why is everyone so d*mn afraid of everything in life today?

[seabeyond]

are people dropping like flies around you all. i do not understand the massive, across the nation, fear, regarding every possible scenario of potential danger that we must restrict and hide from and run away from and pass law on. nothing is happening in my world. no harm is coming to anyone. i see no Apocalypse going on. hell is not upon us. what is it like to walk fearfully every step, of what MIGHT happen regardless of the odds....

i am going to pick up a friend and have thanksgiving lunch at my sons kick ass school that actually educates my child and has a moment of silence that hurts no one that isn't fearful of someone coming in and shooting all down, ......

enjoy the day.... oh try, to enjoy your day,.... hoping stupid doesn't take you down on the way home, or evil or any of the other potential dangers

[Burma Jones]

1. Too Many 24 Hour News outlets

there's this constant hum of impending disaster that compels some to keep tuned in.........

[seabeyond]

2. reality is a wonderful blesssing to allow balance n/t

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. Exactly.

"If it bleeds it leads" is a media rule that is etched in stone, because it gets ratings. The purveying of fear is the logical extension of this. Fear also creates its own news. Teacher touches a kid, however innocently and with good intentions? Bam. You got a story. Dark person drives through a neighborhood? Bam. Story. Some academic has a new study that blames dropsy on eating library paste? Story.

Fear perpetuates itself. It creates news.

[Bobbie Jo]

19. not to mention....

RW delusion-bent radio. War of the Worlds for dittoheads......:tinfoilhat:

[pitohui]

70. yes, if not for the news, the storm would never have happened!

i mean, wtf?

"impending" disaster? quite a lot of people have lived thru the apocalypse by this time of century, be it new orleans, be it biloxi, be it baghdad

i'll let you in on a little secret, in some areas we had no power for months, no teevee at all, and yet...and yet...the houses were still destroyed, the drowned were still drowned

people who think that bad things only happen to other people have been very, very, very damn privileged and they should STFU instead of boasting about how brave they are

you have been tested by nothing and you know nothing

this time of century, i find i have little patience in the thought process of people who don't know that a major disaster (and several of them actually) have already occurred in reality, not just in the movies

[Sapere aude]

4. I drive to work everyday for over an hour. I turn on the radio to hear something that could lighten

my mood. I tell myself that I don't like feeing bad all the time and yet the only thing I can get on the radio other than phony dj's with their phony banter and phony laughs are fundie bible thumpers selling guilt and intolerance and right wing talk shows selling fear and terror! Even NPR helps sell the fear of Islam. I just turn them off and plan to get something on DVD that is uplifting or get satellite radio. Imagine the whole country driving to work everyday being indoctrinated in fear a guilt!

[Marnieworld]

9. Get Satellite

Once you get it you will never ever choose to listen to traditional radio again. I have Sirius but I'm sure XM is still better than anything you receive now. It's like the difference between channels 2-13 on an old B/W TV vs. 300 channel cable with HD. Night and day. They have talk if you need that even cable news feed, but the music is commerical free, you can't beat that.

[madmusic]

5. Watch out for the turkey bones!

Just sayin'.

[seabeyond]

21. you are funny..... canned. even that i didnt have to fear, lol n/t

[madmusic]

57. Get away from those cans! Clostridium botulinum!

Growth of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum in canned food may cause botulism—a deadly form of food poisoning. These bacteria exist either as spores or as vegetative cells. The spores, which are comparable to plant seeds, can survive harmlessly in soil and water for many years. When ideal conditions exist for growth, the spores produce vegetative cells which multiply rapidly and may produce a deadly toxin within three to four days of growth in an environment consisting of:

* a moist, low-acid food,
* a temperature between 40°F and 120°F, and
* less than 2 percent oxygen.

Botulinum spores are on most fresh food surfaces.

Oh, my gawd, fresh food surfaces and cans. We're going to starve! But... had you scared there...

Because they grow only in the absence of air, they are harmless on fresh foods.

Just How Dangerous is The Botulinum Toxin?

In low-acid foods, essentially all non-fruits, the botulinum organism can grow and have a great time if it is not eliminated in the canning process. Canning requires pressure cooking with the proper canner at 10 pounds pressure to kill the organism and make food safe." In addition to the danger of botulism, any food that is improperly handled is subject to growth of other food poisoning bacteria such as salmonella, E. coli, and listeria, all of which can cause serious sickness or death.

http://missvickie.com/canning/canning%20errors.html

We're talking death here! It's the cans! He's shooting at the cans!

But the important thing is, are you still alive? Are you sure?

Yes, the FDA regulating canning is good. But if we made a law requiring grocery stores to dust off the cans every 2 hours, that might be a bit much, and wouldn't do any good.

[seabeyond]

58. funnier and funnier but yes. this is exactly my point and isnt all bushco

that i am talking it is in every area of our life from so many sides of the equations. thank you for that.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

6. because at some point we abdicated

our intelligence/common sense to the government so that they can take care of us. Now, if any yahoo says it is dangerous, we clamour for restrictions and laws against whatever 'IT' is.

We have stopped determining what is safe and what is not for ourselves so now we are at the whim of others to protect us.

sP

[seabeyond]

22. no thank you, lol lol. i didnt sign up for abdicating squat

lol. i trust me more than govt by far

[warrens]

7. People actually worry that a terrorist might get them

Better to worry about your brakes and tires: they're about 10,000 times more likely to kill you.

