According to the chattering classes, modern times are the most stressful ever. I m stressed excuses everything from forgetting appointments to neglecting the kids. People spend billions on stress remedies and are said to be desperate for stress relievers. According to Pam McCracken, director of the Center for Drug and Alcohol Education at Colorado State University, stress, along with TV commercials and anxiety over technology even drives CSU students to drink.
Some people have a great deal to gain from making others anxious.
A public riled up about government action, or in high dudgeon over the lack of it, increases the chance that those seeking power and public money will strike it rich. When emotion smothers reason, it gives sharp operators the chance to carve things up before other people have a chance to stop and think. The cheapest and most effective remedy for induced anxiety is to ignore those who profit from it. Easily spotted, they are the ones who continue to repeat what has been soundly discredited in the course of the public debate, and those who continue to grossly misrepresent the true state of affairs. The claim that guns kill 13 innocent American children each day is a classic case in point.