In my younger years, it seemed the 1950’s when people began to build atomic bomb fallout shelters in their backyards, but apparently it was in the early 60’s and Kennedy was one of the people advising people in the U.S. to take precautions against an atomic bomb or equally devastating event. It quickly spread into other countries, and even Switzerland, known to be primarily neutral through everything, began to tell their people to build.
I so remember how people were so paranoid about their own neighbors and the possibility that if THEY did not have a bomb shelter, the neighbors might want to take refuge with their families in any existing ones. About the same time (and again, this is likely my poor memory thru 78 years of living), suddenly there was paranoia about people in the U.S. being Communists. The entertainment industry was under great suspicion, and many famous entertainers were suffering “under the gun.” I don’t believe anything came from any of it except to further harass and control human beings because of total paranoia about a potential belief that there was an existing threat.
I saw a little column today listing everything that has caused massive fear/paranoia over the entire globe each and every year. Isn’t it incredible that so many people live their lives in such fear? Is it our nature as human beings, or have we all been brainwashed over the centuries? Remember the Y2K scare that all the computers were going to fail? Many churches were preparing to take in hundreds, perhaps thousands of new members as the year approached. Some were giving all their money to churches in hopes of perhaps staving off the horrors.
The same thing is happening once again as people are rushing to the stores in utter panic over the so-called Corona Virus to buy supplies like bottled water and toilet paper to the point where they have depleted some stores’ supplies. Have people died? Certainly. People die every year even from common viruses. They die because their health is not great to begin with, or they are particularly susceptible in some other way, and this is true of every single virus (and there has been one almost every single year) that comes along.
As Churchill once said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Who are the true beneficiaries each year from these fear seasons? I venture to say that next year this fear of Corona Virus will be a fear of something else.
As for me, I have lived through every single horror a person can live through, and here I am still standing at 78. Thank you one and all. Make your days and years count. Don’t live in fear. When it is your time to leave this plane, you will, regardless of your age, gender, overall health, etc. Live life productively as we are meant to do. Study, learn, create, serve others. You will see how good life really is and what magnificent creatures we are.
All in a Day's Breath 
Anne.
I don’t think we should be going out and buying in panic mode, nor do I believe people should be terrified.
With that being said, over 1000 persons have died from this virus and if we do not proceed with caution it could very well get horribly out of control.
It is also causing serious problems for businesses and this is because persons are sick and unable to work and this is causing productivity to drop.
It is causing problems with the financial markets, and so while we musten’t panic we must not take a cavalier attitude.
I don’t think we can even think of comparing this to the unrational fears which happened with Y2K either.
Yes, the news does over-do it on the fear factor but this is a very serious and very condagious virus which we must pay attention to.
Also I advise if you’re going to reference an article that you show the link to said article.
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Hi Patty, As always, I respect your good judgement. I do not disrespect that people have died. I know all too well about all of that. And we also do not have to let it stop us from living. Actually, this was not an article; it was just a post on Facebook that Richard sent me a copy of. I think I did give it credit, but perhaps I am mistaken. Yes, I did not take any of what I wrote from that article, but was just trying to make the point that there have been so many things in our lifetimes every single year that we could all be afraid of, and I am as concerned about my own health as anyone since I suffer from severe asthma and other respiratory illnesses that are serious because I was exposed to a lot of smoke 2nd hand when I was a child. I suffered so badly that the school kicked me out and told my mother I could not come back until I was cured from my horrible constant coughing day and night. I had to stay out more than a year with shots every other day and in those days, we did not know about the things that result from smoking. We have some very severe virus or other ailment every single year, and I am the last person to say that people don’t die from them. It is one thing to take precautions, but here in this part of the country, people are getting into horrible fights because someone else comes around and they too are trying to get their supplies. We are acting like animals and not good ones. We have brains, and simple precautions can prevent a lot of this.
Remember that I used to work with the school districts as a substitute. The parents are NEVER supposed to bring a child to school if they are sick, but I can tell you from getting a child’s vomit or snot from their runny nose all over me that they do anyway, and the school doesn’t turn them away. The school district gets paid to have the children in school, and not if they are out sick. Also, a lot of the mothers are working mothers, and they cannot afford to have their children stay home if they are sick. So yes, I have been sick a lot from things other people brought in, and I sure do understand it.
I am trying to make the point that we cannot let our fears stop us from doing things that are important in our lives, especially when there is a constant barrage of things that have caused panic over things that never even came to pass. I do appreciate you very much, and you are always a wise woman of the universe, so next time I might try doing things differently, but I always try to stay in integrity when I write. I have never intentionally written anything I don’t truly believe in. The point is for us to continue to live as normally as we can. Thanks for being so thoughtful to write about it.
