Terrorism We Can Believe In? - 2

Magic Thinking R Us

In this series, as well as some other series associated with this particular subject matter, Dredd Blog posts have made an attempt to show incredibly flawed thinking in public policy.

The reality that deaths to Americans caused by terrorism is de minimis when compared to deaths of Americans caused by other sources exposes one of those flaws.

Especially when most deaths are legally and validly not terrorism as we traditionally define it.

Grasping this is quite important, because it exposes cognitive aberration in government, thereby protecting and aiding the common good.

Looking at it another way, there is a point at which "magic thinking" does de minimis damage we can recover from (e.g. magic thinking about "Santa Claus"), but there is also a point where magic thinking falls off the cliff and descends into dementia (MOMCOM's Dissociation).

Fear mongering and warmongering over the past decade (led by the disciples of The Ways of Bernays, a.k.a. "official magic thinking") caused us to fear that terrorism was our greatest threat.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of us were being killed by our own institutions which we looked on in a similar manner to children contemplating Santa Claus:

What would you think and feel if you were told that an organized group within the United States killed 424,000 Americans each year, and maimed millions more?

Is it al Queda, Inc. or Taliban LLC, or Right Wing Hate, Corp. we are talking about here?

The real haters of America would jump and shout for "joy" to be able to kill 424,000 of their enemy would they not?

A Dredd Blog article several months ago reported this shocking detail:

The article points out that deaths due to "iatrogenic causes" during hospital care results in 225,000 deaths per year in the United States.

The outpatient care which follows that hospitalization results in an additional 199,000 deaths due to those "iatrogenic causes".

The not so grand total is 424,000 deaths per year that were due to negligence, accidents, or incompetence.

An "iatrogenic cause" is defined as:

i·at·ro·gen·ic: Induced in a patient by a physician's activity, manner, or therapy. Used especially of an infection or other complication of treatment.

(Dictionary). What this boils down to is that, in the health care system discussed, the treatment is sometimes worse than the disease.

(Dredd on JAMA, cf. Med. Detective). In plain english, iatrogenic means "doctors bury their mistakes" which number into the hundreds of thousands, while we spend trillions of dollars chasing people who only kill a tiny number by comparison.

(Terrorism We Can Believe In?). A medical professional puts it in different words but gets to the point being made:

If a Jumbo Jet crashed and killed 280 people everyday ... 365 days a year ... year after year ... would you be concerned about flying??

Would you question the Federal Aviation Administration? Would you demand answers??

Think about it! ...Sounds Ridiculous??!! ... people maimed and disabled every year ... year after year from modern medicine ... would you believe it??

Well these may be my words ... but read the following articles from the most respected medical journals and institutions (Journal of the American Medical Association, Harvard University, Centers for Disease Control, British medical journal The Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine and national news (New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, US World Report) and you be the judge ... the more frightening number is that doctors are the third leading cause of death in this country, killing nearly a quarter million people a year.

(Homeland Terrorism & Instability We Can Believe In?). I am sure some readers may be thinking "what is the point Dredd, do you want us to stop going to doctors?" ... no, I want all of us to stop "thinking" we are actually thinking at those times when we are really just believing in fear.

For example, the recent Boston and Sandy Hook terrorism events had radical reactions (entire city on lock-down, gun-law debates).

Those irrational reactions happened even though people are much more likely to be killed in a vehicle accident on the way to or from school or to or from a marathon race than by terrorism;  more likely to be killed by lightning than by terrorism; more likely to die from suicide than by terrorism; and more likely to die during medical treatment than by terrorism.

So why all the fear of death that is not real, that has gone over the edge into the magical thinking of the demented, delusional type?

The answer is: fear based propaganda (see The Matriarch of the Matrix - 3).

The previous post in this series is here.