How am I going to protect myself

Sitting on the back porch with some right wingers the topic briefly turned to guns.  The woman chasing seventy said " How am I going to protect myself?".   Old Kadizzle is sixty eight.  As we look at life it would seem we would come to understand things.  At sixty eight I have never been hit by a meteor. Never even had one hit nearby.  So it seem like not much of a problem.  All the gun insanity in this country somehow fails to figure the reality that you will need a gun to save yourself.  Most policemen have guns, yet a lot of them get shot and killed.  So even if you have a gun it assures you of nothing. Now remember that the actual statistics show that when someone does kill someone with a gun, it is usually someone in the family or someone they know.  If someone knows you they know when to kill you. That means you need a gun in the shower.  Of course you need a gun by your bed.  As any good hit man knows it is simple to just walk up behind someone and blow them away.   So even if you are armed to the teeth, the gun does not guarantee you will stay alive when the shooter comes, but remember you are approaching seventy and the shooter never has come.  On the other hand you drive your car every day.  Your chances of getting killed driving are hundreds of times higher than getting shot.  So if you are bound and determined to live, then walk.  The notion of living a life of fear based on news reports is a bit insane.  Terrorist are behind every tree, and shooters are everywhere. People get killed by snake bites, but it is rare.  We do not quit walking in snake country because we know it is very unlikely to happen.  However, if the news media pumped up the idea be assured a lot of people would start wearing snake protection and stay home.  Fear sells.  Watch little kids, they love to be scared. The brain likes stimulation. Once we were primitive people, are brains are still primitive.  Fear used to be our friend, it kept us alert.  The sabre toothed tiger could pounce on us at any time, so we lived in fear. Our brains are geared to feed on fear.  Fear is like candy to those addicted to Fox News, and Rush Limbaugh. Someone or something is out to get you or your money.  Be on guard.

The problem with fear is it puts you in a prison.  You are afraid to climb a mountain, you are afraid to go in a boat, planes make you nervous.  What do you do? Nothing.   You stay home and watch all the people getting shot and killed on TV.  Now your fear is even worse.  You convince yourself the world is a dangerous place. You walk through life thinking everyone is a potential robber, or killer.  You have imprisoned yourself with fear.  People play on your fear.  They sell you guns, security equipment, gated communities, attack dogs, pepper spray, and on it goes.  Fear sells.  Someone is going to come get your gun, I will protect you and your gun send me ten bucks.  By the way do you need ammunition.  How about some emergency food for the revolution?

Now when we are a psyched up over fear, and don't want to go out and exercise because we will get raped by Mexicans we sit home and eat a few cookies.  As the fat accumulates the real killer obesity works on a slow death for us.  Maybe a few puffs of tobacco will calm our fears about being shot and mugged.  So we end up dead.  Not from the guy who was going to break into our house and murder us, but from the anxiety induced heart attack that blew our fat body to shreds.  So what should we worry about today?