This is probably going to be an unpopular diary, but here goes…
Isn’t Bird Flu being hyped in the media the same way that WMD’s were being hyped a few years ago? That doesn’t mean Bird Flu isn’t a legitimate concern, but have we ever asked ourselves why the media is covering it so much? It’s because Bird Flu — or the specter of any pandemic — scares the rich and powerful. And Bird Flu is the feared-pandemic of choice.
The truth is that AIDS, TB, malaria, heart disease and malnutrition are bigger health risks (even in our countries), but they aren’t perceived as social risks, and therefore, of little consequence to the people who control our media. A pandemic moves swiftly and silently and strikes the rich and the poor alike; for that reason, the imagined pandemic is suddenly very newsworthy.
The rich can’t hide from a pandemic. Hence, it’s become a major media issue.
Also… for the rest of us… isn’t there a little bit of Rapture-hunting going on here too? That is to say, isn’t the Bird Flu obsession kind of along the same lines as Peak Oil and the housing bubble? Everyone seems to be waiting for some big catastrophic thing to happen to change society and “clear away the corruption” – rather than actual organizing or collective social action.
