I rarely post simple blog posts but this graphic caught my attention. I’ve never quite understood the media obsession with terrorism or indeed some prominent political hype about it either and that despite living almost my entire life under the supposed shadow of terrorism.
There are so many more causes of death to worry about, most of which could be avoided if only as much money, resources, time and policies which were spent or I’d even say wasted on terrorism as on other causes or death.
Of course being against terrorism is a nice way to garner support and manipulate thinking but wouldn’t it be better if even the media, let alone governments, spent their time highlighting suicide or diabetes, let alone one of the big killers?
I don’t want armed police on the streets or cameras everywhere and I’m definitely not a millionth of a percent as scared about terrorism as I am about people I know dying from heart problems, cancer or respiratory disorders. As a sufferer of quite bad asthma, I don’t see any media hype about people dying of chest complaints except for the regular scare stories about the latest flu outbreaks. Over 80,000 people died last year in the UK alone from poor air quality and pollution, a total that short of a nuclear bomb going off, could never be equaled by terrorists and yet few care.
The chart below is from our NHS (National Health Service) and highlights the various the likelihood of dying from various causes of death. Whilst each country is different and some poorer nations might swap natural disasters for western diseases caused by obesity for example, it must be clear that what the media and governments say you should be concerned about is actually right at the bottom of the list. 99.9999999% of you reading this blog are going to die from almost any other cause rather than a lunatic terrorist.
Stephen Liddell 
Terrorism likes to breed fear and that is what they hope for. Your chart is interesting on the causes of death. My biggest death fear is actually worrying about the ability of plane journeys i am on of being able to land where the schedule says they will land. I cannot imagine the horror in the plane when that mad pilot crashed it on purpose against a mountain side. I wonder if the relationship between madness and terrorism has been properly studied.
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You’ve gotta love a good graphic! The media are obsessed with terrorism as with any other story they can sensationalise…because it sells…advertising space or some other such shallow thing. I find the media response to most things to be contemptible really, they like to appear caring and righteous, almost like they are crusading…but in reality they are like vultures searching for the latest carcass to feast on. Look at how they respond to natural disasters…get someone in a nice padded North Face jacket (even at the height of summer) and get them standing next to the flood looking concerned. They are a pathetic bunch trying to persuade us that they have “news”…and not just opinion.
In many ways what they do is a control lever on us ordinary folk…and we are mostly dim enough to lap it all up. I often think life is better if you don’t pay them any attention.
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Hey Stephen, I would love to share this post to my facebook, to counter some of the anti Muslim and alarmist sentiment I see there every day. Can you tell me exactly where you got the graphic? I have searched the NHS website – nothing. Beyond that, I found a few versions, with and without the terrorism dot, but not the original.
Thanks, R.
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