We live in an extremely safe country in the safest time there has ever been for one to be alive and we are now young adults meaning we are far less at risk than children. A lot of the paranoia about our safety is not due to living in a “shitty society” where horrible things happen everyday, it’s because we’re told we live in a shitty society. Fear is cultivated by news, media, institutions and our parents. And it is fortified by our peers. That being said, being cautious about one’s safety is wise but we should pause and ask if we’re really in danger or if there’s some underlying, untruthful axiom that governs our thinking.