The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is…Everything?
Published at(ORANGE, Calif.) — Land of the free…home of the brave? Not, if a new survey from Chapman University can be believed.
Researchers conducted a poll of 1,500 people on what Americans are scared of and judging by the results, our fears are many and cover a lot of ground.
For instance, when asked what they feared most, Americans listed in this order:
- Walking alone at night
- Becoming the victim of identity theft
- Safety on the Internet
- Being the victim of a mass/random shooting
- Public speaking
Perhaps not as intense as genuine fear, next came things people are most worried or concerned about:
- Having identity stolen on the Internet
- Corporate surveillance of Internet activity
- Running out of money in the future
- Government surveillance of Internet activity
- Becoming ill/sick
Then, of course, there are things completely out of our hands, such as natural disasters. The most feared are:
- Tornado/hurricane
- Earthquakes
- Floods
- Pandemic or major epidemic
- Power outage
Meanwhile, everyone’s worried about crime and a majority believe that things have grown worse over the last 20 years even though FBI and police statistics show most crime categories have declined over the past two decades.
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