Hell yes. Statistically, the world is safer than it has ever been. None of those things are new, we just hear about them more. Fear sells, and it seems you're buying.
Not trying to deny your experience or anything like that, but a lot of people feel that way, especially around that age, are you sure it was because of your lack of citizenship? I know I have always felt like that, and I was born in Boston, Mayflower descendant too...
I'm willing to bet when your grandparents came here, it was a lot less difficult to enter the country legally than it is now. Why do you think we put up so many legal obstacles?
Isn't that a distinction without a difference? If it's acceptable to judge people based on group membership because it aligns with behavior, people will ascribe abhorrent behavior to group membership. "Oh, you're a (insert religious group here)? Those people literally rape children!"
Funny you mention red dye- I think it was banned in the US too many years ago, but sometime in the 90s maybe, it came back. I thought at the time I remembered hearing that an alternative had been found...
I don't know if it's a gift or a curse, but around my house, I'm the only one who can find anything - but it's not because I scan the room and see it, but because at some point in the past, I happened to notice, and I just remember where nearly everything is, whether I want to or not. I guess it's my coping mechanism.
Ugh, one of my right wing Farcebook "friends" recently made a simpleton comment about paying back student loans, and I couldn't resist saying "why stop at college? Defund public schools, if little Timmy can't afford it, send him to the mines" and of course he agreed, the irony was completely lost on him. No, his kids do not go to private school.
I've driven a few times in Manhattan, but most of those times were on a Sunday - it was a different world. Ghost town is not an exaggeration. The one time it was a weekday, I was hauling a motorcycle trailer, and when I saw 2 parking spots in a row on 5th Ave, I couldn't resist stopping for an hour to walk around. Someone actually stopped to watch me parallel park. Must've been a tourist, New Yorkers don't stop for anything.
Hell yes. Statistically, the world is safer than it has ever been. None of those things are new, we just hear about them more. Fear sells, and it seems you're buying.