The apparent panic produced by the recent sniper shootings greatly disturbs me. Isn't it natural to feel fear at a time like this? If one examines the facts carefully, the answer seems to be "no." The odds that the sniper will target any particular person, among the more than four million in this region are so vanishingly small that we can each essentially afford to ignore him. You're more likely to be killed or seriously injured in an auto accident than to fall victim to the sniper.
And if we cannot bring ourselves to ignore him completely, there are several simple, costless measures that we can take to protect ourselves. So there's no convincing rational reason to fear the sniper any more than we fear the people who share our daily commute. Why, then, are people afraid? Are they simply irrational? Perhaps. But I suspect that most of the fear stems from the sudden realization that a modern American article of faith is simply a Big Lie.
What is the Big Lie? It is the promise of the Nanny State: If you'll just do your part – by subordinating yourself to the State – the State will make everything OK. The State will provide everything, including physical security. Americans have been swallowing the Big Lie in droves since at least the Depression. The recent shootings demonstrate the falsity of the Big Lie. One murderous psychopath has run circles around the omniscient, omnipotent Nanny State for two weeks.
People who have been raised from birth to trust in the Nanny State now must confront the fact that it cannot deal effectively with one brazen killer. No wonder they're frightened. For them, it’s like discovering that their seat belts are made of paper and their airbags were never installed, after they've put 150,000 miles on the minivan.
There are at least two ways to respond to the discovery that the Nanny State can't deliver the goods. One is to rationalize its failures. Perhaps the State's noble efforts are being frustrated by all these silly constitutional restraints on its power. This isn't eighteenth century, after all; we can trust the State now – it's composed of enlightened people like us. If we only had the wisdom and selflessness to elevate the common good over our antiquated notions of individual rights, these things couldn't happen.
The problem is people who believe that some set of abstract "rights" is more important than the general welfare. This response is popular right now. No one bats an eye at random searches of thousands of motor vehicles on our roads. Nary a peep is heard when CNN cameramen record an innocent citizen sitting in his vehicle at a roadblock with two police shotguns pointed at his head. Candidates for the upcoming Maryland elections propose more gun control – in a state that already regulates guns more heavily than all but a very few – even though it's almost certainly expensive and useless.
Just as it was after September 11th, many of us are apparently ready to abandon principle if doing so might marginally improve the State's ability to make us feel safe again. The problem with this approach is that there is absolutely no basis in logic or fact for believing that any state can ever deliver on the Big Lie. In fact, those states that have tried hardest have become the most murderous regimes in human history.
The Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China, North Korea, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hitler’s Germany – all demanded subordination of self and the surrender of individual liberty for the “common good.” If even regimes as brutally oppressive as these were unable to bring safety to their citizens, it should be perfectly clear that no State can ever make everything OK.
One of the harsh realities of life is that, ultimately, each of us can only count on himself. There is another possible response to the exposure of the Big Lie, though. Simply accept that the world is a dangerous place, and you are ultimately responsible for your own safety. Adapt to the real world, and stop relying on the Nanny State to solve your problems.
For those accustomed to the security blanket of the Nanny State, this may sound frightening. It is a little frightening. Responsibility is always a burden, and sometimes outright terrifying. But if you accept responsibility for your own safety, and eschew the Big Lie, you'll soon discover that you feel freer – and safer – than you've felt in a very long time.
October 21, 2002
Matt Bower (send him mail) is a law student in Northern Virginia. He spent seven years in the Marine Corps, and is a 1993 Naval Academy graduated.
