One of my youngest child’s favorite books right now is The Three Little Wolves and the Big, Bad Pig.

Tuesday, December 18, 2001

One of my youngest child’s favorite books right now is The Three Little Wolves and the Big, Bad Pig. It’s an amusing twist on the old favorite. In her version, three young wolves are menaced by a giant, evil boar, who (unlike the unlucky wolf in the original) knows how to use sledgehammers and dynamite to get what he wants. The three wolves build houses of increasing durability – starting with bricks and ending with steel plates – but nothing stops the big, bad pig. Nothing, that is, until they stumble upon a way to help him become a friend.

I think this story is a good &uot;fable&uot; for our time. We are obsessed with public safety and security now. Because of the attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, anything remotely suspicious found in the mail or left in a public place has to be checked and double-checked (and sometimes triple-checked). We’ve gotten the warnings from the Post Office about being more careful as we open our mail. All sorts of people we used to trust are now having to submit to background checks. We are busy making travel by airplane, train and bus more complicated and expensive.

And it doesn’t just relate to terrorism. Our President has informed the world that the need to keep America &uot;safe&uot; from &uot;evil ones&uot; outside our borders is more important than cooperating with others to make the world a safer place for everyone. We are preparing to build a &uot;shield,&uot; behind which we can hide and ignore the rest of the world. We’re trying to build a house that no one can enter without our permission.

All of these actions – and so many more that I haven’t bothered to mention – are being done to help us feel safer. But will they actually make us safer? Will they really bring more security?

If terrorists and other bad guys want to hurt us, they will find a way – they always have. Israel has the most well-protected society in the world, when it comes to rules, numbers of police officers and soldiers dedicated to homeland security, and even an armed citizenry. But scores of Israelis have died in the past few weeks despite all of the border guards and police officers on patrol in their cities. I am not the first to have noted that President Bush’s missile defense system would not have stopped the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. It would be far easier for an enemy to put a weapon of mass destruction on a plane, a ship or even a truck, than on a missile. It would be easier to bribe the guards themselves.

Around the world, wherever we see governments and communities responding to threats only with more and more &uot;security measures,&uot; we do not see people living safe and happy lives. An obsession with &uot;security&uot; blinds them to other possible responses to uncertainty and violence. An obsession with &uot;shields&uot; in space and armed guards at our borders and on our airplanes blinds us to the ways we could decrease the distance between ourselves and the rest of the world.

In my daughter’s storybook, the three wolves finally gain &uot;safety and security&uot; when they build a house out of flowers – the exquisite beauty of their dwelling surprises the big, bad pig and he finds he is suddenly less interested in mayhem and mischief. The wolves invite him in for a cup of tea.

If we want to live in peace with the rest of the world, then we can’t hide behind missile shields and armed guards. We have to find a way to become friends with other people, to find out how, working together as neighbors, we can build lives of safety and happiness for everyone.

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A note to readers: This will be the last installment of Notes from Home for the Albert Lea Tribune. Today I start work at the paper as a full-time staff writer, covering the City of Albert Lea and schools in the area.

I’m looking forward to the new duties and deadlines; there will be new and different ways to make a difference. There also will be things I miss about a weekly column, but it’s time for someone new to take this spot. Thank you for taking the time to read my scribblings.

David Behling is a rural Albert Lea resident.