When you think of dangerous occupations, what comes to your mind?
If we're talking about America, Policeman in an Urban Center pops into my head.
Maybe construction workers. Maybe gas station attendants.
According to the AFL-CIO, by the sheer numbers it's Construction Workers.
By the ratios it's Fishermen and Agriculture.
According to the USA Today, it's Loggers.
So imagine my surprise when I came across this article in Reuters: Violence Against Journalists Hits an All Time High. Then, to advance the narrative, the story was picked up in America by The Daily Beast. "According to Reporters Without Borders [RSF], ...violence against journalists (rose) to unprecedented levels."
That can't be right. Then I read the whole story and I found out that over 60 journalists were killed --- Worldwide. Again, I looked it up, and more policemen were killed in America in the line of duty than journalists were killed in the entire world. The Reuters article said most of the deaths were in Afghanistan, Syria, and Mexico.
But what's being advanced today is the theory of "journalists are under attack," and it just isn't so. More miners died in South Africa than journalists in the entire world. Don't get me wrong, some journalists do have high risk jobs... in war zones. But what percentage are those? In America, most journalists cover Council Meetings and Minor Crimes (after the fact). You know who else have high death rates in war zones? Regular citizens.
I'm going to channel my inner John Stossel. "I'm sure journalists get hassled all the time. You know who else gets hassled all the time? People in the Service Industry. People in Education. People in the Government. Whenever you deal with the general public, there are going to be incidents and friction."
I worked at a Taco Bell in Akron, Ohio, it was my last stop before "retiring" from the service industry. The last time I drove by, the store (and most stores around it) had closed. I was in charge of a store in the bad part of town and I remember one night, it was around 10 pm, (I had already worked 13 hours that day,) I was in the back of the restaurant washing dishes while the brand new shift manager was running his very first shift. The kid must have been 18-19 years old, and you could tell that he was really nervous. The problem was, we were short handed and someone had to be in charge, he was the best candidate in a very shallow employee pool.
Anyhow, I was washing the dishes and all of a sudden he ran by me and hid under the shelving. I turned around and asked him what was wrong and he was shivering and non-responsive. So I walked out from the back of the restaurant and poked my head out of the drive-thru window. Nothing. Walked into the dining room. Nothing. As I came back behind the counters, another employee was under the register and I asked her "what's going on." She responded that someone was shot and to call the police. So I called the police, to report a shooting, but I didn't see who had been shot.
Apparently a lone gunman walked up to the Mr. Hero Manager as she left her store, about 20 feet from the drive-thru window, shot her in the face, grabbed the night time deposit, and then ran away. As the police swarmed the Mr. Hero, I made the executive decision to close my store early. I was done and my crew was a wreck.
After arguing with my District Manager over whether I had the authority to close the store or not, (which was a moot point, because I had already done it) I allowed the shaken crew to go home and I had lots of time to think while closing down.
The next morning I looked in the newspaper for the story. No story. I watched the news. No story. I came into work the next day and the only inkling that something had happened was Mr. Hero was still closed. According to second hand sources (my crew), the gunman shot the girl in he face, but the bullet didn't kill her, it grazed her cheek and ear. My recollection is that my District Manager called the Akron Police to confirm that there even was a shooting.
Because, according to my crew, things like that happened everyday in Akron, Ohio. It wasn't newsworthy. Every member of my crew knew someone who had been shot in the neighborhood.
What happened that day in Akron, Ohio was an assault and a robbery. According to the crime statistics, assault happened every day in Akron that year and robberies happened twice a day.
I vaguely recall that Service Workers had a more shooting deaths on the job than Policemen that year, but it was still a much less dangerous job than your average Logger.
At no time has Journalist been on any of these lists.
Today, more than ever, who controls the speech controls the message. Just because the media says it's so doesn't necessarily make it so. (Who is Akron, Ohio's most famous resident? Oh, we'll get to him later.)
Policemen, for example, have to deal with violence nearly everyday, depending on their municipality. Journalists then decide whether the violence against policemen fits their narrative of what news they want to report. Local Cop breaks up Domestic Violence dispute in a trailer park and dies. Local news. White Cop shoots Black Teen? National News for a month.
