The Golden Age of Personal Safety

What’s wrong with the world today?  Violent crime is up.

• Severe weather is up.
• Campus rape is up.
• Cancer deaths are up.

What happened to our march toward civilization, peace, harmony?  It is the 21st century after all.

We all know right from wrong.  We consider ourselves more intellectually advanced.  We certainly have more technology, including medical technology.  So why are our lives in more danger than ever before?

Of course the answer is that it’s not true.

What’s really “up” is our awareness of the dangers that surround us.  What’s “up” is our use of technology to discover previously unknown personal stories, send them around the world instantly, and then assume that story is the rule rather than the exception.

We can’t blame the 24 hour news cycle anymore.  In the recent past network news began running 24 hours a day instead of 2-3 so they had to find new stories that previously went unreported.  But networks were still few and we had to turn on a television to go find them.  Now with a video camera in every pocket and the ability to broadcast, everybody has their own network.  Now with social media, the news finds us and is pushed in front of us in our Facebook and Twitter feeds.  This new normal has created a heightened perception of danger and as a result, our perception that death is closing in on all of us is “up”.

Reality Check

• The violent crime rate in the United States is the lowest since 1970 (disastercenter.com)
• Hurricanes in the United States (major or otherwise) have been at or below their average frequency since 1950, when they were above average in frequency (National Hurricane Center)
• Although 2011 had a high number of tornadoes, the average number of tornadoes in the United States per year remains steady (National Climactic Data Center)
• Rate of rape or sexual assault on students and non-students alike is trending downward (US DOJ Special Report)
• Cancer death rates in the United States continue to decline (Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer)

And the only stat that really matters…

• Americans are living longer than ever before (CDC Report)

Despite our perception, we are actually living in a golden age of personal safety.

Take Advantage

Life insurance continues to be offered at lower prices than we’ve ever seen (another sign that we are living longer).

If you have a current life insurance policy, you owe it to yourself to take another look.  Think of it just as you did when you refinanced your house as interest rates dropped, except this time when you extend your term it will be a good thing.

You can get free instant online life insurance quotes right here, right now.

If you don’t have life insurance, now is the time to check that off your to do list.

And for goodness sake, stop reading and sharing depressing stories.