[The2ndWheel]

8. Civilization is the cure for that

That's why it started. Yes, yes, I know, civilization has given us more things to be afraid of, that's obvious. But humans don't like chance, we like order. We don't like evolution, it can be nasty, that's why we attempt to control it. However, entropy always wins, and that's why we always have to figure out solutions to the problems our previous solutions figured out.

The reason we're all afraid is because we don't like to think we're not in control. We're not, and we'll do everything we can to stop that.

[seabeyond]

23. i prefer riding the wave where it takes me. i am clever enough to

know the more i try to control the more i will lose it.... universal law

[The2ndWheel]

29. Entropy

Your first sentence seems to sum things up nicely though. Unfortunately we keep building more artificial means which are designed to negate such ways.

And like you said, we as a society have more to lose now than ever because of our attempts to put the broken branch back up on the tree. But to do that, you need some duct tape, and then some type of buttress after the tape wears out, then some kind rope to hang the branch, then go back to the tape again. All the while building a nest on that branch, because it's now there to be used. But the moment you can't find anything to hold that broken branch in place, everything is going down.

[seabeyond]

31. very good. thank you. yes n/t

[Dora]

10. I'm not afraid.

But I'm not watching television.

Fear sells, people buy it. It's almost as interesting as sex.

[catzies]

93. Me neither. BECAUSE I'm not watching television, I think.

Or if I am it's never the news, any of it. Seriously.

[seabeyond]

101. i stopped watching 24/7 news oct 2004. i watch colber and stewart

only. it was such a smart move for me. i do feel better for it

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. When I was young...

Up to my fortyish birthday, I never really knew the kind of collective fear-mongering that we know of today. As a youngster, life was pretty stress-free, especially the higher up you got on the social ladder.

Oh, sure, it wasn't perfect. Before George Bush came upon us, there were actually differences in the way that people responded to all kinds of exterior stimuli. Socially, people's reaction to stress was treated differently. It probably still is. Poor people, when they suffer depression and can't manage to pull themselves out of bed, are called lazy. Rich people, on the other hand, are just in need of intervention. Poor people don't really have time for anxiety attacks, but when they do express symptoms, they're called looney-tunes. Poor people don't have to go looking for stress to bring to their lives, it is always there. Rich people, on the other hand, rich people have to create it, and sometimes do it on purpose just for the experience of it.

I know of one heir to a fortune who intentionally sat out a hurricane in a hotel in the exterior coastal areas, just for the kicks. He later died of a drug overdose. I guess he found ordinary life, quite boring. He should have waited another twenty years, if he was looking for an emotion he could share with his peers. His incredibly shallow peers.

Have you ever been around to see the reactions of sororiety girls when something gawd-awful happens? Whatever the tragedy is, the emotion of the moment sinks in slowly as it occurs to them, that it could have happened to them. As in, "Oh, my God, she died in a car accident across town! I was driving that day too, it could have happened to me!" or, "Oh, my God, she got cancer, and I eat the red M&Ms, could I get it too?!"

How incredibly easy it must have been to draw all the self-centered fear, the real and the superficial, and turn it into a national tranquilizer.

[seabeyond]

24. very interesting backlash. very interesting

thanks. i do know many people that need highs and will take them how ever they can, even create. i am more a person that likes the even... balanced.... peace,.... stillness kinda stuff. sittin in the now, there is NEVER anyting to fear, i find. fear always comes from what ifs. past or future. but never present

[mongo]

35. Wow. right on target

powerful post

[SoCalDem]

12. We live vicariously. TV taught us that.

If "something" happened to "anyone", it "could" (and probably WILL) happen to us.
:eyes:

[seabeyond]

25. i think that is it. and it is not logical, reasonable, intellectual...

there is not a thing to substantiate, yet we want to pass law to protect from it

[acmavm]

13. People somehow got the idea that life was supposed to be

'safe'. There's a pill for every ache and pain and illness, a burglar alarm will make you safe, airbags will save you from a fatal car accident, bad things only happen to bad (or poor) people, etc.

They've developed a totally unrealistic way of looking at life. It's bizarre.

[seabeyond]

26. They've developed a totally unrealistic way of looking at life. It's bizarre.

yes

[The2ndWheel]

33. The idea of progress

I think that's the somehow.

Which begs the question; is there an end point to it? If so, what is it? If not, do we eventually cure death? Break progress down, and it's been about holding death off for as long as possible. What could be more progressive than to fix that problem?

[seabeyond]

37. embrace and not be in fear of it. lol think how free we would be then

[The2ndWheel]

53. I think it comes from time

The invention of the clock, or something equivalent prior to that. Before the concept of time, you didn't know you could "only" live 40 years, or "only" live to the average age of 78(or whatever it is). You just lived in the moment. You handled what life would throw at you at any given moment. Today, you have to be here by 6, here by 16, here by 18, here by 21, here by 22, here by 30, here by 40, here by 50, etc, etc. You can only enjoy life in the golden years, after civilization has pumped you dry. Your entire existence is built around the last few years. Your youth is spent inside time stables(I have to thank whoever it was that hit the space bar too quick when they were talking about times tables and school in another thread the other day), just for the right to work for 40 years(unless you're lucky), so that then you can enjoy life when it's almost over. What?

[Codeblue]

89. Yes

Don't you think it should be the other way around?

