Rescue Fantasies
The emotional power of 60 Minutes tonight went deeper than a disaster story with a happy ending–the safe ditching of Flight 1549 in the Hudson River with 155 passengers and crew. In a time of fear and anxiety, it affirmed a powerful collective belief that, against all odds, human beings can save themselves and others from disaster.
The retelling of that story was ironically interrupted by commercials for a CBS reality series, celebrating the more dominant values of our time, competition and self-survival, as a counterpoint to the feat of the pilot and crew (along with the river rescuers) of taking responsibility for the lives of so many strangers.
With 9/11, Katrina and social upheaval, this has not been a good age for the rescue fantasies that coexist in all of us along with the selfish instincts that get so much more attention. But a reunion of the Flight 1549 crew with passengers and their families underscores how far and wide the saving of a life reaches into the world.
One Response to “Rescue Fantasies”
Atarax (hydroxyzine) for Anxiety: I take this along with Lexapro… I was having such hard times falling asleep due to nine million things going on through the day … then the anxiety kicked in…sometimes I would be up for hours while everyone is sound to sleep…When I started taking this I fall asleep within thirty mins and usually sleep sound. It is not addicting… and good price for the good things the meds do