What is all too often missed in looking at "1984" was that apart from Big Brother and endless war- language was systematically being downgraded so even if a person had a concern, it would become difficult or even impossible to express that concern.
This makes it more important than ever to stay on top of all the misleading, dumbed down and inaccurate language we see EVERY day- it is one of the few weapons anyone can use to fight the soul-sucking machine of Oceania/fascism/terrorism/corporatism/elitism/religious fanaticism that passes for "government" in too much of our over stressed world.

hollow

?

it's basic anthropology concept. but it works..

they keep us hating so many people.. and hating each other.... that that is where we invest and divert most of our energy and attention. it is like a sleight of hand... even keeping people angry and blogging etc.. anything to keep people from realizing they are being played... conned.. manipulated...oppressed etc...

Teri;
That offence was used when Capt Kirk was changed with killing Ben Finny.

basic anthropology.

A hates B. B hates A. C comes along and poses a bigger threat, causing A and B to join forces, temporarily overlooking their own differences for a mutual cause. So... several questions might arise out of this.

Do a and B hate each other enough to destroy this country if C didn't exist ( and note that C.. is interchangeable.. A C.. not the C.. any C will do).

or.. is there a D involved in the picture staying out of sight, so to speak?

Assuming that D could be the gov't, corporation etc. Who are A and B? Do they have identities? is it red and blue? rich-poor?

going back to basic math concepts.. if we could figure out " numeric values" for the equation.. then it is solvable. That's both math and physics.

The problem is- D doesn't want us to solve it ( chaos factor? so we don't even KNOW what-who the variables represent. they want to make it LOOK/SEEM so complicated.. that we don't even look at it in the simplest terms...

thoughts anyone?

Al Q has been an invention of the american neocon minds for a long time.
As for the long list of enemies america media keep alive just look at all the places in the world america is at war in some way with?
America /Israel are clearly the aggressive nations of the world and justify it with fear.

"Report suspicious activity."

I've got something suspicous to report: The US Dollar suddenly strengthened and the price of oil dramatically dropped just when "W" went to Beijing for the Olympics and the conflict in Georgia broke out.

I realized that Orwell's vision had come to pass one day in the summer of 2004 driving along a deserted stretch of I-95 in rural northeastern Maryland, when the million dollar traffic notice message board overhead across all three lanes of traffic was lit up with the urgent warning to "Report suspicious activity." I knew than that we're toast.

For those annoyed by relentless public television broadcasts, here's one solution:

TV-B-Gone, a universal on-off remote device.

I saw "The Power of Nightmares" a couple of years ago when I was in Australia. It was excellent, and I recall that some powerful persons in Australia didn't want it broadcast. They forced the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to air a counter documentary, which was, in my view, intellectually rather flimsy.

According "The Power of Nightmares", Al Qaeda was largely broken after the initial invasion of Afghanistan. Al Qaeda was deliberately rehabilitated as a fiction in the public mind (and now perhaps in fact) because it was politically expedient to have an enemy.

See the BBC's documentary - The Power of Nightmares.

http://liberationvideo.blogspot.com/2007/05/power-of-nightmares-part-1-baby-its.html

If one thinks about it, a leader that wilfully controls his/her people through fear and hatred is one sick, twisted, perverted individual.

This is a TEST of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a TEST. (But as Pavlov's experiments in the former Soviet Union proved, it doesn't have to be a real emergency to generate hysteria in the society. A "test" is psychologically sufficient.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwErz68GfF8&feature=related

See the BBC's documentary - The Power of Nightmares. Its three parts and documents Leo Strauss, the neocons, and Wahhibism, the basis of Al Qaeda ideology.

"In a democracy, the food of fear is not well-informed disagreement but objective, abject ignorance." (....USSC Justice, Thurgood Marshall.)

Some CDer on another post stated something to the efffect that it is more important, now, to have a democratically inspired Federal Communications Commission than a similarly inclined US Supreme Court majority.

That might be a stretch, but not by much. And I think Justice Marshall would have agreed.

It looks as if FDR had it correct when he said,"the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". Would that the party that has inherited his legacy and the party who hated and has oppossed his efforts for lo these many years would take such a lesson to heart.

I get "word-pressed" every time I try to post something from Dissident Voice on CD, but if you'll google Dissident Voice for today and look up the article by Robert Jensen you'll find some inspiring words about what we can do in the chaos and malaise of our time that is so painfully expressed in many of these posts. It will "do you good" to read it.