We should be able to enjoy life while we're capable of enjoying it, not once years of exposure to gravity have caught up with us.

[seabeyond]

90. i will clue you in how you can start earlier. QUIT being afraid of

everything, lol.

there is no way i have been willing to years ahead. life is too good and only one we get.

[Codeblue]

99. I'm not afraid of everything

However, I can't enjoy life now without having money which means I have to work to get some. Unless I suddenly win Powerball, I won't be able to retire until I'm 65 or hell, at the rate things are going these days 90.

You see, I'm poor which really limits the enjoyment I can derive from life. I wish that didn't matter but it does, as everything revolves around money. Without money, well I can't really afford to take even a one day vacation to a spot 100 miles away, let alone two weeks in Paris.

[amitten]

14. I ain't afraid of jack. I watch the television and laugh, actually.

Everything is super-hyped to cause maximum upset. From wars to germs to whatever is the fear du jour.

This one's not buying it. I never have.

[SoCalDem]

16. You and Me , both

:)

I have always known that I am a "living organism", and not immune to danger.

I try to stay away from dangerous things (now that I am an adult), but don't waste any time "worrying" about all the horrible things that "could happen to me".

We're only on the scene for about 75 years (give or take a few), so why waste any of it being a Nervous Nelly..

Common sense is sorely lacking these days.

It was tragically odd to see so many people scared of terra-ists after 9-11. If the people at ground-zero managed to go on with their daily lives, why on earth would people in Idaho or nebraska or Alabama be so sure that "they were next"?

Shame on our media for scaring all the timid people

[seabeyond]

27. here here, or hear hear . i think this one is here here.... since

i am with you and not a matter of hearing you, but who is to know. do you?

[EnviroBat]

15. Because we are bombarded with terrible shit everyday from all directions.

While we're wondering how we're gonna make the rent/mortgage. We always relieved that the bad stuff happened to the other guy. We all need to stop being such pansies! OH NO, :wow: WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN!? Another observation that I've made living in central Ohio, is that most people are far more important than everybody else around here, so they live in constant fear that they're not out-doing their neighbors, and that they may be outsourced any day now. They've all bought more house than they can really afford, coupled with $600.00/mo SUV payments. I look at people around here and I can see them all fizzing, every little ripple in the road is a crisis, and you're just in the way at that point. "Oh NO, I'm late from picking up the little punk from Tae Kwan Do! GET OUT OF THE WAAAAAAYYYYY!" God, please take me back to simpler times... All I need are my goats, a lean-to, and a stick!

[seabeyond]

28. you are funny. and a good point. i have so simplified my life...

i dont look around and see things to fear. maybe if one sits their life up in such an unsturdy way, they are walking in fear all the time. i have just always preferred not to live that way, so i dont. we create... we chose... how we want to live. consciously or not

[ileus]

17. I have no worries, I enjoy every day.

[seabeyond]

30. gotta honor your post with a .... good for you. and a thank you

[hunter]

18. People feel powerless and then they become more fearful...

... and that makes them feel more powerless...

It's a vicious circle.

It seems there are fewer opportunities for real accomplishments these days than there may have been in the past when not so many things were accounted for in giant computer databases. Too many things have become measured by money, but this money game is rigged by people who benefit when people are feeling fearful and powerless.

[Horse with no Name]

20. I just got back from enjoying Thanksgiving dinner

at my granddaughter's preschool.
The most pressing thing in that hour was hoping that she remembered the words to itsy-bitsy spider and other nursery songs and hoping she didn't throw up her dinner (she hasn't been feeling well).
There is nothing more grounding than realizing that learning songs to 3-4 year olds is the important thing on earth to them at that time and space.

[seabeyond]

32. ahhhhhh. there could not be a more precious post n/t

[sandnsea]

34. My bunji-jumping observation

The boomer generation did more than any other to provide a safe environment for their kids, from supervised team play to red dye to de-caffeinated and de-sugared. Our kids were helmeted and knee-padded, car seated and seat belted, and stickered up for their self-esteem.

What did they grow up and do?

Jump from dizzying heights at the end of a rubber band.

I don't know if there's any correlation, but it sure is interesting that over-protected kids grew up to invent extreme sports.

[seabeyond]

39. ah, dont even get me started in all that. being an overprotective mom

i understand the compulsion, i also recgnize the repercussions, lol. and with two boys we have to find that balance so they can have exactly what you say we as parents took from the kids that they later are in search for. i hear you sandnsea.... you are right on

[BlackVelvet04]

41. LOL.....

I never thought about it that way, but you're right.

[Greyhound]

36. The result of over 40 years of indoctrination.

Just as most people here on DU will say that "Bowling for Columbine" is a film about the dangers of owning guns. The disconnect is complete. Picture a boot stomping on a human face forever.

[marions ghost]

38. good question ... certainly worth pondering and discussing...

however not everyone can have as sunny an outlook as you. It is good to be thankful for the things that DO go right, but surely you do see why people might not feel supported by: dysfunctional adversarial families, predatory businesses, corrupt governments, manipulative media, & a barely civil society where killing is not at all unusual? Add to that induced fears of terrorists, Teddy Kennedy, Hillary and Tinky Winky. The rise of religious Fundyism can be seen as a response to profound fears of social dysfunction.

