fears. K: Turns out, America has a LOT of fears ranging

from clowns, zombies, and ghosts to more serious, arguably legitimate, concerns.

S: Famed political commentator, Noam Chomsky has said that America is “an unusually frightened

country”, compared to the rest of the world. K: So we wanted to know, what are America’s

biggest fears?

S: Well, most of the US’s fears fall into specific categories. On average the most feared

topic is Man-made Disasters. Of those, unsurprisingly, the first is terrorism.

K: More than 44% of respondents reported being afraid or very afraid of terrorist attacks.

But as a matter of a fact, the rate of terrorist attacks has been steadily dropping since the

1970s, with the main exceptions being the September 11th attacks, and more recently,

the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing. Along the sames lines, Americans are terrified of the

possibility of bio warfare. S: But, actually, aside from the 2001 anthrax

attack where live spores were sent through the mail, killing 5 people, the greatest use

of biological agents on US soil has been by the US government. In 1977, the US Army revealed

that from 1949 to 1969, the military conducted more than 200 tests, releasing simulated toxins

in a number of major cities. These tests were suspected to have caused at least one death,

and ten hospitalizations. But perhaps the most likely man-made disaster is one we’ve

recently experienced. Economic collapse. K: In 2008, the global recession caused a

777 point drop in the US stock market, the largest in US history. Even though the economy

has significantly recovered, a number of factors that caused the original collapse are still

plaguing the US, such as “too-big-to-fail-banks”, and derivatives trading.

S: After man-made disasters, Americans are deeply afraid of increasingly pervasive technology.

First on the list, cyber terrorism. K: This one is actually really scary. According

to US intelligence agencies, cyber attacks are considered the number one threat to national

security due to the US’s extremely weak internet infrastructure. In particular, Russia

and China are the most aggressive cyber attackers. But some also fear domestic misuse of technology.

S: Specifically, technology we rely on every day also represents an invasive violation

of privacy. Services like Google and Facebook collect significant amounts of personal data,

and we often don’t have control over what they do with it.

K: Similarly, leaks in 2013 by whistleblower Edward Snowden, revealed the government’s

mass surveillance program, run by the NSA. Both corporate and government tracking of

personal information represents some of America’s biggest technological fears.

S: In fact, the US government itself inspires the country’s single greatest fear: fear

of corruption. K: With 58% of respondents reporting high

levels of fear, government corruption clearly keeps people up at night. As frequent political

scandals dominate headlines, US officials working against their constituents’ best

interests is clearly a very real concern.

S: Other high ranking fears are focused on the environment, our personal futures, and

natural disasters. K: But while government corruption tops the

US’s list, on average, the rest of the world is most concerned about the effects of climate

change.

S: To learn about some of the world’s other fears, check out our video on what countries

fear the most. K: And if you happen to be interested in a

more satirical look at politics and global issues, check out my channel Newsy News and

if you like it, subscribe. S: Thanks for watching TestTube News, don’t

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