A similar perspective is offered by Peter Russell (in his book The Global Brain) who frames our situation this way:

*******************************************

"If, however, humanity does find ways to resolve the various problems and conflicts facing it, it will have proved it can adapt successfully.

"In this respect crises not only serve as evolutionary catalysts, but also as evolutionary tests, examining the adaptability of the system. Indeed…we may have reached the final test of our viability for further evolution.

"This test, of course, is not a physical test. It is a test of our consciousness.

"It is an assessment of whether or not humanity is psychologically and spiritually fit to live on the planet Earth, whether we can change at a very fundamental level the way we relate to others and to the environment, whether we can work in harmony…whether we can balance centuries of material progress with an equal amount of inner growth"

TeriD,

A few thoughts re- your post:

French sociologist and systems theorist Edgar Morin invites us to admit that the situation is logically hopeless.....

"…if the situation is logically hopeless, this indicates that we have arrived at a logical threshold at which the need for change and the thrust toward complexification can allow for the transformations that could bring metasystems into being.

"It is when a situation is logically impossible that novelty and creativity, which always transcend logic, can arise.

"Thus, it is when the chemical organization of groups of millions of molecules became impossible that a living auto-eco-organization first appeared."

For a good example of fear, bullying and intimidation, just turn on the tube to a Delaware State Police "public service announcement" on drinking and driving......

" the question of the next generation will not be one of liberating the masses: rather it will be how to make them love their servitude." aldous huxley 1931.

I think this pretty much says it all.

Yes Orwell's character succumbs.. not the paradigm I would want to imprint myself with.

is this our " childhood's end"? If so.. what sort of adults are we becoming?

The problem being.. yes- very few of the people in this country are willfully deceitful and wanton. However.. corporations are " entities" that must be factored into that equation- and they are willfully deceitful and wanton... much like a junkie who will do whatever it takes to get their next " fix" in this case.. new/ more markets/ market share.

More and more people are " waking up".. I don't know what the 100 monkeys tipping point might be. But that concept works against a huge inertia. Recalling the nazi era with Hitler leading. One scholar noted that there was something unique in the German psyche ( perhaps resultant to the forced massive impoverishment post WW1).. that made them ideal " followers.".. In spite of the American dream and " the secret" and lottery etc.. which is the collective/ unconscious attempt to break out of the existing paradigm (which is ironic, because they have proven that lottery winners do not change in their essentials of happiness/ misery etc)..

Are american's essentially followers by nature? Looking for escapism.. or caught in a current that is sweeping them away and desperately looking for something to get them out of a drowning pool?

The best thing a freedom loving American can do is leave America. There ARE still relatively free countries in the world. America is not one of them. America will not be changed from within but from without. The corporate megamachine has too great a stranglehold over the media, the political parties, and elections for real change to happen. Remember the WTO protest in Seattle, 1999? There was a lot of hope then. The atmosphere is very different now. Not many people are politically active. Forget all the pointless protests, just find a way to make sure you are not PAYING this war machine called America. Because as long as you're PAYING the govt. they're going to keep committing their crimes, in your name and with your support. Sure, they'll let you have little websites that reach a fraction of one percent of the population. Similarly, they'll stage these quaint rituals called "elections" and hope to get you all excited about the latest corporate candidate peddling "change we can believe in." But how many times do you have to get burned before you stop believing?

Orwell's main character in 1984 finally succumbs to Big Brother's propagandizing methods. Americans are on a similar path, but we must be careful about painting too bleak of a picture yet. Most Americans, like Orwell's hero, are actually, despite appearances, complex people who, when scratched, will bleed a fairly liberal and progressive taint of blood. We progressives have the perennial job of keeping the torch that lights our consciousness burning.

I have no statistics, but as an armchair sociologist, I know that Americans have a tendency to be pre-occupied with TeeVee Land and Madison Ave gew gaws and baubles. Maybe the problem lies in the education system in this country, (meaning the larger cultural forces as weel) which fails to teach that an interest in politics is part of the virtuous life.

But here in lies the irony; even with all of our supposed greater knowledge, we progressives are constantly disconnected and driven up dead ends. Remember the Howard Dean campaingn? Hah! Was he really the great liberal hero we thought he was? No more than Bill Clinton or Al Gore both of whom eviscerated, gutted, made kippers out the progressive movement's concerns for the environment, health care and job security. In other words, we care about the well being of our fellow human beings and try to write large in the political realm, the teachings of those first great liberals, Jesus of Nazareth and Bhudda.

