Remember That Thing Called The Swine Flu?

Its January 2010. Thousands of people died this month, but it was in an earthquake, not from the H1N1 virus like all those people predicted.

Do you remember what it was like a few months ago? Swine flu was all over the news. People were infected. People were dying. Long lines at the vaccine centers. Panic in the streets. The probable end of the world as we know it.

Where are all those people who were declaring the end of the earth now? I found an interesting article in the Seattle Times yesterday- you can read it here.Here's what the article says, that you probably have already figured out- the pandemic didn't happen, they made too much vaccine, and now they want people to pay to use it.

I'll let you in on a little secret. I didn't get the vaccine. I never get flu shots. Ever. I think its a bunch of hooey and and scare tactics, and it appears as if in this case, I may be correct. Sure, I know that some people died from it, but people die from influenza every year.

News organizations all over the world exist for primarily one reason- they want you to watch their program so that their advertisers are justified in spending the amount of money that they do. The more often and longer you watch, the better off the advertisers are. After all, if you are a publicly traded company on the NYSE, you better be posting a profit, and in this case, profit comes from more advertising dollars.

How do they get you to watch more? They use sensationalized news coverage (blood, death, mayhem etc.) to entice you to watch, and keep watching. Case in point- the Haitian relief effort showing scores of dead bodies repeatedly. You see the the bodies over and over and keep watching and watching (I've seen exactly zero video images of the event- I dont watch the news- I read it).

In the case of the H1N1 "scare" it truly was the flavor of the week that has now lost its luster. They have moved on to more exciting things. Actual dead bodies in the streets of Port au Prince is way more exciting than the prospect of dead bodies.

What's my point? Do not allow yourself to get sucked in by mass media to tell you what to be afraid of and what to believe. The world is not coming to an end. The sky is not falling. Yes, there are horrific things that happen all over the world every day, but in alot of cases, its nothing more than a news report about blood in the street after the fact.

Read your Bible, pray and spend time with the flesh and blood people around you whom you love, and watch how your mood improves. Yes, you can send money to relief organizations, but also walk across the street and love on that neighbor that has no family or friends. Call someone you love. Send a gift to friend. Help out at a homeless shelter.

The swine flu scare turned out to just be a pan of burnt bacon in the kitchen, when everyone was calling it a fire. Watch. In one month you won't be hearing about Haiti anymore. They will have moved on to other things. You don't hear about New Orleans, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Tsunami anymore either.

Trust God, not the mass media. Love the people within arms reach.

Blessings
matt