Is there a word or term for a word or term that is reasonable or even euphemistic in some circumstances, but gets pulled into contexts where it's hyperbolic? Because that's one of the key issues with safetyism.
Say you hear someone who works in an office say, "Massive chunks of masonry are falling near my desk, so I don't feel safe." Well, obviously. It sounds like the whole building needs to be evacuated.
So then there's, "I don't feel safe because there aren't enough lights in the parking lot." Less of an immediate threat but yes, there is a threat.
Okay, so how about this? "I don't feel safe because I was in the parking lot and saw a bumper sticker that said 'I support my local police.' As someone with friends and family in several marginalized communities..." No. Your just looking for excuses now.
And you see a lot of that. Raising safety to a supreme deity, one that can never be satisfied.
2 comments:
That's an excellent description of how 'safetyism' has gone from having legitimate concerns to an agitated ideology. It most definitely comes from making false assumptions about just how fragile is the average person.
I remember when it was the norm for people who exhibited irrational fears about common daily events - like riding in elevators when their job was on the fortieth floor - were encouraged to overcome those phobias. There were professionals one could go to who dealt in behavioural therapy. I guess that's not so much of a career anymore.
Then again, the thing that makes this timeline different is that rather than knowing the odd person who fears spiders or snakes what we have now is an entire generation who fear words. It appears there's an entire age group that suffers high rates of anxiety. Whether the cause is social media or overprotective adults, what we do know is that too much isolation is maladaptive. If you're always watching out for microaggressions you might not see that falling masonry.
Safety as ideology is a sneaky thing. People in government and the security field often say that [X bad thing that has happened in the past] can never be allowed to happen again. A lot of others pick up on that attitude and copy it. Can they actually avoid the thing:? Often not, and certainly not forever. Something to think about.
Yeah, it's interesting how the mental health profession has expanded, and everyone seems to have the DSM guides memorized. And yet as far as treating phobias there's just not much interest. In fact it often seems that not being phobic is considered a mental disorder.
It's a little freaky when you consider the fact that many of the kids who have been so sheltered and have developed the broadest set of anxieties are in the upper middle classes. So in many cases they're the ones being groomed for leadership positions. That affects everyone. We're really going to have to work hard to ignore these people.
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