When you talk about your world, you are talking about a microcosm. We are also affected everyday by the events in a complex macrocosm even if we try not to give it attention. Looking at the big picture, a lot of people don't have that kind of inner trust that everything will be OK. They are down for different reasons--for ex, some are depressed the Repugs lost, while others like us are depressed at all the damage the Repugs have managed to do. Both groups have lost their vision of future security. We are finding out how much we depend on a group perspective in our diverse culture. Even groups that disagree on how to fix it --have in common a sense that our society is not working too well. We do have something like a national psyche, a common corpus...and that body is suffering. It is difficult to remain insulated from that widespread sense of angst.

In addition to all the induced and hyped fears there ARE legitimate fears...economic worries, global warming/ environmental degradation, endless imperialist wars that suck the life out of us. We all have a personal list of legitimate fears--which might stem from lack of job security, lack of healthcare, lack of legal protections, lack of protection from govt surveillance, fear for our childrens' future, etc. It is actually rational these days to be afraid of anthrax, buildings falling down, and spinach. I mean after the Bushies get through with us...Rethug-induced PTSD will have to be listed as a valid disorder.

It is a reasonable question--why are people afraid of everything in life today? But I have a hard time believing you don't know where the answers might lie...

[seabeyond]

42. many of those fears you speak as ligitimate will never touch a single

one of us and many of the fears we work so hard to protect ourselves against will never happen. i have sat in all kinds of different situations, and as i get older the more i see, i am not powerless, i do create what i live and even what may seem a bad situation, there is a higher in it. maybe i have expereinced the really bad that so many try to protect themselves and found, i survived, it wasn the end, things did get better. and if i can survive something so bad,... life isnt so scary, what ever comes. i have the confidence i will be able to do and come out even more empowered.
i am just not afraid of what life may bring to me to experience, good bad or ugly. it is life

[marions ghost]

46. perhaps you

are one of the rare few who gets "beyond fear" in this lifetime. But this is a hard thing for most people. As you imply, getting beyond fear usually comes from having successfully survived some serious personal threat or tragedy, or several of them. But even in that not everyone fares so well. Some are defeated completely and others constantly struggle thereafter. Fear of death is the one primary fear that drives much human behavior. Obviously our culture has a huge fear of death.

You can't easily convince people who have a deep emotional response to frightening situations that (statistics prove) "what we work so hard to protect against will never happen." That may well be true, but it is a philosophical, intellectual argument which doesn't work very well for people who have experienced just enough to be scared, but not enough to overcome fear itself. You were talking about the contrast between people you see around you and yourself. You must be able to see that some fears are legitimate, a natural response to real conditions, even if you don't respond to the same stimuli. Sure, it would be best for people to adopt a 'come what may' attitude, but the fight or flight response is paramount. And obviously can be exploited politically.

Even if you are beyond fear yourself you have to understand how hard that is to get there, and have some degree of empathy for those who are challenged in this. Just saying...you have to understand why people seek protection. We do need some protections, as the Bush era has demonstrated. We just disagree on what form that takes.

[seabeyond]

48. i do understand. but to not challenge it is to allow it to grow and feed

on itself until we are faced in a world of anger and hate which all manifest itself from fear.

do i say,.... i can understand and allow it to be, because i do understand. or do we challenge when intellectually, with reason, or logic something makes absolutely no sense what so ever, but there has been a collective conscious created across the nation for a hysteria.... a fear so great we pass law restricting because of illusions we create for ourselves to live?

if reason is not brought back, it will continue to grow, because that is what we are focused on and to accomplish we must address every single little thing that might puncture our illusions. is that really a world to chose, even if we must understand why people are doing this.

[BlackVelvet04]

40. I don't know.....

it seems the biggest difference sometimes in right and left is only what they are afraid of and offended by.

[madmusic]

102. And what laws they want to pass to MAKE IT STOP!

Then there are the inevitable unintended consequences that are scary.

[seabeyond]

104. yes. and there cannot be open discussion of this possiblity

the mind is shut with the need to protect without thinking further

[praeclarus]

43. because that is the master plan...

... and when you are afraid, you will ask the government
to protect you and for them to do that well you need to
give up certain of your rights, like all of them eventually.

[SmokingJacket]

44. Boredom.

You know how when not enough's going on in your life, you start worrying that maybe that headache is actually a tumor? It's the same thing. Fear fills a void.

[hunter]

52. Like an allergy or auto-immune disease...

A body has all these intricate defenses, but if these defenses are not used they can turn against harmless things or even against the body itself.

[siligut]

45. Bushco's reign of fear.

I agree, it is the M$M and believe there is a definite method to the madness. It involves brain chemistry. Fear causes the sympathetic nervous system to react, a constant low level fight or flight set-up, perfect for mindless programming as it upstages the parasympathetic system, needed for memory and learning.

[Initech]

47. Bushco's mantra: "Everyone is safer, yet we're all going to die!"

So you should pray to our god because he knows the way!

[seabeyond]

49. bush is certainly a large part of it, but i see it in more than just bush

[madmusic]

105. And before Bush

BushCo just brought it to light and obviously exploited it. That's probably the best thing he did for the country.

[seabeyond]

112. for me .... that is for sure. that is when i started really analyzing

fear and challenging it and seeing how very weak it is. yes. tell my kids that there is a higher in what bush gives us if we are willing to see the lessons. he is soooo extreme and obvious, should be in the face lessons.

i say (whether you believe in god, universe or not).... first you get a little whisper, then a nudge, then a yell, then a brick up side the head. i a pretty good picking up on the whisper or nudge.... but some need a brick up side the head and that is what bush was for us. i just dont want to have to wait for the piano to be dropped on peoples heads.

