More swine flu

Swine flu. Two words that by now you’ve seen and heard a thousand times. And you’ll probably hear them a couple hundred more, at least until the next big fear that comes along. You know, that next big disease, animal, insect or chemical that just may kill us all.

It’s tiresome. The disease threatening to take down or disrupt the modern world isn’t swine flu or any of these other “threats.” The disease that threatens us is sensationalism. It’s fear. It’s over-protection. Frankly, the biggest disease threatening the modern world is the modern world itself.