We are pouring our energy down the drain; the political elite in this country have closed off the politics with rigged elections, campaigns that are managed from Madison Ave type realms of marketing and yes, propaganda machines that disseminate the culture of fear, militarization and war mongering.

We can however overcome oppression if we wish with actions that short circuit the old and build new circuits of peace, justice and prosperity

http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/torture/

The "paranoid liberals and Lefties" prove right again and again and again, and America goes on killing for its "robust economy." Paul Virilio's PURE WAR said all this what, 30 years ago? Showing documents from The Pentagon stating their ambition to appropriate as much as possible of the US's total GNP to war and their own imperial delusions? And we notice of course that their goal isn't "democracy," or "freedom" or anything else but their own personal private power---"In order to bring the nation to support the burdens of a 'great' military establishment"----War for its own sake, period....Well the longest continuous period of peace and progress on demonstrable Western record was Minoan Crete from at least 3000 to 1450 BCE---when they were flattened by natural disaster, a group of their neighbors called "early Greeks" took over, and THEIR way of life was "being ready for life as war." And directly because of that they fell apart in ONE TENTH the time that the Minoans' ways of peace had lasted---welcome to the nightmare history....http://ancientgreece-earlyamerica.com

Johnlotch:
CUBA has the same problem they show CNN and CTV ( Canadian news on Bell neocon Satellite signal) Both very pro neo bush. I wrote to the Cuban Gov saying how it is nothing but lies and CBC should also be shown as it is more the centre of the road that right. They didn't write back but my computer got hacked and I had trouble posting on some web sites with my cell phone to a point I changed cell phone companies. So the neocon media is reaching into other countries as well.

Do you see anything that resembles Winston's telescreen? Something in your home and work place that can feed you propaganda while it monitors your thought crimes? Hmmm?
Just asking.

RichM is right. But when are we as a people gonna move from behind our computers, and blogs, to demand better from our leaders---peacefully, democratically? IN unison. All together now!

Rich M,

"Chandler notes the Orwellian truth: that Republican policy is based entirely on cultivating irrational fear & hatred of external threats into the national psyche.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party politics is based entirely on cultivating fear and hatred of Republicans into the collective psyche of susceptible voters. At the very same time (shades of "doublethink"!), the Dem Party supports virtually all Republican initiatives, exposes no Republican crimes, opposes virtually none of the Republican program, while protecting Republicans against impeachment & accountability.

It would be hard to say which of these is more Orwellian."

Well said. Yet I know from reading your posts here that we don't quite agree on what are the right tactical decisions for the moment, nor, for that matter I suppose, do we agree on medium or long term strategies and solutions.

Somehow, I hope we're still potential allies in the end.

Remember, when we abdicate our role of responsibility in creating our lives, we actually - by default - open the door to others who will control it for us.

In reality there are only a few who want to kill and are obsessed with destroying others. There are many who want fellow humans, the Biosphere, and the planet we call Earth to live and thrive.

Will the many or the few succeed in creating our future world? Will *we* make the necessary choices to create the world a "life-positive world" or will the few succeed with their desperate, despotic game plans to separate humanity and destroy Life?

There is one irony: in their arrogant, presumptuous, hubristic assaults on Life, the few are indeed waking up an increasing number of "the many" - to the value of genuine inner and outer freedom and the true power of the human spirit.

For decades a very corrupt and controlled media has been directing the attention of the masses (that's you and I) by uniformly reporting on a state of managed chaos, which is scripted and staged to produce mental confusion and fatigue.

The relentless reporting and rehashing of catastrophic and traumatic events with images of despair and destruction repeatly planted into the minds of "news consumers," creates overwhelming states of anxiety (quite often layer upon layer hidden from our conscious awareness). Such activity can be thought of as a form of psycholotical warfare.

Authorities play with truths, half-truths, deceptions, and lies to render all of us feeling it is hopeless and pointless to do anything at all.

In this way a paralysis of personal and bottom-up social power takes hold because countless people become convinced that the only reality is what is described and prescribed by the wizard authorities pulling levers "behind the curtains."

Threat Level: Yellow (elevated)

Go here to get frightened:

http://www.dhs.gov/xinfoshare/programs/Copy_of_press_release_0046.shtm

Boo!

