Worry. Never has a society worried about so much—and so little—simultaneously. We’re tied in Gordian knots of worry, every Twitter refresh delivering new fretting points. “Frost quakes” and polar vortex, the scary new term for winter, have been added to climate change fears. Last week’s news that PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) caused cancer again foisted grilled and smoked meats onto the long list of foods that might one day kill us. Everybody has his or her own worry list, which might or might not contain H5NI, vaccine fear, bioterrorism, your kid passing his finals, cyberterrorism, those grey hairs, the grid going dark, drivers who text, stock market collapse, job loss, gluten, debt, that guy eyeing your job, your RSP, E. coli in packaged salad.
-Maclean's
