Making Life Work

By: Lenny Cacchio  

  With the prevailing news winds warning us about becoming sniffle factories for the swine flu virus, a recent Breakpoint commentary by Chuck Colson is the perfect antidote. Among the many telling excerpts is this one.  “The reporting and the rhetoric is part of what British sociologist Frank Furedi calls the ‘dramatization of disease.’ The media and public officials ‘sound as if they are rehearsing their roles for a disaster movie’—a movie through which we express ‘our anxieties about everyday life.’”

    Colson continues, “Furedi is onto something: The coverage of this outbreak has more to do with the culture than with science. Stories like this one frighten us because they undermine our confidence in our supposed ability...