECURITY AS OUR ESSENTIAL COMPANION
We need to find another way to put an end to our continuous alarmism. We have to reflect critically on what is really vital for our personal security and not let ourselves be blinded by endless offers, false allegations and constant dramatizations.
We have to recognize that total security can never be achieved because there will always be a certain degree of unpredictability and uncontrollability. Ambiguity, insecurity and uncertainty have to be accepted and their positive sides acknowledged. We cannot achieve total security no matter how hard we try. We have to learn how to live with them. We have to enjoy them and see them as opportunities and necessities because they are inevitable and essential companions for all of us.