Vol.XIV #4 - Brave New World

Simillimum - Winter 2001

By Barbara Osawa CCH

Since September 11, few would disagree that “the world,” as most Americans knew it, has changed. As we were all attempting to heal from the enormous sense of tragedy of that day, another unexpected, insidious level of terror has come, in the form of anthrax sent through the US Mail. As the days pass, and more people and sites are affected, the government informs us that additional threats are imminent. No one knows what form the next wave will take, but the possibility of other attacks have the authorities on high alert.

The psychological impact of these events is not small, and at this point is perhaps an even greater threat than the microbes themselves. As Boenninghausen mentions in his paper “For the Prevention of Cholera,” “...nothing favors the spread of this disease more than the fear of it.”

For Americans, waking up from our comfortable isolation, our feeling of invulnerability, to face the biggest civilian terrorist tragedy in history is deeply shocking. Additionally, the continued threats show no sign of subsiding. This is deeply disturbing to our complex, collective psyche, despite a popular culture that has often glorified such events in movies and media, while ignoring real catastrophes in other parts of the world to cater to our insatiable appetite for domestic sex scandals and new record box office figures.