Fear

[Dr Dave]

I originally posted this on the Harvard Sex thread. I was so impressed with it, I decided it needed its own thread. Extra points for naming the famous novelist whose style I'm ripping off here...

Fear has been doing fabulously well in the U.S. since 9/11. I've never seen Fear looking so good. Fear has quit smoking, quit drinking, and started working out and being careful with his diet. Fear is rippling with muscle, radiant with good health, and ready for action. Fear has a new agent. Fear is producing one blockbuster after another. Money is rolling into Fear's coffers. Right now, Fear looks unstoppable.

[Chris D]

Let's here it from Mr. John Cale:
"You know it makes sense, don't even think about it
Life and death are just things you do when you're bored
Say fear's a man's best friend
You add it up it brings you down"

[Enforcer]

"Witch Hunt"

The night is black
Without a moon
The air is thick and still
The vigilantes gather on
The lonely torch lit hill

Features distorted in the flickering light
The faces are twisted and grotesque
Silent and stern in the sweltering night
The mob moves like demons possessed
Quiet in conscience, calm in their right
Confident their ways are best

The righteous rise
With burning eyes
Of hatred and ill-will
Madmen fed on fear and lies
To beat and burn and kill

They say there are strangers who threaten us
In our immigrants and infidels
They say there is strangeness too dangerous
In our theaters and bookstore shelves
That those who know what's best for us
Must rise and save us from ourselves

Quick to judge
Quick to anger
Slow to understand
Ignorance and prejudice
And fear walk hand in hand...

[patricia]

I originally posted this on the Harvard Sex thread. I was so impressed with it, I decided it needed its own thread. Extra points for naming the famous novelist whose style I'm ripping off here...

Fear has been doing fabulously well in the U.S. since 9/11. I've never seen Fear looking so good. Fear has quit smoking, quit drinking, and started working out and being careful with his diet. Fear is rippling with muscle, radiant with good health, and ready for action. Fear has a new agent. Fear is producing one blockbuster after another. Money is rolling into Fear's coffers. Right now, Fear looks unstoppable.

The worst part of using fear as a political tool is that it distorts the strongest positive emotion in our psyche. Fear, unlike anxiety, prompts us to action. It is very often the instinct that keeps us alive. The fear which has been carefully cultivated in the citizenry, almost daily by the politicians who are in the White House is paralyzing, because there is no accompanying plan of action offered, beyond being afraid.
To demand that everyone be afraid, but not tell them what it is that specifically threatens them and what they should do about it is mis-using the instinct that protects us from danger.
Fear is an emotion with which we are intimately acquainted as small children. As we mature, quite often we "civilize" it out of ourselves, even tell ourselves we're being silly, often to our peril. Real fear of a real threat spurs us into immediate action. The fear that we are being told to feel, by the Terrorist Graph just maintains a sense of uneasiness, which has been used to continue the ill-advised war in Iraq. It's an artificial fear because we, as individuals are powerless and establishes a paternalistic attitude by those who encourage it.
The fear of terrorism is an impotent one, because there is little we can do, unless directly confronted. The fear which is hanging over us now is more accurately, I think described as a careful manipulation. Hatred of the unknown is an ugly thing and is being carefully preserved, daily.
The Administration which just won their second term in office started campaigning on a platform of fear on September 12, 2001 and have continued to use that fear. It's a successful ploy and it will continue for the next four years, leaving a hell of a mess for the next Administration.
Mission Accomplished!!

[Gary Sisco]

Fear is another useful human emotion granted us by evolution. *If* one learns how to use it and what it is for, which is, primarily, *paying closer attention.*

Ever notice how when the adrenalin runs, things seem to "slow down." That's so you can notice more and think, it seems, faster than normal, and also view things in much more intense clarity than normal.

Use it, baby. It's good for you, unless you allow it to rule you. And the same can be said for every emotion.

Feeling happy can be a negative thing if it's not the appropriate emotion for the circumstance.

I use fear as a springboard into focused anger. It's a more constructive approach than curling up in a "healing" ceremony.