[Homer Wells]

50. I find so much wisdom in the old songs of the 60's and 70's

John Denver did one on this sort of thing around 1970.

"Blow up the TV,
Throw away the paper,
Move to the country
Build you a home

Plan a little garden
Eat a lot of peaches,
Try to find Jesus,
On your own."

I Do miss John!

:-(

[midnight]

79. Me too. I was just thinking about him. My radio station

just played a christmas song that I'm sure was him singing. The song went on about the Aspens..... It got me to thinking about the talk last summer here on D.U. about the libby scandal and the Aspens turning. Does anyone remember that connection. Well anyways the freak way that John died has always left me suspicious.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

51. seabeyond, you need to read more history... this is generally the atmosphere...

ANY totalitarian regime creates to facilitate complete takeover... Oppressive laws flourish when fear runs rampant.

[Odin2005]

54. 24-hour cable news.

Everyone remember the "Summer of the Shark" crap a few years ago? it turns out that there were actually LESS shark attacks that year then the year before. That, more then any other thing I remember, shows how easily the Media can manipulate public attitudes.

[bling bling]

55. WMD's, TERRA, Sharks, Bird Flu, Mad Cow, Breastmilk, BOOOOOO!!

But scariest of all is there's a WAR on Christmas!! Walmart's joined the fight against the Christmas-jihadists but we've got a long way to go before we're safe again. I only hope the other retailers pull up their boot straps too and protect us.

:scared:

[Jeffersons Ghost]

56. you got it right seabeyond... i just posted a complimentart OP- WHAT--ME WORRY?

good shot

[jokerman93]

59. This is kind of almost a "me too" post but

If you're personally experiencing little or no fear in your life, you must be seeing evidence of all this fear somewhere else, right? Where are you getting this idea there is so much fear? Could it just be media hype? We all know fear sells. Or do you know people that are afraid of everything in life?

I don't really see the fear much at all, except maybe in the right-wing fundie types who are arguably afraid of everything.

I find myself in a parallel situation to yours I think. My observation and experience though has been that people are often certain they're seeing one thing (in this case fear) when in fact the reality of it may be quite a different thing. That is, it's possible to "see" fear where there is none.

example 1: I live in the Bay Area which, as most people know, is prone to earthquakes. After the Katrina debacle, it occurred to me, (quite rationally I think) that the federal government is clearly unequipped or unwilling at this point to deal with any large natural disasters that may occur. Considering the high risk area I live in, I decided it would be a good idea to learn how to be as prepared as possible. I did some research on earthquake preparation and organized a small committee in my apartment complex with an emergency plan in case our area was hit (we're right on top of a major fault line). Some people saw this as a sign of "fear" and had ready criticisms like yours to offer free of charge.

Fear? Nonsense.

example 2: My growing concern about the environment, energy consumption and global warming has prompted my wife and me to change our consumption habits to a lower-impact lifestyle. I now have a little herb garden growing on the roof. I usually take a bicycle and public transportation to work in an effort to reduce my personal energy consumption footprint and be more self-sufficient.

Some people saw this as some kind of survivalist pose based on a fear that the sky is falling, or that I believed in some kind of impending apocalypse. Seriously!!! Someone even suggested that I was probably about to start stocking up on guns and ammo! :rofl: LOL! I really had to ask myself where is all this fear they're seeing?

For me, it's just called doing what we can.

There's more, but you get the point. What we observe people doing and saying may have many other motivations we haven't considered, but may appear to us the observer as purely fear-based. If one is a solipsist and believes that everything they experience is merely some kind of psychological projection of their own creation, then they would tell you that all the fear you see is really your own which you aren't facing.

And of course, that's almost completely nonsense.

But that first question remains - where is all the fear you're talking about? I see people being concerned; being, and getting prepared for different possibilities that may arise; getting involved; being vocal and proactive; preparing for the future. To me it's called being canny and considering all the possibilities. The only place I see "fear" is in the non-stop hype and demagoguery oozing out of the nozzles and face-sphincters of corporate sponsored politicians and their propaganda outlets.

Other than that?
Fear? Terror? Where?
What am I missing?
:shrug:
J

[seabeyond]

65. this is more what i am talking about. i assume it is fear.... maybe it isnt

it certainly isnt just this, there have been a handful of different type fears of protecting us of potential danger for the good of the whole..... as if an adult cant decide, they need more responsible adults to make these decisions for them. this is just a small of the whole of what i am talking. and if it isnt this, then it is the right and their fears.... but then as you say, is it fear? or a matter of control over others and really has little to do with fear. maybe you are right. maybe my projecting it is fear is to try and undrstand why another feels they have the right to dictate our actions every step of the way


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2732111

lumberjack posted this

"I don't smoke. I don't own a gun. I do wear a motorcycle helmet. I don't do drugs, I don't drink to excess, I don't drive fast with my kids in the car and I don't run with scissors or other pointy objects.

Nevertheless, in every one of those personal choices the alternative isn't harm but potential harm. The discussions on these topics are not about punishing the harm that actions have caused but limiting personal autonomy because society knows better than I what is an appropriate calculated risk.

