New Book Explores Why We Fear and Hurt So Much
Bruce Joffe
Portugal Living Administrator and Creative Director, ImPress Publishing Partners
New Book Explores Why We Fear and Hurt So Much
ELVAS, PORTUGAL— Feeling vulnerable is our common denominator, believes author Bruce H. Joffe. “Being vulnerable is not a choice. It's part of living. Responding to life situations requires individuals and societies at large to adapt and change … or be spurned and lost in the process,” he writes in his new book, Vulnerable: Why We Fear and Hurt So Much, just released by ImPress Publishing.
?“For many, this need to adjust – to a hostile environment, uncertain economic times, tensions tugging at war and terrorism, extremist politics, racial injustice and religious intolerance, marginalization, spiritual voids, social disconnections, conflicting realities, artificial intelligence, etc. – is threatening, because it removes us from the safety nets and security blankets of our personal comfort zones, whatever and wherever they may be,” he says.
?Through anecdotes and research, Joffe’s narrative explores why we fear and hurt so much:
“The Israelis surrounded by enemies who’ve sworn to exterminate them … the Palestinians in diaspora, annihilated in a land locked without home rule … the farmers surveying their parched fields, wondering whether they will yield any crops … the foreigners seeking asylum whose chances are greater for deportation, instead … the parents with no control over what their children are taught (or not) in school … the airplane passengers experiencing a flight with severe turbulence … those crippled by flooding and ever-increasing ferocious hurricanes … elsewhere, where there’s not enough water to go around … the faithful whose brothers and sisters have been massacred in their worship centers … the black men running from police … LGBT folks anxious their human rights will be rescinded … disenfranchised citizens unwilling to vote because they believe the system is rigged … those defending their rights to carry arms and maintain a “MAGA-FY!” lifestyle … the children separated from their parents, for whatever the reason … the scorned husbands or wives who cheat … the hospital patients awaiting anesthesia and the hand of a skillful surgeon … the forest fires devouring Canada, California, Portugal, and Greece … the garbage piling up everywhere … the investors worried about losing their money … the elderly scared about their Social Security stopping … the Russians annexing land to reclaim and expand their former empire amidst war in Ukraine … lying politicians speaking with vulgarity and threats, challenging justice and reprisals … plagues and pandemics … Iran and North Korea … China, too … the poor, the infirm, the captives, the homeless, the widows, the orphans … the perils and potential of artificial intelligence … death, disability, divorce, and disease. All those who hurt us.”
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The founding publisher of Portugal Living Magazine, Joffe has written two books (Expat: Leaving the USA for Good and Spanish Towns, Portuguese Villages: A Manual for Expats and Immigrants) since moving to Portugal and Spain six years ago. His nine books, including Vulnerable, are available at bookstores and online booksellers, including Amazon affiliates worldwide in paperbound, hard cover, and eBook formats.