And cheaper, too.

[patricia]

You're right, Gary.
It might be helpful for those who wish to understand how positive real fear is to read Gavin De Becker's "The Gift Of Fear". I think that it is invaluable in understanding that fear is an inborn instinct, to be treasured and never allowed to dull.
That is not to say that the fear of no immediate danger is a good thing. That's what we are being encouraged to feel now and it, if anything it destroys the healthy fear which results in our gathering our resources and being prepared for actual defence of our lives.
This current fear is a sham, with ulterior motives and few seem to see that calling up that emotion, artificially, simply results in our not knowing what actionable fear is. Irrational fear is a destructive and divisive state to be in and renders us immobile.

[clinthopson]

I'd say that the current Administration has used fear pretty effectively.

[patricia]

I can't help wondering how many hundreds of Iraqi's are dead now, because of the fear that the young soldiers feel when confronted with an enemy they cannot identify as a genuine threat. From what I've read, an ordinary Iraqi resisting aggression by the invaders is enough reason to incarcerate, torture or kill him/her.
Do these young men and women know who the enemy is?? Is being an Iraqi who is not immediately docile enough to convince a kid with a gun that killing him/her is the action which should be taken?? Judging by the estimates of how many of those who were incarcerated at Abu Ghraib and other centres are ordinary people seems to support the contention that most are guilty of nothing.
Irrational fear at work, with disastrous consequences.

[BFrank]

[Slurpy]

I use fear as a springboard into focused anger.

And from that, into outright loathing?

(Apologies to Hunter S. Thompson)

[Dr Dave]

Fear is another useful human emotion granted us by evolution. *If* one learns how to use it and what it is for, which is, primarily, *paying closer attention.*

Aptly put. Although in my case, after a while, there is so much that must be paid attention to, that I cannot pay attention to all of it. Now, you can say "Well, ha-ha, Dave, you don't pay attention, you die, tough shit."

To which I would say in return, now we have touched upon the real reason for civilization: We cannot truly pay attention to everything, so we have to trust others. This is a tough one to swallow, I know, especially in these times when our Government is daily proving how unworthy of our trust it is. And this is part of the reason Fear is doing such great box-office these days: We cannot trust those who are supposed to be trustworthy.

To discuss this any further is to get very far off topic, but I do think it is always good policy to have somebody else watch your back.

[patricia]

Sure, it's good to have someone watching your back, if there is real danger from which they are protecting you.
But, if they are setting up artificial fear, while picking your pocket of both your money, your children and your reputation, it might be wise to re-assess the unquestioning trust you have placed in their hands.

[Jon Abbey]

[groover]

"This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around."

[Sergio Zamora]

I never really dug them too much, but...

[Brian Olewnick]

[Enforcer]

Nicely done, Brian. It took me a minute.

[groover]

Fear has been doing fabulously well in the U.S. since 9/11. I've never seen Fear looking so good. Fear has quit smoking, quit drinking, and started working out and being careful with his diet. Fear is rippling with muscle, radiant with good health, and ready for action. Fear has a new agent. Fear is producing one blockbuster after another. Money is rolling into Fear's coffers. Right now, Fear looks unstoppable.

Hate's not doing too bad these days, either. I think they might be partners!

[BFrank]

I never really dug them too much, but...

That's the only album of theirs I have heard, and it's actually a lot of fun.

Nice, Brian........on that Golden Palominos reference ...

[walto]

[crawjo]

The worst part of using fear as a political tool is that it distorts the strongest positive emotion in our psyche. Fear, unlike anxiety, prompts us to action.

This is also the best part of using fear as a political tool. It is my opinion that everyone in politics does this. The Republicans certainly did not invent it. For instance, the Democrats have used fear to motivate its base for over a generation, particularly with regards to the black vote. In a disillusioned citizenry, fear is the quickest and surest way to get someone off their ass and to the polls.