In the OP, conveniently omitted is the primary issue of the guy driving fast, not that he was ticketed for reckless driving, but that he was charged with a crime of violence as a result of the risk that fast driving caused. I once saw a pregant woman jogging, is she similarly guilty of child endangerment?

Preventing mass harm due to a pursuit of profit (the job of the Food and Drug administration) is a good thing. Preventing individual harm by limiting personal freedom is something else.

At one time, this was a country of inventors. People could try new things. Experiment. We could fix our stuff. We could build our own homes. We could be self-reliant. This is a thing of the past due to the unhealthy partnership between social paranoia and professional self-interest. "

[jokerman93]

66. Ah, I get it.

:-)
"...the unhealthy partnership between social paranoia and professional self-interest"

Yeah, it seems like a tightening noose sometimes.

My post was only kind of a "me too" response. Your post made me think about my experience with the whole home-grown American fear thing. About how I see the media generated fear mongering that's been going on since 9/11 telling us to be afraid. And yet I'm not afraid. I don't know anyone else that's afraid, really. Do you? But it does seem like a lot people are convinced "the other guy" is afraid. I think it must be some weird side-effect of prolonged exposure to propaganda.
:thumbsup:
J

[seabeyond]

67. i live i a really red area, with a lot of fundamentalists. texas

panandle. i cant imagine anyone would be afraid,... but it sure does seem like they are. again it goes along with are they using it themselves realy for other means. they seem to be fearful of gays. they seem to be fearful of terrorists. i had a middle age woman and others tell me we are fighting them there, not to fight them here.

it makes no sense. any kind of logic to be afraid, as i look around and not see problems

when i went to school today, teacher told me last week doing a be afraid of shooters in school/lock down drills. and now all teachers have to lock room. driving the teachers nuts. we talked about exactly this. week before was anti drug week for little kids.... i told her... what does this do to the kids.

my kids tell me that kids think one puff of a cig, you are dead. one try of a drug you are dead. one drink you are an alcholic. i tend to bring reason and fact, not condoning drug or booze, but reality... that isnt true. trying to fear you into behavior and that is not what is going ot make you make proper and responsible choices.

so seems like fear to me.

[jokerman93]

68. Yep

That seems like fear to me too.
Sure is crazy out there these days.
:toast:
J

[sal paradise]

80. The problem

is not that fear exists in our society. Fear is a psychological response to some sort of stimulus that usually triggers a fight or flight response. Its an emotion that has been acquired in most animals through evolution, and it has its benefits. Without fear there would be no motivation to act against threatening situations or forces. Heidegger argued that anxiety, a close relative of fear, was important and necessary. The real problem, especially within the United States, is irrational fear; fears based on myths that take our focus off real and serious problems facing us. And whats worse, many of these fears are created and promoted intentionally by different, yet related, voices within our society. These voices (whether they be the neoconservatives in Washington or Rupert Murdoch) know the power of fear, and use it very masterfully to gain power and achieve political aims. Once the national motto was "we have nothing to fear but fear itself"; those in power today would argue otherwise. The key is to be informed and decide rationally what aspects of life should be feared. If fear in general does not exist, it cannot invoke the fight-or-flight response. And sometimes we need to fight.

[seabeyond]

81. is irrational fear;...... which is my point

i agree. we have become a wussy and cowardly people, wink

[catzies]

124. Wow, best first post ever! A hearty welcome to DU sal paradise!

:hi:

[crim son]

60. Because the social safety net has been practically dismantled.

Greed, apathy and a lack of real empathy for one's fellow man makes the world a very scary place indeed. IMHO.

[Sequoia]

61. "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself. " FDR

[treestar]

62. The media seems to take great joy in perverting everyone's perspective

Towards the relatively unlikely events - the chances people will be killed by a terrorist are slim individually but of course the media takes those relatively rare cases and goes on and on and on about them day after day after day.

Then there is the idea we can prevent it - there is a point of diminishing returns.

And of course Bushco using any of these as the reasons the executive branch needs more power to "protect" us all - whether it be hurricanes, diseases or large-scale terrorist attacks.

Notice whenever something bad happens, the media immediately starts jumping on the bandwagon that it will "skyrocket." 911 occurred, from then on it was assumed that this type of attack would increase, merely from the fact that it happened.

[Javaman]

63. Your email scares me. nt

[seabeyond]

64. ba hahahahah.... you coward, wink.... lol. that is funny

[pitohui]

69. well isn't that special?

no one you know has been shot at, raped, ripped off by enron or worldcom, killed or mentally or physically damaged in a fake war, killed by mosquito born illness, or drowned in a natural disaster

so these things are not reality and no one should be afraid because they never, ever happen

enjoy your bubble while it lasts, jeezus

jesus pleasus, i'm just one small person and i am personally acquainted with or have myself experienced every tragedy on that list, if you live long enough, you figure out that sooner or later people get hurt, people get sick, people die

fear exists for a reason -- because there is a lot of bad shit going on out there and if you are unaware and think you're bulletproof then you are more likely to be next on the list of victims

the smug folks who assume it can't happen to them -- oh, it will, they'll get theirs

and then we all have to hear them whine about how "but i never thought it could happen to me-e-e-eeeeee!

seriously, look in the mirror and ask yourself if there was one positive purpose in a post bragging about how much better off you are than those tacky people who get caught up in tragedies on teevee?

lack of compassion should be viewed as an illness to be hidden from view, not something to boast about

the apocalypse is going on every day for somebody, it doesn't have to be katrina, it can be baghdad, it can be the tsunami, it can be any of a dozen wars or thousand crimes that take place constantly all over the world

but who cares about all that, as long as someone who never confronts anything worse than an internet flamefest can boast about how "fearless" they are

:eyes:

[treestar]

71. If you had compassion for everybody you don't know or only

casually know for every tragedy you'd be a mess.

