Culture of fear in Sri Lanka?

Was watching 'Bowling for Columbine' by Micheal Moore today.

He talks about this culture of fear that pervades America. Which is a reason why people want to have guns in their house.

Was reflecting about the culture of fear in Sri Lanka. Ok, we have reason to be afraid, cos we have terrorists bombing up every where.

Yet, have we turned paranoid? Are we going the way of the Americans?

We definetely, as a race, love sensationalisation. We watch the broken bodies in fascinated horror. When there are days when terrorist attacks are expected, we go into holiday mode. Keeping the news on, checking for mobile news updates, and competing to be the first news breaker to our friends. What we relay is the body count. How many dead is the first question. The more dead, the more exciting.

We watch in gory fascination as the cameras pan on relatives, rushing at the hospital gates. The image of the man and child wailing outside the emergency room is played several times an hour.

We do need to be alert, watch out for danger. We do need to be angry and grieve for senseless losses.

Yet how far do we go, where we don't go out the house at all? When we need, as a right, to see the victims, broken though they be? How far?

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