Maybe a better example, specifically today, is the government shutdown. Went on over to the Daily Mail today. Why is there a shutdown today? (Maybe the Daily Mail is a bad example. They might have picture of a cute, stranded Narwhal as the lead story of the day.)
Damn Democrats!
I wonder what a Left-Leaning Publication has to say.
Trump's Fault? That was predictable.
What does MSNBC think? Wait, let me guess. Trump's Shutdown!
Again, scouring the internet, surprisingly FoxNews gets it closest to right.
The facts are the Democrats and Republicans couldn't get a deal done and are now scrambling to assign blame. Who's fault do I think it is? Oh, it's Trump's Fault, that Wall is a stupid idea. But I understand why he's drawing a line in the sand. Trump won the Presidency campaigning for that Wall. If he doesn't get it, he's not getting re-elected.
My angle is why spend $5 Billion on something that will just be torn back down in a generation. You think that Wall will stand forever? You, my friend, don't pay attention to history. That Berlin Wall was going to last "forever" and it physically stood for about 30 years. That Wall on the Mexican Border will last 10 to 20 years, tops. Trump will be out of office in 2 to 6 years and every election cycle after, some Democrat will campaign, channelling their inner-Reagan, "tear down that wall." Eventually half the nation will agree with a future candidate.
But back on point, were there any journalists risking their lives to report on the shutdown? No.
Do partisan hacks like Micheal Tomasky get hate mail? Oh, I'm sure he does. But let's go back to the Taco Bell example. When I ran that Taco Bell, I got death threats and cursed at all the time. People upset they didn't get their bag of tacos in 2 and a half minutes.
Journalists are upset because they're getting threatened more than they used to? Welcome to America. America has been a nastier place since Trump's been elected and if the media wants to know why, they're partially to blame. Their Partisanship is real and palpable. On the other hand, I would almost feel sorry for Trump, almost 90% of his coverage has been negative, except he really has been a bad president. But it's not the media's job to move their agenda, it's their job to report the news. And the media whining about how dangerous their jobs are is laughable.
No matter how many 'Mericans scream nasty words at reporters, their jobs still aren't as dangerous as a cops... or a loggers.
Speaking of Akron, Ohio, you know what was the MOST DANGEROUS OCCUPATION around the year, oh, say 1860, in America? Slave. Up to 15% of potential slaves died en route from Africa to America. Worked all day for no wage. Beaten and sexually abused, slaves died working themselves to death on farms. I've never read about "retired" slaves. And the infant mortality rate for slaves? There was very little slave health care. Slaves were basically farm equipment. The only good thing about being a slave in America is that you were treated better than a slave in the West Indies. Slaves rarely lived to middle age.
Why am I bringing up slavery in an article about dangerous occupations? LeBron James was talking about the difference between the NFL and the NBA yesterday. "In the NFL they got a bunch of old white men owning teams and they got that slave mentality, this is my team. You do what the (fudge) I tell y'all to do. Or we get rid of y'all."
LeBron James isn't paying attention, either. What he described is the BUSINESS mentality in America. The Slave Owner ain't paying you millions of dollars. The Slave Owner ain't lettin' you sign a contract. And the Slave Owner ain't lettin' you join a union. (No matter how crappy that union is.)
Top Trending Story on ESPN?
Top Trending Story at The Huffington Post?
Top Trending Story at The Daily Beast?
Trending at The Blaze?
Is being an NFL player a dangerous occupation? I think it's much more dangerous for your health than being a journalist. But the NFL is basically paying you millions of dollars for you to hit that guy right over there. It's a sport of violence. You know who else is getting kicked to the curb if they don't listen to their own "old, white man boss?" Almost everyone in America.
My boss, right this second, at the job I'm paid at, is a 62 year old white man. I do what he tells me or else he'll get rid of me. There are more whites in this country than any other race. If I took my family to Mexico and got a different job, I assume I'd have an old Hispanic boss that would want me to do what I'm told or else he'll get rid of me.
But I'm telling you, with 100% certainty. Being a Journalist is not a 'Dangerous' Occupation.
And I'm telling you, with 100% certainty. Being an Athlete is not like being a Slave.
No matter what popular Americans want to trick you into believing.
Coincidentally, my friend Joe the Cop posted this while I was working on this article.