Now on to another subject. Do you get anything from “The Little Mermaid,” another blog run by a lady who has frequent “tea parties,” usually each month, and they are themed on her blog. I think it is a WordPress blog. Anyway, this months “tea party” is dedicated to pets. If you go on her blog, you will read how it works, and it is a great way for bloggers to meet and share writing and their publications, and to help each other. Of course it is not a real tea party, for we don’t really have tea and crumpets unless we have them in our own homes individually, but we have rules of etiquette and behavior, etc. and people are expected to treat their other visitors to the tea party during the month with respect. So I love it and the way it works, and it doesn’t cost anything. I have made a lot of friends that way.
Hugs and blessings always and stay true to yourself no matter what. Anne always
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I don’t think we should stop living.
Nor do I think we should listen to, watch, or read news all the time.
I also don’t think panic buying is the answer.
What I do think is very necessary is some common sense, and awareness.
You don’t lay down and go to sleep on railroad tracks, and so you don’t sit around all day pretending everything is alright or being paranoid thinking the government is out to get you with some sinister plot.
That’s foolish.
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You’re right about the fear. I find I am motivated by things like that, things that are negative. I agree that we need to not fear, but live our lives in a better way.
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What I think is that the 24-7 news channels should all be disbanded.
We need morning news, evening news, and newspaper and radio.
This morning, I had a lovely time listening to MPR Weekend Edition because not only did they not have so much nesy news they had a lot of greatly interesting articles.
Even during the weekday though though they do cover the news well, their news programs also include very interesting educational and positive articles.
Fox CNN and CMBC are very drama based, and I very rarely listen to them.
I do not own a TV at all.
I find TV the most hideous thing in the land.
Not because I’m blind. I watch plenty of Netflix and Amazon Prime videos, but with them, I get to choose and I’m not bombarded with ads, constant news breaks and all the rest.
I read newspapers such as the New York Times, Washington Post, magazines such as the NewYorker, The Week, Monthly Atlantic and that is of course when I’m not reading Bradberry or something totally entertaining. and I have a local news app for local updates and weather.
I have set all this up so I get to choose what comes into my home, heart, and mind.
TVS seem to cause people to lose the ability to do that.
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TVs and constant news. I agree.
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Because I’ve got news break notifications on my phone, I can quickly see the headlines, keep up with current events and not have to listen to much actual news at all.
What the alerts do is to let me know when something important is happening that I might need to know of and then tune out all the rest of the trash.
It has cut down on my stress in an amazing way.
Also I don’t get involved with community drama. I simply go about my business, and let everyone else go about theirs.
The other day I was out walking my now retired guide dog and a neighbor called to me. When I walked over to see what they wanted it became immediately evident that they wanted to gab and their yammering alternated between neighborhood gossip and politics. I quickly disengaged myself saying… “You know, it’s a very pretty day. We’ve not had much of that lately. Think I’ll get this boy off for his walk.” I bid them a good day and left them to continue on my way.
We need not engage in all the drama either on our media outlets or in our faces. The choices are ours and we don’t have to bury our heads in the sand to do it, we just have to learn to turn it off when it doesn’t serve our actual need to know situation.
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You are definitely one of the wise women of the universe, Patty. I admire you greatly because you seem to have a lot of innate wisdom, and I pretty much think as you do. I don’t think the government is doing anything to try to get us. I do think that human beings, for sure since I was born at the start of WWII has been making errors that we are now paying for. This world was perfect for mankind and all the creatures on it when the world began, but once man became “civilized” and perhaps even before that, we started destroying what nature made for us. The dropping of the atomic bomb, for example, is one of the major destructive forces created by mankind. Intent on ending what was a horrific war with not just soldiers and military men of all kinds involved, but innocent civilians, many who would not have chosen that horrible war. And since we know what a lifespan the atomic energy has, we know that even today, in that area, people are still suffering from horrible cancer, deformities, and all sorts of other maladies to this day, and this is NOT the end of the lifespan and it will not be in any of our lifetimes. Mankind has acted totally irresponsible with regard to health or environmental issues since practically forever. The world is not attempting to create new forms of energy that perhaps will not be as destructive to the world as the production of petroleum and coal, etc. even though we have seen the damage that it is all doing to the earth. As I said in one of my responses before, being an art quilter, I have bought a lot of cloth in my lifetime, and do you know that it is one of the major polluters of the environment. They used to (for many years) put formaldehyde in cloth to help it hold its color supposedly, and that stuff is so poisonous.