And then you may as well be happy for their happiness, too.

But that wasn't the point. The point was how the culture has people in fear of too many things in disproportion to the chances of their happening. It just encourages the control freaks, who of course need the "tools" to "protect us."

[seabeyond]

73. i have been

raped twice, i was hooked on meth for three years, didnt eat for years and over a decade struggle, i was as poor as poor could be for a decade, my mom killed herself 4 a.m. dec 26th...

those are the highlights, not all, just a few.

does that make you feel better.

not only did i
survive each and every event, there were more lessons in each of these experience that have allowed me more insight than i would have ever had otherwise.

life is handed to us each and every day. i chose to see it as the opportunity of what we do with the event. it is our choices. but the sound of your post, you probably wont appreciate what i write, just continue to feel scorn towards me and hurl insults.

so be it

[dolo amber]

107. You f'ing rock, you know that?

:patriot:

[seabeyond]

115. and F*in' roll.....

ty

[madmusic]

120. Have to second that...

:yourock:

[BlooInBloo]

72. Have to have hand sanitizer everywhere.... blahblahblah...

... Americans are the highest combination of most-fearful-with-least-to-fear people EVER.

Democrats (public and private) are no better than republicans on this in terms of total-amount-feared - they just differ on the details of WHAT they're fearful about.

For example: Republicans private citizens are fearful of their beautiful white daughter getting knocked up by a black guy. Democratic private citizens are fearful about what republicans will think of them if they stand up against racism. They just differ on the details.

[seabeyond]

75. my poor baby in 1st grade had a hypochondriac teacher

and he read encyclopedia so he new so many illnesses. the things he diagnosed himself with and rubbed his hands raw washing them so often. i told him, it was obsessive behavior and if he didn't start controlling it, i would have to take him to a doctor. it took years to mellow that out in him. 5 years later he still has a little. didn't wash hands right and i would tell him, not doing it right and i am not going to tell why. lol lol. i wanted some germs in his body so it would know how to fight germs.

[BlooInBloo]

77. O gawd - lolol!

[mitchum]

74. ALL marketing and advertising is based on FEAR

fear that not buying X will prove that you're not cool enough, repectable enough, don't love your family enough, aren't man enough, aren't woman enough, bah, blah, blah...
The tenor of our contemporary society is set by those hucksters and pitchmen

[seabeyond]

76. i totally forgot about this angle, but yup n/t

[BlooInBloo]

78. Not all. A great deal, sure. Most, likely. The vast majority, possibly.

But not all. Unless one adopts an idiotically tortured concept of "fear based".

[PurityOfEssence]

82. Because of their tenuous hold on survival

As more and more people compete for less and less resources, people get scared. Hopes of advancement in this country are diminishing with each passing day, and with the ever accelerating changes in technology and and employment, people are spooked.

Things are still good for those who are flexible, but that very statement highlights the problem: most people aren't, or because of circumstances, can't be flexible.

Fear. You can smell it.

[seabeyond]

83. interesting perspective

this isnt specifically the kind of fear i was talking. i was talking more the made up fear, but having put this thread up, there are so many different perspectives on the fear this nation experiences now.

[bobbie]

84. Uh, lemmee take a stab at this

The CIA is actually what we were always told the Russian KGB was. Their job is murder and propaganda, and they'll kill anyone anytime, and they have nothing to fear since the bad guys stole/own ('til recently) the white house, congress, governorships, the supreme court, federal courts, the media. So it seemed impossible to even "vote" them out since elections are a sham. And in the four decades since they murdered JFK, they've solidified power and killed every great leader who could have made a difference: RFK, MLK, Malcolm X, Wellstone,... They had systematically turned the country into nazi Germany, complete with Gitmo concentration camps, torture, secret arrests, no habeas corpus, damn near martial law. Just try going to a peaceful protest and see how they thump on you. Not to mention how they'll tap your phone and harass you if you try to organize a protest. And it's not surprising that they act like goose-steppers 'cause it turns out they are in fact the same people behind Hitler, what with Prescott Bush laundering money for Hitler via Union Bank.

And, uh, does that give you a general idea? Not that it's detering me from fliping them off and telling the facts, but it is something to think about.

[seabeyond]

85. well still....

i am not afraid. are you teliing me you sit there in fear?

that was a nifty cool long list that will probably never touch you.

[bobbie]

87. I'm guessing you didn't read the part where I said...

"Not that it's detering me from fliping them off and telling the facts..."

[seabeyond]

91. exactly. so.... you gave me a bunch of fabricated reasons to be afraid

[madmusic]

106. Or reasons to fight, or at least be concerned...

Not the same as what you have in mind, I don't think.

[bobbie]

113. Fabricated my ass; learn some real history.

And I was answering a question.

