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A carregar... Culture of fear : risk-taking and the morality of low expectationpor Frank Furedi
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Fear has become an ever-expanding part of life in the West in the twenty-first century. We live in terror of disease, abuse, stranger danger, environmental devastation and terrorist onslaught. We are bombarded with reports of new concerns for our safety and that of our children, and urged to take greater precautions and seek more protection. But compared to the past, or to the developing world, people in contemporary Western societies have much less familiarity with pain, suffering, debilitating disease and death. We actually enjoy an unprecedented level of personal safety. When confronted with events like the destruction of the World Trade Center, fear for the future is inevitable. But what happened on September 11th, 2001 was in many ways an old fashioned act of terror, representing the destructive side of human passions. Frank Furedi argues that the greater danger in our culture is the tendency to fear achievements that represent a more constructive side of humanity. We panic about genetically engineered food, about genetic research, about the health dangers of mobile phones. The facts, however, often fail to support the scare stories about new or growing risks to our health and safety. Instead, it is our obsession with theoretical risks that is in danger of distracting us from dealing with the old-fashioned dangers that have always threatened our lives. Não foram encontradas descrições de bibliotecas. |
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 Google Books — A carregar...GénerosSistema Decimal de Melvil (DDC)302.12Social sciences Social Sciences; Sociology and anthropology Social Interaction General topics of social interaction Social understandingClassificação da Biblioteca do Congresso dos EUA (LCC)AvaliaçãoMédia: (4.21)
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Essentially, I think Furedi's theory is that many social forces today advocate risk aversion which in turn give the message that risks are immoral and the avoidance of risk is morally superior. This new morality has caused an increase in counseling, over-protective parents, media over-exposure in the coverage of disease, safe sex, abuse, neglect, and crime, a culture of victimhood, political correctness, and lowered expectations.
I'm not sure if it was the fact that I read this ten years after it was published or if Furedi just failed to intrigue me or a combination of the two, but I failed to make a strong connection with his premise. Even if true in 1997, his theory just does not seem to hold up in my opinion. While he has some good ideas, I do not see the relationship that these social forces have on risk aversion or the morality of low expectation. Low expectations - perhaps - but I fail to see it expressed as moral in the culture. And as for risk aversion, it makes sense to me to avoid many risks. If we, as a culture, fail to look at history than how are we to learn and not repeat mistakes. Furthermore, I see people taking risks all of the time, safe and dangerous risks in their careers, personal lives, and health.
Perhaps we do live in a culture of fear, but I do not believe that it is necessarily the sources Furedi cites or these sources are at work in much more complex ways than he suggest.