disasters like these are not just terrible—they are surprising. They make people question their basic assumptions about their personal safety and how the world is.
We are not as safe as we thought. What else might happen? Such disasters usually lead to stricter laws in the hope of controlling the future. Politicians pledge that this kind of event must never happen again.
Personal safety
Feeling safe is a basic human need. Whatever the dangers of the place where we live, we adjust and take sensible precautions—sensible for that area. For example, I live in São Paulo, Brazil. There are no terrorist threats, but there is more crime here than in most European cities. There are many more poor and homeless people. An ordinary 87
FREE YOURSELF FROM FEARS
wage earner is privileged. Most people live either in closed condominiums with patrolling security guards, or in high apartment blocks, again with guards and security on the gates. Houses have grilles on the windows and high walls, often with electric fences.
At night, cars approach red lights slowly, trying to keep moving. If the light is still red when they reach it, they go through anyway if they can in safety. This is sensible in a city where you are at risk of being robbed in a stationary car late at night. Even during the day, a red light is often taken as a suggestion rather than a legal requirement. In contrast, there is little danger of being robbed in your car in most parts of London, so people respect the lights. Brazilians think this is crazy. Londoners think Brazilians are crazy, but when you put the behaviors in their cultural context, both are sensible.
It reminds me of the joke about a man hailing a taxi late at night in Brazil. He gets in and starts to chat with the cab driver. The driver approaches a red light and goes straight through it. The man says nothing (probably being a diplomatic Englishman, not wanting to make trouble), but when it happens a second time, he cannot stop himself.
“Excuse me, but shouldn’t you stop at red lights?” he asks.
“Oh, don’t worry, my cousin taught me to drive. He always goes through red lights and he has never had an accident.”
The passenger stays quiet until the cab driver goes fast down a one-way street in the wrong direction.
“Excuse me, wasn’t that a one-way street?”
“Sure,” says the cab driver, “But my cousin showed me how to do this. If you go really fast, you can get through before you meet any traffic coming the other way.”
“I see,” says the passenger, hanging on to the seat belt and wondering about his chances of getting another cab at that time of night.
Then suddenly the cab driver starts to drive with exaggerated care.
He stops at every light, red or green. He obeys all the traffic signs.
“Thank you,” says the passenger. “I feel much safer.”
“So do I,” says the cab driver. “My cousin lives around this area.”
88
UNQUIET TIMES AND TURBULENT MINDS
Many expensive cars in South America are bullet proofed as a matter of course, because the rich are in danger of being kidnapped. Bullet proofing is as common as a 10,000-mile service. In England, people would think you were crazy if you bullet-proofed your BMW. In South America, people go even further. They make the car impregnable and fit a sound system so you can talk to someone outside without having to leave the car or wind down the windows. These are sensible precautions for rich people in large South American and Central American cities. You can be robbed in any city, though. You have to take sensible precautions based on where you are.
Laws and safety
Our safety always depends on the goodwill of other people. Anyone with a grudge or a crazy idea can cause a lot of damage with existing technology, and we have entered an age where they are willing to carry out their threats. Unquiet people make for unquiet times.
People with crazy ideas do not play by the rules and the results are unpredictable and
We are not as safe as we thought. What else might happen? Such disasters usually lead to stricter laws in the hope of controlling the future. Politicians pledge that this kind of event must never happen again.
Personal safety
Feeling safe is a basic human need. Whatever the dangers of the place where we live, we adjust and take sensible precautions—sensible for that area. For example, I live in São Paulo, Brazil. There are no terrorist threats, but there is more crime here than in most European cities. There are many more poor and homeless people. An ordinary 87
FREE YOURSELF FROM FEARS
wage earner is privileged. Most people live either in closed condominiums with patrolling security guards, or in high apartment blocks, again with guards and security on the gates. Houses have grilles on the windows and high walls, often with electric fences.
At night, cars approach red lights slowly, trying to keep moving. If the light is still red when they reach it, they go through anyway if they can in safety. This is sensible in a city where you are at risk of being robbed in a stationary car late at night. Even during the day, a red light is often taken as a suggestion rather than a legal requirement. In contrast, there is little danger of being robbed in your car in most parts of London, so people respect the lights. Brazilians think this is crazy. Londoners think Brazilians are crazy, but when you put the behaviors in their cultural context, both are sensible.
It reminds me of the joke about a man hailing a taxi late at night in Brazil. He gets in and starts to chat with the cab driver. The driver approaches a red light and goes straight through it. The man says nothing (probably being a diplomatic Englishman, not wanting to make trouble), but when it happens a second time, he cannot stop himself.
“Excuse me, but shouldn’t you stop at red lights?” he asks.
“Oh, don’t worry, my cousin taught me to drive. He always goes through red lights and he has never had an accident.”
The passenger stays quiet until the cab driver goes fast down a one-way street in the wrong direction.
“Excuse me, wasn’t that a one-way street?”
“Sure,” says the cab driver, “But my cousin showed me how to do this. If you go really fast, you can get through before you meet any traffic coming the other way.”
“I see,” says the passenger, hanging on to the seat belt and wondering about his chances of getting another cab at that time of night.
Then suddenly the cab driver starts to drive with exaggerated care.
He stops at every light, red or green. He obeys all the traffic signs.
“Thank you,” says the passenger. “I feel much safer.”
“So do I,” says the cab driver. “My cousin lives around this area.”
88
UNQUIET TIMES AND TURBULENT MINDS
Many expensive cars in South America are bullet proofed as a matter of course, because the rich are in danger of being kidnapped. Bullet proofing is as common as a 10,000-mile service. In England, people would think you were crazy if you bullet-proofed your BMW. In South America, people go even further. They make the car impregnable and fit a sound system so you can talk to someone outside without having to leave the car or wind down the windows. These are sensible precautions for rich people in large South American and Central American cities. You can be robbed in any city, though. You have to take sensible precautions based on where you are.
Laws and safety
Our safety always depends on the goodwill of other people. Anyone with a grudge or a crazy idea can cause a lot of damage with existing technology, and we have entered an age where they are willing to carry out their threats. Unquiet people make for unquiet times.
People with crazy ideas do not play by the rules and the results are unpredictable and
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