The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things
By:
Barry Glassner
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Average Customer Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Description:
There has never been another era in modern history, even during wartime or the Great Depression, when so many people have feared so much. Three out of four Americans say they feel more fearful today then they did twenty years ago. The Culture of Fear describes the high costs of living in a fear-ridden environment where realism has become rarer than doors without deadbolts.Why do we have so many fears these days? Are we living in exceptionally dangerous times? To watch the news, you’d certainly think so, but Glassner demonstrates that it is our perception of danger that has increased, not the actual level of risk. The Culture of Fear is an expose of the people and organizations that manipulate our perceptions and profit from our fears: politicians who win elections by heightening concerns about crime and drug use even as rates for both are declining; advocacy groups that raise money by exaggerating the prevalence of particular diseases; TV newsmagazines that monger a new scare every week to garner ratings.Glassner spells out the prices we pay for social panics: the huge sums of money that go to waste on unnecessary programs and products as well as time and energy spent worrying about our fears.
Description:
Americans are afraid of many things that shouldn't frighten them, writes Barry Glassner in this book devoted to exploding conventional wisdom. Thanks to opportunistic politicians, single-minded advocacy groups, and unscrupulous TV "newsmagazines," people must unlearn their many misperceptions about the world around them. The youth homicide rate, for instance, has dropped by as much as 30 percent in recent years, says Glassner--and up to three times as many people are struck dead by lightening than die by violence in schools. "False and overdrawn fears only cause hardship," he writes. In fact, one study shows that daughters of women with breast cancer are actually less likely to conduct self-examinations--probably because the campaign to increase awareness of the ailment also inadvertently heightens fears. Although some sections are stronger than others, The Culture of Fear's examination of many nonproblems--such as "road rage," "Internet addiction," and airline safety--is very good. Glassner also has a sharp eye for what causes unnecessary goose bumps: "The use of poignant anecdotes in place of scientific evidence, the christening of isolated incidents as trends, depictions of entire categories of people as innately dangerous," and unknown scholars who masquerade as "experts." Although Glassner rejects the notion that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, he certainly shows we have much less to fear than we think. And isn't that sort of scary? --John J. Miller
Publisher: Basic Books
Customer Review: 1 out of 5
Disappointing -- Uninspired and Hypocritical - I had heard pretty good things about this book but was disappointed in it (and actually gave up on it with about 60 pages to go.) The chapters each cover different subjects but they all are making the same point: media plays up a new fear periodically by bending statistics and using sensationalized reporting. Even with new subjects as examples, the theme was repetitive with no new insights.
Also, the author does have his own pet fear: he is afraid of guns. And he is willing to use the same type of incomplete (and/or discredited) statistics he accuses media of using in other subjects in an attempt to inspire his fear in readers.
Customer Review: 3 out of 5
I finished it - I finished this book, considering I hate reading and haven't read a book since high school, that should mean something. I'm not a fan of people shoving their opinions down my throat, but I picked this book up out of curiosity. And I had a feeling the author and I would agree on more things than disagree.
I really do place most of the blame of this countries problems, fear, irrational paranoia, and emphasis that we are all alone and need to depend on the government for protection on the media- the news programs specifically. They chose what to report on, they chose what slant to bring to the story, they leave out details, and hardly ever report on the honesty, humanity, and morality of man.
This book just confirmed what I already believed. Although it was refreshing to know that I'm not the only one that finds the media destructive. He touches on good points. Even things I wasn't scared of, but the American public may be concerned about. Some of his statements, seem to be unfounded and he could have backed them up more with facts. He can sometimes assume facts because of his personal beliefs. But overall the book was good. I don't feel the need to read it more than once though.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Many true notions - This book is great for the social and cultural notions of the last 20th and early 21st century. It speaks to an important and growing discourse of critiquing the media.
Customer Review: 3 out of 5
Some Things Haven't Changed ... - Some things haven't changed in the last ten years since this book was written. I do believe that the media has gotten worse over the years since this book was written. After reading this book, I am about ready to boycott the newspaper/TV medias but ... they still do provide a service to the public, so I can't just write them completely off yet. But this book has made that idea a temptation.
I orginally gave this book a four star but upon further reflection, I had to give it a three-star rating. I do believe it was well-written, researched as thoroughly as possible, but there's a taint of bias in his studies, or at least in the first half of the book. He mentioned his anti-guns bias repeatedly and after the third time of reading about it, I want to say, ok, I get your point. That bias left a shadow over the entire first half of the book that it made me weary of his points before I even finished the book. The bias would have been better if it was left alone after the first time he mentioned it.
Other than that, he validated his points with examples after examples throughout the entire book. The reader doesn't necessarily have to agree with his reasonings, but he does make good points about how the media ignores the facts and runs away with the scare tactics. After reading "Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over For Bush" and this book, I am even more inclined to think less of the media. There is a point that someone who works in the media said that rings true even back to my newsroom days: "News is what happens to your editors." (page 201)
But that doesn't excuse reporters and editors from creating scare tactics or sensational news to frighten people. Yes, sensational news sell copies, and it does seem that the media has forgotten their responsibility to the people as a whole, which is to provide unbiased reporting of facts and news to the public. I know that it is almost impossible to keep your own opinions out of it (which is why they have columnists), but to constantly provide news that frighten Americans without checking all the facts of the story, is in my opinion, just wrong.
This book is a must-read for aspiring journalists or for anyone who wants to be in the know. It is detailed and insightful. It will disgust the reader in spots and provide more information in other spots. It is not an entertaining book but one that will provide thoughtful musings on the state of the media these days. Some things just haven't changed in the last 10 years.
7/9/08
Customer Review: 3 out of 5
Culture of Fear is like reading a two week old newspaper - The vast majority of fears in The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things are irrational. People who are deathly afraid of plain crashes are probably a bit paranoid, considering their rarity. People who are very afraid of black men are probably racist, considering how much more common it is for black men to be victims than perps. The biggest new insight I received from Glassner's work was on Gulf War Syndrome. Glassner, a Sociology Professor at USC, convincingly demonstrates that improbability that GWS is the result of exposure to chemical weapons or any other destructive war technology. I will not delve into the specific reasons for GWS, but it is a common thread for a certain percentage of veterans in all modern wars.
Chapters on teen motherhood, AIDS, violent youth and homicidal mothers manage to be dull, despite public fascination (my own included) with such topics, covered ad nauseum in the media. The best part of the book is the cover, which is well done with the inventive title prominently featured. What should have been an excellent concept turns into a rehashing of known contradictions to common stereotypes. There must be dozens of people who could do this better, including the authors of Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything.
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