don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

From out the throng and stress of lies, From out the painful noise of sighs, One voice of comfort seems to rise: "It is the meaner part that dies."
William Morris (1834-1896)

In my somewhat humble opinion, America is an anxiety-ridden country. Besides being fat, overmedicated and out of shape, war-weary and overworked, most Americans are overstressed. Besides that, citizens are undersexed, though they obsess about sex constantly! (However, I realize I could be projecting here!) Furthermore, thanks to religious norms that frown on sexual expression of an enjoyable nature, many feel guilty about sexual fantasies, thereby suffering additional stress. There is in the land what Morris might have considered a "stress of lies, a painful noise of sighs." No wonder we have such a bloated, if fragmented, health/medical care system.

To make matters worse, the federal government, under the banner of homeland security and vigilance against the depredations of Evil Ones, scares the hell out of people on a regular basis! This is not a proper role of government. Government should be doing the opposite -- allaying the fears of the populace. But noooooooo, we have a government that regularly sends out scary terror alerts, ENCOURAGING people to stress out and providing a color-code for recommended levels of doing so! This is a half-baked, hair-brained scheme of a worseness nature that should be stopped immediately. Let's go to green for normal -- and then forget the whole thing. These matters are best communicated to local officials on a need to know basis -- leave the rest of us out of code alerts unless a warning is very specific. In that case, bring on the news with firecrackers, bells and whistles -- and the National Guard.

Surely you know the terror alert system by now. GREEN is for normal, meaning an ordinary threat of terrorism exists, whatever that is. BLUE means a guarded level and YELLOW brings things to a "serious" fright level. After that, it gets really scary, with the ORANGE, critical threat level. If you are not petrified and under a bed by now, then just wait till they send out a RED or severe and imminent warning. That ought to put the fear of something into you and maybe encourage you to repent, if not send a campaign contribution to the president's re-election committee.

The threat of mischief by crazed religious fanatics like the 19 madmen of 9/11 is real enough, but how many citizens are really better off after four orange alerts and all the other color-coded warnings? Who has needed the overpriced food and water stockpiled in a panic after the last orange alert, or all that extra duct tape and plastic sheeting? What good would any of that do anyway in the event some Mohammed El Wacko were to set off an incendiary device attached to, well, Mohammed El Wacko? Not much, it seems to me.

These scare mongering alerts are too vague to be useful and repeated cries of "wolf!" have made the public skeptical about the warning system. Also, the color-coded idea has been fodder for late-night and other comics, so the system is now something of a joke. Actually, not "something of a joke" -- just a joke, period. The head of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, defends the system, explaining that everything is based on "multiple sources, obviously credible and corroborated." Credible to whom? The folks who thought Iraq had thermonuclear warheads? Corroborated by whom? Bill O'Reilly, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and Rush Limbaugh?

The U.S. Conference of Mayors complained that because of these alerts, cities have had to spend two and a half-billion dollars, none of it budgeted. The 'code orange' overtime costs for police and other emergency personnel come at a time of budget shortfalls nationwide. In a way, the color-code alerts have made us LESS secure, because funds spent on false threats are funds not available to deal with real problems.

Even the Libertarians are against the terror alert code. On the fourth of July, the Libertarian Newsletter contained this: "This Fourth of July, let's declare our independence from unnecessary fear by pulling the plug on this counterproductive terror-alert system." Free Inquiry founder Paul Kurtz expressed the matter in a larger context in his Independence essay: "There are powerful factions in American society who prefer a Christian theocracy to secular democracy and are working hard to dismantle the great Enlightenment legacy while conducting an assault on the personal liberties that should be the object of genuine patriotism."

I don't want to sound conspiratorial, but maybe the terror alerts serve to keep everyone on edge to justify additional draconian steps by this administration, such as the Orwellian-named "Patriot Act."

I think it would be better for Mr. Ridge to restrict his alerts, color-coded or otherwise, to local police and other concerned officials who can do something about them, such as increasing surveillance. The rest of the population is stressed enough without terror alerts. On the other hand, maybe the government should send wellness alerts, warnings against the loss of splendid benefits that a wellness lifestyle brings, if citizens are not fit, well nourished, capable of achieving serene mindsets when desired and so on. But, not color-coded. We don't want late night comics messing with wellness.

Be well. Don't get worked up about the terror alerts but do get worked up from vigorous daily exercise and an ambitious wellness lifestyle. In addition, always look on the bright side of life.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the MENTAL DOMAIN under the skill area of stress management. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

 Send e-mail to Don Ardell