WP: In "aura of fear," beware "things that fear can make a society do"

[DeepModem Mom]

Essay
From Cold War To Code Red, The Aura of Fear

By Lynne Duke
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 11, 2004; Page C01

....In profound ways, fear is redefining our lives, as well as the paradigm of our politics. Unlike the presidential election of 2000, this time we're voting with fear as a backdrop. Fear factors into our daily plans. We're reflexively responding to it, expecting the worst, as when that pepper spray episode on K Street last week seemed like a terror incident and sent the stock market tumbling. From fear.

Fear is real, even justified. But it is also a problem, some scholars say, for one of the greatest lessons of the Cold War is that we should be afraid, very afraid, of the things fear can make a society do. Just say the word: McCarthyism....

***

"Fear is essentially a political emotion, and a politically manipulated emotion at that," says Michael Ignatieff, director of the Carr Center at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

"So we have to be wary, as citizens, of any political leader who says 'Be afraid. Be very afraid. And vote for me and you'll be safe.' "...

***

....fear, (David S. Meyer, professor of sociology and political science at the University of California at Irvine) cautioned, also can be used to justify what politicians might want to do anyway. The war on Iraq could fall into that category, since there were many in government whose desire to take out Saddam Hussein predated Sept. 11, 2001....

***

We must be wary, says (Stephen Flynn, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a military official in both the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations), quoting a general he knows, that "the real damage is what we will do to ourselves. . . . When we have a sense of generalized vulnerability, and when politicians play on our fears, that's when the real harm can be done."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12910-2004Sep10.html

[Demit]

1. Oh I'm afraid all right...

Afraid that not enough people will see through the likes of Cheney and Rumsfeld and Ashcroft in time. Thanks for posting this. I get my NYTimes every day and scour it for a hint that the tide might be turning, but all I seem to see is scarcely-disguised support for this government in what is supposed to be straight reporting. On the Newshour too...and I get a feeling of panic, and despair...So I need articles like this to feel better.

Every time I hear the mainstream media just repeat the Bush meme "We are keeping you safe" I want to scream. Why do they take that as some sort of fact? Most of the media is allowing this administration to do what you're not supposed to be able to do--to prove a negative. So it's nice to know that there are some people out there who aren't swallowing this guff wholesale...

[DeepModem Mom]

3. Thanks for your heartfelt post, wendyvic, and welcome to DU --

I can identify with everything you said. It's really difficult as the election gets closer, and the media is THE problem, in my opinion.

[liveoaktx]

2. *Nothing to fear but fear itself*-I want the Kerry campaign to go for this

I want an appeal to our best natures. I was thinking last night about the pioneers in this country that went westward to settle. There were all types of unknowns and dangers, and yet they were willing to press forward for something better. A lot of people died doing this, but they're held up as being heroic and you don't hear about the ones that were too scared to move and take a chance.

Bush wants us all to be wussies who are too frightened to act for ourselves but put all our trust into one man, instead of encouraging us all to be brave and work, united, for a better future.

I REJECT his fear-mongering.

[Hubert Flottz]

4. Damned good idea!

I thought Bible bangers wanted "Peace On Earth", not never ending war!

[DeepModem Mom]

5. You brought tears to my eyes, Dac -- and you are so right --

Since when do Americans cower in fear, and depend on one man (a weak, flawed man) to protect them? We, except for African Americans, whose ancestors had no choice, are the descendants of people who left fear behind, some getting on boats that crossed an ocean, acting on nothing but faith, to find a better life. We dishonor those people -- and the Founders, who risked everything, to give us the freedom we are supposed to enjoy in this land -- if we don't reject this attempt to frighten us into submission.

[kentuck]

6. Amen brother....

They can have their fear.