Are we the same?

This story makes me wonder if we are actually becoming similar to the people in the story. It seems that we are becoming more and more paranoid in our every day lives. You can't hardly do anything these days without having to read some kind of "warning" first. Almost everything out there is harmful in some way, or "causes cancer." We can't talk on a cell-phone or even drink from a plastic water container without being warned of the possible side-effects. There is also the new craze about carrying a concealed weapon for protection. It seems that everywhere you look someone is offering a class on weapons, or self-defense, or some kind of class on how to protect yourself.
This makes me wonder if I should be sad about the times we live in or think we are just being to over paranoid. Our parents and grandparents didn't have all these things and they turned out ok. Is it the times we live in? Are we living in a much more dangerous time than the times before us?
I personally think its a little of both. We do live in a time when things have happened that have helped to make us more paranoid or cautious about things. I do however think we are in many ways very similar to the people in the story. We get so caught up in being safe and avoiding the "dangers" in life, we forget to live and enjoy the good things.