I don’t want this to become another Facebook, where you make a post and people attack you when they are not really clear about what the person is trying to say. I don’t believe in government conspiracies, and I was never suggesting that. But I WAS saying that people in general, and particularly big business AND certain aspects of our government don’t necessarily think out actions they take in terms of how it might create nightmare situations that the rest of us have to deal with, or create lifelong damage to the environment. We are seeing it everywhere on the planet, so you are right, it is a matter of common sense and awareness. The issue is right now that so many people are so confused, so frustrated, and so lost about what happens that it is becoming unsafe (at least here in California) to go on the streets, or to go to the store, or even if you are staying inside your own home because of all the crime. I am a Criminal Justice Graduate, and I have served on City protective agencies and been a volunteer for City Disaster training and this has been on a course over many years, so when I say something, I can generally back it up with something that perhaps people are not thinking about, and I seldom write this type of article to begin with because it is not generally in my nature. I definitely don’t want people getting sick with something they never caused, but as I noted, there are many people to blame for things happening such as plagues, etc. and this is true since Biblical times for certain, and perhaps before that as well.
I hope everyone reads this and uses it as an opportunity to look at other possibilities besides “conspiracies.” Mankind overall has created the issues we have today, and that will come tomorrow, and likely all the days of our lives. It is not a conspiracy; it is thoughtless treatment of our universe that is showing up regularly now. Thank you one and all.
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I don’t know whether I am a wise woman. I simply employ good common sense.
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Hi Chelsea, It is not that these things don’t exist; they most certainly do, but as you are wisely saying: “We need to understand the seriousness of an issue, but continue to live as best as we can, as normally as we can, and as long as we can.” Yes, we do have to take precautions as we do with anything we come up against, be it measles, SARS virus, Avian virus, or this latest Corona virus. Yes, if we go out and don’t use common sense, we might fall victim to a lot of things. even things that have nothing to do with any kind of illnesses.
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Anne.
I sent you something you might wish to share.
If you’d like a copy of it so you can get a clean copy after you’ve read it let me know.
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I miss typed when I wrote this. It should have said over 100,000 persons have died from this virus. That is not your normal flu death count.
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Amen!
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If you get a chance, Jennie, read my comments related to what is happening all over the world now with the virus. I am not one to believe in conspiracies, etc. But I do believe that it is good that you are teaching your children in school to be responsible and to respect nature and this earth and its creatures in all their many forms, and that is a fantastic thing. Yes, the virus is very real, and we do have some concerns, but making good choices for our own selves and not allowing it to the point of not being able to respond in ways that will help us and the planet in general is not a good choice. Keep up your wonderful work with the children. I wish we could clone you!!!
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I did read your excellent comments, Anne. My ‘Amen’ was a strong support to what you said. Like you, I am full of compassion and also full of common sense. I make sure that every child fully sings “Happy Birthday” as they wash their hands. The virus is real and scary, yet common sense practices are our best defense. If I can teach children to take care of themselves as well as the planet, that’s a good thing.
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I’m avoiding newspapers and TV news altogether at the moment. I’m so sick of the media spreading fear – it does make me wonder if there’s some sinister agenda behind it.
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I thought that too once, Annabelle, but then I thought about all of the things mankind has done to harm this world over the many years for sure since I was born at the start of WWII. Look how we dropped the atomic bomb on a country, and yes, perhaps it DID stop a war in its tracks, but what do you suppose happened to the ingredients of the bomb? Do you know that those have a life longer than any of us will know or be alive to see the ends of, and who knows what other things they unbalanced in the world. We know for sure that many of those people who DID live through that also got cancer and other horrible defects and it still goes on today in that part of the world. We have poisoned our own world with stupidity and greed. Even the very clothes we wear are cloth, and a lot of people are unaware that cloth is one of the big polluters and we are sending so much used cloth all over the world and yet it still is more than filling the landfills. They used to put formaldehyde in the cloth, and I know because I used to buy a lot of it, being an art quilter for a time. So I am not surprised at any of the things that happen in this world because we have brought it on – not just the U.S. but the entire world, with thoughtless acts that are showing up all over the world as huge ecological problems today. I feel relatively confident that when this world was created from the universe, and when people were first on it the earth, for all its volcanoes and earthquakes and tsunamis was a beautiful place and it was fertile and could support mankind.
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well said-and I agree. Fear is an awful controller and is at the root of many negative emotions,
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