Fear is contagious and seductive. Every day the news and entertainment media bombard us with disasters both real and imagined. TV shows like Law and Order and CSI present a new horror every week. Our politicians pander with promises to get tough on crime or to protect our borders. Author and medical doctor Marc Siegel explains in False Alarm: the Truth about the Epidemic of Fear, "Statistically, the industrialized world has never been safer. Nevertheless, we live in fear of worst-case scenarios."[1] As a biological function, fear protects us from danger, yet in today's political and cultural climate it can lead to debilitating anxiety and hysteria, opening the door for individuals, companies, organizations and governments to step in with ill-conceived solutions or coercive measures of all sorts. We consistently act in response to fear. It is a potent drug.