Hell of a good article

"505Turbeaux" (505turbeaux)
10/27/2014 at 16:39 • Filed to: None

Pretty center mark politically so I will throw it out there without a buffer. If anyone disagrees buffer will be placed.

The only thing productive fear does is enrichen and empower those who control it.

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DISCUSSION (11)

deekster_caddy > 505Turbeaux
10/27/2014 at 16:56

Thank the modern media. Fear sells commercials, so they will continue to produce more fear. If you can convince people to stop watching TV news, fear will drop off quite a bit.

(disclaimer, I didn't click through and read the article so I may be way off topic)

505Turbeaux > deekster_caddy
10/27/2014 at 16:57

pretty damn close

deekster_caddy > 505Turbeaux
10/27/2014 at 16:59

Even the friggin weather reports are all fear based, especially if you watch Weather.com or TWC. Ugh.

ACESandEIGHTS > 505Turbeaux
10/27/2014 at 16:59

Yeah, I stumbled across this a while back when I read The Culture of Fear . It's mostly CNN/Fox generated boogeymen to sell ad space.

It leads to bad things too. Whip people up into a frenzy and then when police, the public, or passers-by think something is unacceptable—no matter what the legal threshold is—there will be demands for arrests, regulation, legislation, etc. etc.

Two law enforcement die in Ottawa. Murdered by fellow citizens. OMG TERRORISTS CHANGE THE LAWS SO THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN! Sounds like a Patriot Act Power Grab Redux if I've ever heard of one.

505Turbeaux > ACESandEIGHTS
10/27/2014 at 17:01

100% Scared people either react more hastily, or calculate it to get away because of the presence of fear

505Turbeaux > deekster_caddy
10/27/2014 at 17:01

oh yeah, odd enough I was telling my girl the same thing this morning

jariten1781 > 505Turbeaux
10/27/2014 at 17:22

Interestingly, my paternal grandparents were much better about this than the last couple generations of our family. I chalk it up to them being heavily religious. My grandfather used to say "Think only of the things and people you can effect through your actions and leave the worrying to God". No one, including myself, else in the family is particularly religious and it just seems to be harder to let things go for folks that don't have the ethereal to fall back on.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > 505Turbeaux
10/27/2014 at 17:48

Sadly never going to happen. There are far too many "Conservative Christians" who have an idealized dream of real persecution against them for this country to stop being afraid of everything. It also sells far too many ads and makes enough people shits tons of money and power for it ever to go away.

I just had the thought that all those who truly believe that there is some sort of religious war going on must really have very little faith that their beliefs will save them. To reject science (evolution, vaccines, Big Bang, etc) when the Bible clearly says that God gave us the ability to reason and understand the world around us just screams of insecurity.

I had just read about how the idiot running the 'Creation Museum' in KY has duped KY into tax breaks and then has the audacity to demand any new employees agree to HIS specific set of religious beliefs before they can be hired. When word gets out, we are going to be drowned in 'Religious Persecution!' because he's not allowed to discriminate job applicants, but it's okay if 'Christians' can demand the FEDERAL FUCKING GOVERNMENT stop providing types of health-care they don't agree with.

I grew up in the church. I no longer attend. Guess why...

Sorry for the tangent. Do Not intend to start a religious debate.

505Turbeaux > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
10/27/2014 at 17:50

I did too, and I no longer go. Well said, though it goes well beyond one specific religious ideal

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > 505Turbeaux
10/27/2014 at 18:03

True, it does. This country was basically founded on fear. The pilgrims were afraid of persecution in England, and they brought their fear of everything foreign with them.

Anyone (with the exception of the African slaves who were forced to) else who has ever come to this country has done so because they were afraid of something worse at home.

At some point, someone figured out it was highly profitable to culture that fear for their own agenda. The Boston Tea Party might be the most obvious example, but I'm not sure it started there.

America really only works when we have a Huge Bad Thing/Person to gather for our 2-minutes of hate. Right now there are too many Very Bad Things and we can't focus. Our lack of clarity has allowed those with the means and power to hijack our collective fears for their own purposes as they conceal their quest for power and profit.

It's been happening for so long we're basically fucked.

I'm not cynical, why do you ask?

505Turbeaux > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
10/27/2014 at 18:06

so damn long it has been going on, we know nothing else. I think I am going to come off as uber cliche, but Lennon had it right with "Imagine" in a broad sense