Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> On Jan 12, 2010, at 3:44 PM, Eric Beck wrote:
>
> > This is
> > usually met with the retort that "there are lots of sick people out
> > there." I don't disagree with that
>
> But how many of them are there, really? Crimes committed by strangers
> against young children are quite rare, aren't they? Kids are probably
> more at risk from their uncles than from these alleged sick strangers.
>
> Doug
Yes, and as far as I know that has always been the case.
Somehow a drive for perfect safety has become a fairly important part of culture -- e.g., the insistence currently that no risk from terrorism is acceptable. The War on Crime may have been the first move in developing this obsession. Someone ought (if it hasn't bee done) do a study in depth of its sources and development. I believe there has been science fiction re worlds in which evryone crouches in their own nest. And isn't the libertarian terror of government a related obsession?
Carrol