Rick Steves' Travel as a Political Act Blog

Terrorism by the Numbers

Reducing the tragedy of terrorist casualties to statistics strikes many people as disrespectful and callous. But I believe that when we overreact to the threat of the terrorist, we empower the terrorist and actually become part of the problem. By setting emotion aside and being as logical as possible, we can weigh the relative risks and rewards or costs and benefits of various American behaviors.

Every three days, a 747's worth of people die on our highways. And it's not worth headlines. We're a mighty nation of 300 million people. People die. Some 40,000 people die on our roads every year. Anybody in that business knows if we all drove 20 miles an hour slower, we'd save thousands of precious lives. But in the privacy of the voting booth, is the average American going to vote to drive 50 mph on our freeways to save thousands of lives? Hell, no. We've got places to go.

Consider handguns. Thirteen thousand people die every year in our country because of handguns. You could make the case that that's a reasonable price to pay for the precious right to bear arms. We are a free and well-educated democracy. We know the score. And year after year, we seem to agree that spending these lives is a fair trade-off for enjoying our Second Amendment right.

Germans decided not to have that right to bear arms, and consequently they lose about 1,000 people a year to handgun deaths. Europeans (who suffer less than a quarter the per capita gun killings we do) laugh out loud when they hear that Americans are staying home for safety reasons. If you care about your loved ones (and understand the statistics), you'll take them to Europe tomorrow.

If we dispassionately surveyed the situation, we might similarly accept the human cost of our aggressive stance on this planet. We spend untold thousands of lives a year for the rights to drive fast and bear arms. Perhaps 300 million Americans being seen by the rest of the world as an empire is another stance that comes with an unavoidable cost in human lives.

I know this is wild, but imagine we downgraded our "war on terror." Fantasize for a moment about the money and energy we could save, and all the good we could do with those resources if they were compassionately and wisely diverted to challenges like global warming or the plight of desperate people (in lands that have no oil or natural resources) whose suffering barely registers in the media. Imagine then the resulting American image abroad — we'd be tougher for our terrorist enemies to demonize. And imagine the challenge that would present terrorist recruiters.

About This Entry

You are reading "Terrorism by the Numbers", an entry posted on 03 June 2009 by Rick Steves.

12 replies to this entry. Add your comment below.

Previous Entry, Terrorism: Fears and Realities, posted Jun 01 2009

Next Entry, The American Dream, Bulgarian Dream, Sri Lankan Dream: Celebrate Them All, posted Jun 05 2009

Comments [ top ]

Interesting statistics! I was actually surprised at the gun death statistics and looked up the population of Germany which is over 82 million. I married a texan who owns lots of guns (I understand average here is 8 per family) and looked at some statistics in relation to permits to carry concealed weapons that found that towns where many people had permits the crime rate actually went down, but I think this was more in relation to guns being used to commit crimes - not deaths from guns. So, you opened my eyes, and I'll work on opening a few eyes around here:)

Posted by: jill - Jun 03, 2009 8:19 PM

I would be interested to hear your response to President Obama's speech today in Cairo, which was blocked for Iranians with satellite dishes and not braodcast at all for anyone else in Iran. Did he not go far enough in his approach for better relations with Islam or should he have pointed out how often the U.S. has defended and rescued Muslims, in Bosnia and Somalia, for example. Do you think he apologized too much for the past?

Posted by: louisa - Jun 04, 2009 12:40 PM

Rick, last summer when the price of gasoline was over $4.00 a gallon, i asked myself this question. Would we be willing to continue paying $4.00 a gallon in gasoline in exchange for bringing back to life all of the US soldiers AND Iraqi civilians lost in the invasion and war on Iraq? Shamefully, something tells me that in the privacy of the voting booth, we would have selected cheaper gasoline. I hope i'm wrong.

Posted by: Marco - Jun 05, 2009 8:47 AM

Hi Steve, Do you or anyone out there know if it would have been possible that the (probably) younger media-savvy Iranians had access to Obama's speech via the internet?

