“Back in the forties, fifties, sixties, everyone was hitchhiking everywhere. My dad hitched from Florida to New York and back a bunch of times. What changed was the news cycle. Back in the day, if someone was hurt or attacked in Maine, the people in Los Angeles never heard a word of it, so the sense of safety was only learned organically. National news made people in Boston fear what was happening in Phoenix. It’s the same with people locking their doors in their neighborhoods and not letting their kids play in the woods. It’s no more dangerous now, it’s just the fear has changed.”