You sure work hard to deny reality. Afraid of being afraid?
:evilgrin:

[seabeyond]

116. no.... and i do know f*in history, i am just not being afraid

as this has been around for god knows how long and at this time, i look around and the sun is still coming up, my childen are still laughing and playing, my family is still together and lovin.....

what is it i am suppose to be afraid of?

why is fear necessary to challenge these issues? i knew about bush's grandpa well before yesterday

[bobbie]

118. Well I mean "fear" in the sense of healthy fear, not paralyzing fear

People do need to be aware of the dire situation we're in with these nazis. They've been hiding their head in the sand for decades. Can't hide no more if anything is to be salvaged of this country.

Speaking for myself, I think these BFEE goons are scary as hell. They don't hesitate to kill anybody. But they make me mad more than they make me scared.

[MrSlayer]

86. Correct. Except it's been going on since the death of FDR.

Actually it just kind of went away for a little while while he was in office. They were all there before his Presidency as well. Hell, there was actually a coup attempt against him by these people. It's always the same people from the same families that have been doing this from the beginning.

[bobbie]

88. I was just reading about that MrSlayer!

The attempted 1933 coup attempt by the American Liberty League?

Was Prescott Bush part of that league? Do you know of a good website on the subject?

[MrSlayer]

94. Yes, Prescott Bush was involved.

Google "Prescott Bush and The coup against FDR" for some really good links.

[bobbie]

96. Thanks again! I spent must of last night researching that very thing.

But still need more info connecting Grandpa Nazi. I'll google.

[MrSlayer]

100. You're welcome.

The facsists have worked very hard at keeping this quiet through the years. Most people have no idea about it at all.

[bobbie]

97. MrSlayer, do you have an opinion about this...(?)

Did FDR die of natural causes or was he murdered?

[MrSlayer]

98. I don't believe he was murdered.

They would have murdered him long before if that was the case. They wasted no time in starting to dismantle everything he worked for though as soon as Truman took office. He let the bastards right back in the door.

[bobbie]

108. Ahhhh, you have a low opinion of Truman too? I think he was awful.

Started the Cold War, the CIA (which combined to get Kennedy murdered), the World Bank.
Oh, and dropped a big bomb on lotsa civilians so Stalin wouldn't have time to enter the war against Japan and then demand a piece of Asia. And dropped a second big bomb for no good reason. Good thing he only had two bombs.

Why isn't he widely considered one of the worst presidents ever???

[MrSlayer]

114. Because people buy into the whole "Tough guy nukes people thing".

And the false belief that we had to drop the bombs to end the war. Truman was horrible for that and a whole lot more.

[pdxmom]

92. Because of corporate advertising. Fear sells, and they've been

selling it for decades. Buy anti-bacterial everything and never get a little germ that could kill you (weakened immune systems the result). Buy a giant SUV, to keep mom and kids from dying in an accident (and deplete what oil reserves we have left...not to mention destroy the environment). And so on and so on. They've used fear in advertising to sell us everything, and now we've bought into it.

[seabeyond]

103. this is what i am talking about.... and many more examples of this

drives me MAD.... lol

[Codeblue]

95. There are a few things

which do have me if not a little frightened, then anxious.

One of these is failing classes, and I hate that I still have to worry about that. Most of the time I seriously wonder what all of this "education" is really doing for me. It just stresses me out all the time without really providing much educational benefit. I havent really learned anything useful since 10th grade. Or at least, nothing new since then.

The other thing that really has me worried is getting a decent job after I graduate with which to pay off the ridiculous student loans I've accrued. Sometimes THAT, more than anything completely overwhelms me.

[seabeyond]

110. though what you say is valid

and totally normal, what you fear is an unknown. in your now, your fine. it is looking into the future of what might be that can actually cause you a physical, present, real pain... over something that is not even happening. a game i played with fear using your examples. thinking ahead to getting a job and then on top of that thinking about that number you owe can be overwhelming....as you start feeling those horrible feelings if you bring yourself to now, you will see it all vanishes. you have total control of living in the very real physical pain of fear, or not, all what you do with you mind.

[Codeblue]

119. Granted

Most of the time I do live in the now and so I tend not to worry about much while people around me are constantly stressing.

However, I think one has to look to the future at times. Secondly, school is actually much more stressing, and that is in the now.

[seabeyond]

121. yes,.... but when you break it down

it is still not in the now. when you are actualy in the now doing the paper or studying for test.... you are fine. it is when the brain flashes to what if or future.... will i get it done, or will i pass.... that the fear comes in. always, with fear, it is a projection, never the now

just something fascinating to me.

my fear... bears in the woods when hubby makes me go. or shark in sea when someone makes me go in. and i start letting my brain work a whole story of what could happen. and silliness it is.

[Codeblue]

122. Alright

Usually with the now, you're too preoccupied to think about the future. But the real reason I see that the now doesn't induce fear is because all of the things you need in the now are simple.

I need entertainment, I need some food/water, I need sexual relief, etc. The now is usually never a big worry. But in the future, there is always a big picture and that is what causes the fear. There are more important things in the future to worry about.

[zulchzulu]

109. The level of ignorance is directly relational to the level of fear

The dumber (or more in agreement with Bush) you are, the more fearful you are. It's really that simple.

[leftofthedial]

111. look. I just don't want to know.

The answer to this question? Well, it just freaks me out. So just leave me out of it, okay?

[seabeyond]

117. lol lol lol. k... you got it. lol n/t

[smtpgirl]

123. Too much of the Bush regime and Faux News

Tera, Terra, Terra