Posted by: Eleonore - Jun 05, 2009 9:04 AM

Hi Rick, I have the entire set of your shows and watch them time and time again because I am a senior citizen whose health problems no longer allow me to travel. I do, however, wish you would stick to what you do best and leave politics to the politicians. No offense intended, but I watch your shows because I want to see the sights in Europe and am not interested in your left-wing views.

Posted by: Eileen - Jun 05, 2009 2:25 PM

Eileen, I think you have hit on an important point. Notice how few posts there are on the "Travel as a Political Act," compared to many responses to the travel blog. It's interesting to hear some of Rick's political views, but to some of us with over 7 decades of life and experience on this planet, they are often very naive, and, sometimes, a little bit of 'holier than thou?'

Posted by: louisa - Jun 06, 2009 8:55 AM

Generally, I agree with your point on the "War of Terror". At some point, when does it stop being the "War on Terror". Does this go on for ever...Okay here is the argument for "the reasonable price to pay" for the 2nd amendment. The statistics cited in the blog post indicate every year 0.004% and 0.001% of the American and German populations, respectively, die from gun deaths. Isn't that virtually the same rate?? Yet, one country has banned guns. "Americans are staying home for safety reasons". What?!?!? Perhaps I live in a different country than these "Americans". Darn that Hollywood. Matthew Seattle, WA

Posted by: Matthew - Jun 07, 2009 8:34 AM

Rick,thank you for the interesting post. I do wish you would give the citation for the data you used. Where are they from? Keep giving us your point of view based on your travel observations. We need informed and engaged citizens; people who care about their country and what is being done in their name. With your travel experiences, you are able to give a perspective that few others can. Politics is too important to be left to the politicians. Taking the view of leaving politics to the politicians to its conclusion means we, the public, do not know, or care, what the politicians are doing; we would not even vote as only professional politicians would select our leaders. I would not want to live in a country where the public is not engaged in the political process. And I can not believe any rational thinking human would want to live in a country where politics is left to the politicians only.

Posted by: Nels - Jun 07, 2009 10:14 AM

I echo Nels in his request for data. Americans staying home for safety reasons? The last time I made a trip to Europe, in March of this year, there was not a vacant seat on either the outbound or inbound flights. I should add that I grew up in Queens, NY, and at age 57, was robbed for the first time in my life at the Frankfurt, Germany, railroad station. Does this mean I won't be traveling again? Certainly not.

Posted by: louisa - Jun 07, 2009 10:37 AM

I'm chiming in as a third request for citations and sources.

Posted by: Karen - Jun 08, 2009 4:09 AM

I am curious how long it will take for Rick to post the results of the EU election. As America is dragged to the left, Eurupe is tossing out the failures of the left and moving to the right. If we want to be more like Europe, then why repeat their mistakes?

Posted by: Alan - Jun 08, 2009 5:25 AM

"all the good we could do with those resources if they were compassionately and wisely diverted to challenges like global warming or the plight of desperate people" Rick I agree with you on this but it is not for the govt to do. You are correct in your statements but a GOVERNMENT of COUNTRY is not capable of being compassionate. That can only come from PEOPLE. I admire your convictions on this but can't for the life of me understand why you think it is the govt's role to carry this out. No great movement or change has come from govt. Whether you look at the movement that started with 12 men who followed Jesus, a woman who refused to move to the back of the bus, a man who rallied PEOPLE for civil rights, a nun from Albania who felt called to care for the sick and dying in Calcutta, or a bunch of Czechs young and old who rattled their keys and said it was time for a change. Don't you understand Rick? The greatest change and real impact in this world comes from individuals and people who live out that compassiona and those ideals. If those who feel that way are waiting on the govt to carry this out and do it for them, you will never see a world truly changed. It's not just a handout or an nationalized health card or a welfare check that people need but real people that show they care. I love your shows (seen them all), guidebooks, your approach to travel, and even your ideals. But your politics just won't work long term. I think even the govts and economies in Europe are showing that. Travel has opened my eyes as well but it must be people, not govts, that make the change.

Posted by: JEremy B - Jun 16, 2009 11:12 AM