Fear Germ

Gerber and Glassner's ideas that exposure to fear saturated media leads to people becoming more fearful and paranoid is a point which is probably true.  In addition to people becoming more fearful in their own situations, becoming more fearful leads to believing more 'fear media' which just contributes to the cycle.  And because of social media, sharing this 'fear germ' with other people is as easy as posting a link to a news article on facebook.  These increasingly make it harder for politicians to get into office by improving care for widespread dangers and things that are proven to work; instead, those who promise stricter punishments do.

Gordimer's short story in which the family gets more and more security measures (most of which are ineffective and the last of which is deadly) because they hear about all these robberies and riots by the 'colored people.'  Though it isn't proof of anything (because its made up) it does a good job of showing what an extreme situation of our fear mongering could look like, which is really scary.  I think that if the public keeps putting anecdotes before real statistics this or some equally scary future is a possiblity.

Tank Man

This is a man during the Tienanmen Square protest, standing in front of a line of tanks, protesting the direction the government was heading after General Secretary Hu Yaobang was deposed after losing a power struggle.  Martial law was imposed in Beijing, where the protests took place and between hundreds and thousands of students died.

One must think what this man must have been thinking, as he had undoubtedly seen others being shot at by soldiers.  Is he thinking of the China that he wants to live in?  Is he thinking of his fellow students who have been hurt by soldiers?  Is he caught up in the rush of the protest?  Whatever, the case, his enormous courage is admirable.  Its facing mortality, and putting it in the hands of a complete stranger and relying on him to have respect for human life.  This is truly putting your body on the line for a cause, and this is a picture that represents the complex issue of Chinese politics and protest as well as the simple idea of courage.