Dec 19, 2015 3 min read

‘Tis the season to be jolly.

Or maybe not. According to some, ’tis the season to be afraid.

Very, very, very afraid.

In the debate of Republican presidential candidates that unfolded on CNN Tuesday night, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Americans are “scared to death” following the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif. In the “undercard” debate that preceded it, former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum likened the fight against ISIS and other forms of extremist jihadi terrorism to World War III. Various polls have found that Americans are more frightened by terrorism than at any time since 9/11.

Given this kind of rhetoric, maybe some of us will be retreating to a bunker this holiday season, rather than going over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house, or aiming a loaded shotgun at Santa after he slides down the chimney in the small hours of Christmas morning.

If Americans are indeed “scared to death” as 2015 winds down and it’s not just campaign bombast, it could be that what we need most for Christmas is to get a grip.

Sure, there’s room for concern when it comes to terrorism. A certain level of vigilance is always recommended. But the odds of an American being killed on U.S. soil in a terrorist attack, particularly of the jihadi variety, are extraordinarily small. In the 14 years since 9/11, about 40 people have been killed in attacks perpetrated by Muslim extremists in the United States, from the San Bernardino massacre to the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. In comparison, at least 50 people have been killed since 2001 by extremists who follow white-supremacist, antigovernment and other oddball ideologies.

And consider this: When you add together the number of people who have died in terrorist attacks in the United States since 2001, it comes to 90 or so. Meanwhile, every day in the United States, at least 36 people lose their lives as a result of gunfire. On an annual basis, about 10,000 Americans are shot to death, and 20,000 are injured.

Yet this is a toll America seems willing to accept.

We shrug and blithely go on with our lives.

Then there are those who are killed one puff at a time. Cigarettes cause close to 500,000 deaths in the United States every year, with 42,000 of those deaths caused by exposure to secondhand smoke. Despite this huge tally, lobbyists for the tobacco industry, and their campaign contributions, are greeted with open arms on Capitol Hill.

Roughly 30,000 U.S. residents die every year in automobile accidents. Air pollution is a contributing factor to 100,000 deaths. Alcohol claims over 80,000 of us. About 7,000 Americans drown each year, with the bulk of those occurring in swimming pools or spas.

All part of our everyday lives, and all more deadly than terrorism.

Moreover, when you stack this era against thousands of years of human existence, we are living in a time of far-reaching peace and security. The murder rate has been steadily falling, both here and in other countries. The number of people perishing in wars has been heading downward since the end of the Cold War. Fewer and fewer of us are being claimed in genocidal mass killings. Women and children are not being victimized by abuse or violence in anything approaching the rates of previous decades or centuries.

So, as the sand runs out of the 2015 hourglass, our best advice is to guzzle a cup of eggnog, go about your life and, most importantly, maintain a sense of perspective.