And the Dems certainly tried to use fear in the past election. Rumors about future invasions, the return of the draft, etc. were all calculated to make people afraid of a second Bush term, and thus motivated to vote. It's not a question of getting people to dislike Bush; it was a question of getting people to not only dislike him, but to fear him enough that they would believe it was in their own interest of self-preservation to vote against him.

Politically, we have come a very long way from "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" (which is not to say that politicians during the Depression didn't also use fear as a political tool, because they certainly did.)

[Monte Smith]

Very true, crawjo.

And Dr. Dave himself is no poor practitioner of this art, either. Here's a guy running around the past few days in an apparent panic over the PNAC think tank and who wants us to believe that we all better turn to Jesus Christ because the Fundamentalist Christians have taken over American society and their proven intolerance will soon pain any naysayers or heterodox believers. Say what you want about the merits of such assertions (they're crap), but that is certainly a variety of fearmongering.

Relax, Doctor. Breath into a paper bag or something.

[patricia]

This is also the best part of using fear as a political tool. It is my opinion that everyone in politics does this. The Republicans certainly did not invent it. For instance, the Democrats have used fear to motivate its base for over a generation, particularly with regards to the black vote. In a disillusioned citizenry, fear is the quickest and surest way to get someone off their ass and to the polls.

And the Dems certainly tried to use fear in the past election. Rumors about future invasions, the return of the draft, etc. were all calculated to make people afraid of a second Bush term, and thus motivated to vote. It's not a question of getting people to dislike Bush; it was a question of getting people to not only dislike him, but to fear him enough that they would believe it was in their own interest of self-preservation to vote against him.

Politically, we have come a very long way from "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" (which is not to say that politicians during the Depression didn't also use fear as a political tool, because they certainly did.)

I'm not so much referring to the fear induced by both sides during the official Presidential campaign, but to the last four years of ensuring that everyone was afraid of..................what?? The fear induced by the Terror Alerts, on almost a weekly basis and by President Bush's speeches, every one of them, IMO, paralyzed the country with fear of the unknown.
I believe that this was a deliberate tactic, leading to the re-election campaign, for the sole purpose of instilling fear of changing leadership. It was close, but the present government was re-installed. This, despite the indisputable fact that if this administration had not taken the country to war on the basis of lies and half-truths, there would have been little to run for re-election on. The present administration has NO positive record, on global or domestic affairs. What is astounding to me is how the public could have re-installed liars and deceivers as their global representatives.
I guess that one shouldn't underestimate the power of fear and the need we all have to be protected, even if we don't know from what we are being protected.
How else would you explain the number of people who say they believe that George W Bush is better equipped to protect them? Protect them from what?? From the godless hordes spilling into the United States from the Middle East?? How likely was that to happen, before Iraq was illegally invaded? In fact, how likely is that now?? Hated? Yes. Invaded? Not likely, unless it might be a series of "small" attacks, which is what Sept 11 was. It shocked all of us, but compared to the ongoing war and it's likely duration, a small attack.
Irrational fear. Nothing like it.

[Monte Smith]

Mind-numbing, paralyzing fear of the unknown, huh? Yup. That, terrorism, and running a New England liberal offering no positive alternative will elect a Republican every time.

[Dr Dave]

Very true, crawjo.

And Dr. Dave himself is no poor practitioner of this art, either. Here's a guy running around the past few days in an apparent panic over the PNAC think tank and who wants us to believe that we all better turn to Jesus Christ because the Fundamentalist Christians have taken over American society and their proven intolerance will soon pain any naysayers or heterodox believers. Say what you want about the merits of such assertions (they're crap), but that is certainly a variety of fearmongering.

Relax, Doctor. Breath into a paper bag or something.

Caught! Shit.

Roe v. Wade may very well be dead meat, so I stand by my story, with the following modification: People whose election and re-election depend on the votes of Fundamentalist Christians have taken over American society and their proven intolerance is ALREADY paining naysayers and heterodox believers. It's not crap, it's real.

And for your information, I've been panicked about the Project For The New American Century since its inception in 1997.

And finally, talk about the pot calling the kettle black! You really are shameless, which is admirable up to a point, a point which has long since been passed....

[BFrank]