Replying to The threat of terrorism has been exaggerated

Okay, let's debate it. I don't give a shit about terrorism. Know why? Officially, 2,752 people died in the attacks on the World Trade center. Roughly 500 of those were foreign nationals, from 91 different nations. That means 2,252 Americans died. Now let's look at the stats.

Over 1.3 million Americans have been diagnosed with cancer of some kind, this year. More than 500,000 Americans will die of cancer this year; that means that since September 11, 2001, about 1.5 million Americans have died from cancer.

The total number of AIDS cases in the world is close to 50 million. Over 3 million people die worldwide from AIDS every year--- that's about 15,000 in North America (the number of new HIV cases in North America every year is close to 50,000).

According to the 2004 government census, 45 million Americans don't have health insurance. 35.9 Americans live in poverty. If you don't know, 'As defined by the Office of Management and Budget and updated for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, the average poverty threshold for a family of four in 2003 was $18,810; for a family of three, $14,680; for a family of two, $12,015; and for unrelated individuals, $9,393.' (http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/002484.html)

What's my point? I don't give a shit about terrorism because the main causes of death in America are as follows: tobacco. Alcohol. Poor diet and physical inactivity. Motor vehicle crashes. Suicide. Homicide. My point is that terrorism is not even CLOSE to being as much of a threat to Americans as any one of the problems listed above.

That said, why are we spending billions upon billions of dollars on the War on Terrorism, and we don't even know if we're doing anything to stop terrorism? As far as I can tell, we're promoting international terrorism, not defeating it. If the point of the war on terrorism is to protect America, why aren't we giving all that money to the Department of Homeland Security? Or I guess I should ask, if the point of the War on Terrorism is to save American lives, why aren't we using our tax dollars to fund disease research, to find effective cures for cancer and AIDs, to restrict the tobacco industry, to make our highways safer, educate our children to make responsible choices so they won't kill themselves or someone else, and address the problem of poverty?

Bring it on.

Stacie: 'Aren't you going to open your gift?'
Wayne: 'If it's a severed head, I'm going to be very upset.'