Another Halloween has passed and we're all still feeling a little bit jittery after a week of gorging on two-bite chocolate bars and mini bags of Doritos. Or maybe it's the time change that's got everyone slightly out of synch.
In any case, the fundamental weirdness of this autumn ritual — which seems to gather more steam every year — is inescapable: It's a celebration of zombies, ghosts, spiders and death combined with candy and kids. And it says a lot about how much some humans love being terrified.
It's the same dynamic that prompts us to spend all kinds of money to scare ourselves sick on roller coasters and at slasher movies. And it's the same contradiction that underpins a big chunk of our economy.
How else do you explain the celebrity status of pundits like Nouriel Roubini, Tad Homer-Dixon and Jeff Rubin who've built their careers on predicting that the worst is always yet to come.
Think about it: RRSPs, insurance, fitness, automotive, media — all of these sectors of the economy market fear along with their basic menu of goods and services.
Whether it's extra insurance, new and improved safety features, or health club memberships, anxiety is a powerful consumer engine. The more dire the scenario the more we spend — and there's nothing quite like bad news to sell newspapers and attract eyeballs.
* Related: What SARS taught us about health scares and money
Stock markets shimmy between fear and greed and when one gets too far ahead, the other kicks in to correct it. There'd be no politics at all if you couldn't whip up a good frenzy about what the other guy would do if he were in charge. (Think of Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff's comments on the "once-in-a-generation" economic crisis and the "worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.")
Then there is our chronic vulnerability to health scares. Anyone who doubts our willingness to succumb to talk about pandemics doesn't have to look any further than the most recent panic about H1N1.
In the first wave of panic, even before anyone knew much about it, the "swine flu" label devastated pork producers. It has escalated steadily from there.
Related gallery: Profiting from H1N1
Right On Scare Tactics. Whos Stuffing Thier Pokets; Sad
World, get Real. h1n1lol HOW MUCH lol Please.
10-4 (I love how this crap is presented as 'news'...)
It is the RESPONSIBILTY of every citizen to keep themselves informed from a wide variety of sources in an attempt to bring balance to a point of view!!
peace > d
The looming oil supply crisis however has the potential to affect every facet of society. From food transported hundreds (or thousands) of miles before reaching store shelves, to the price of everyday goods, almost all of which oil by-products are part of, (think plastic), to your employer laying you off because it's just too expensive to send this month's shipment AND keep you aboard!
Why don't we hear about that, folks? Because no one stands to make money.
The media is in bed with systems of cold evil. Pessimism is believing mainstream news outlets are even in my top 100 sources of useful information. In that case, pessimism has it's merits. But not when it comes to H1N1, terrorism, black men, or my thunder thighs.