We Have to Worry About Something

Many people are concerned about the toxins we are exposed to throughout our daily lives. We worry about the hormones and antibiotics in our foods. We worry about exposure to noxious chemicals in the materials used to build our homes.

We worry about the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink. We worry that our water has trace amounts of lead, perchlorate, or flouride.

We worry our children will suffer developmental disabilities if we use polycarbonate baby bottles. We worry if our children's vaccinations are safe.

Are we condemning our children to a lifetime of illness and disability. Are we condemning ourselves to an early death from cancer? Are we slowly poisoning ourselves?

Maybe.

However, people living in western countries enjoy the longest life spans of any people living in any civilization, ever. Living to be 100 years old is not particularly remarkable anymore.

We have the lowest rates of child mortality in history. We can start planning for college before our children are even born.

Our air is the cleanest it's been in fifty years. When was the last time we had a smog alert in Southern California? I don't remember either.

We can turn on the tap and fill a glass of water free from toxins. If that's not good enough, you can run your water through a charcoal filter and get rid of what remains.

If you're worried that your polycarbonate baby bottle is going to poison your child when you heat it up, here's a tip: heat the (organic) milk in a glass measuring cup and then pour it into the bottle. You don't want to spend the next few years sweeping glass off your sustainable bamboo floor.

I'm not minimizing the risks we face in our everyday lives. It is human nature to worry. We just need to be careful not to let our anxieties get the better of us. In most of the world, parents cannot be sure their children will live to see the age of ten. Cholera, tuberculosis, malaria, AIDS, and parasites cause parents in developing countries more worry than autism.

Me? I'm worried about catching a 7.62 x 39 MM round in my eye-socket.