The recent police shootings and the murder Thursday of five police officers put a spotlight on the troubled occupation of policing. Recent public perception of police has reached a 22-year low in the United States, with a 2015 poll showing that about only 52 percent have a "great deal" of confidence in the institution. Among those who do not share that confidence, the view of the police seems to have shifted from from those who "serve and protect" to those who "unnecessarily kill."
If you're wondering why our country seems so bizarrely fearful, here's the answer: We absolutely cannot understand that risk is inherent in everything, even things that are outrageously safe, like eating raw cookie dough.
Recently, thanks to an off batch of General Mills flour that sickened 42 people nationwide (none of whom died), the Food & Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control warned us, yet again, not to eat dough. They did not just say, "Get rid of that bad batch of General Mills flour" (sold under the brand names Gold Medal, Signature Kitchen's, and Gold Medal Wondra). They said, basically: Don't eat raw dough, because dough contains raw flour, flour comes from the fields, fields are not antiseptic and, therefore, you could end up very sick.