This is a TEST of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a TEST. (But as Pavlov's experiments in the former Soviet Union proved, it doesn't have to be a real emergency to generate hysteria in the society. A "test" is psychologically sufficient.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwErz68GfF8&feature=related

Three Branches of Government.

Executive, Legislative , Judicial.

Since all three have decided to shit on the Constitution over the last seven years, I pray for three things to happen.

1. King George and his Dick get shoved out of office in November by someone that will Protect the Constitution from enemy's Domestic, our abused military is doing a great job protecting our Constitution on the foreign fronts. God Bless our Troops.

2. I would love to hear our Presidential candidates talk about restoring our Constitution and abolishing the Patriot Act during the debates, before we become a communist country.

We do not need to spend 80 billion a year on private company contracts to Verizon, CACI, L3 Communications, Lockheed Martin, EMS terrorist spy training, IAFF Spy Training, Infra Gard,infrastructure.

They will create suspects, and fear to keep the money train going. I hope its not to late, for they are the Stazi police.They our torturing thousands of Americans using Cointel Pro tactics to create suspects, build the new spy nation one community at a time, and will end up controlling America.

3. The Judicial system must realize that they are loosing there share of power every day that goes by, if they do not act to make the Constitution the Law of the Land. The legislative will loose their power in turn.

Because of their failure to protect the Constitution, both the Legislative and Judicial branches of government have allowed the Executive branch to move this country in a communist direction.

If I have to choose between living with some fear of terrorist attack ,or having the constitution destroyed by those who would tell us that freedom is not free,
I choose not to pay the high price of giving up our Constitutional Civil Rights that so many have died to protect.

BornFreeMen

Zazmo

Don't bother. It's like sending a protest letter to Josef Goebbels.

I had to email this to 60 Minutes last Sunday...

Re Bob Simon's story on Israel

Dear 60 Minutes,
I turned off your program tonight as soon as the opening montage stated that the Iranian president said Israel should be wiped off the map. For many months it has been widely known that this is an inaccurate American translation of what he said. Furthermore, the montage implied that the president of Iran has the same level of power in his country as our president has in ours. In 2003, the Iranian government bent over backwards to try to reach an agreement of friendship between our two countries, and the Bush administration ignored them.

Sincerely,
Gene Silvers
Los Angeles

Settle down, Purvis. Note that Mr. Chandler is writing for The Bangor Daily News. For that audience this is an effective and, one hopes, eye-opening piece.

A fellow Mainah

RichM August 15th, 2008 2:55 pm
greenerthanthou August 15th, 2008 5:55 pm
Jerry D. Rose August 15th, 2008 5:57 pm

You guys have said it all, said it well and expressed it completely. Thanks!

cultivating fear is not possible when people refuse to believe the horseshit they are fed by corporate media.

there is a tendency toward gulibility, republicrat and demoblican alike, based on a collective insecurity that is directly linked to the means by which wealth is made, hoarded and used to oppress others.

our culture (or lack thereof) and economy can only function through the paradigm of absolute separation of nations, communities, families and individuals from each other. easier to use/exploit others for one's own gain.

no one likes to think about the countless masses of suffering humanity whose lives have been robbed of value by the very people who are now living in fear. anyone else see the connection here?

Good article.

BTW, the Dems use the same tactics, and seem to have adopted the GWOT as well. Global warming is one of the external threats Dems use to terrorize you. The objectives of dems and republicans are the same though. They use some different tactics, and have some tactics in common.

http://green-agenda.com/globalrevolution.html

From the Club of Rome, which gave us the greaan revolution:

""Sacrilegious though this may sound, democracy is no longer well suited for the tasks ahead. The complexity and the technical nature of many of today's problems do not always allow elected representatives to make competent decisions at the right time."

They express many of the same sentiments as Strauss if read the link, and that was in 1972 when we were told an ice age was looming.

Srauss taught that within societies, some are fit to lead, while others are fit only to be led. For Strauss, a NWO would accept, understand, and harness man's tendency for "self-interest", or "human nature". Those who are fit to rule are those who realize there is no morality. He believed the world to be a place where policy advisers may have to deceive their own public leaders. If exposed to the absolute truth, the masses would quickly succumb to nihilism or anarchy. They "can't handle the truth". Thus, according to Strauss, it is necessary to maintain "the Noble Lie".

Strauss believed that the aggressive nature of human beings could only be restrained by a powerful state. "Because mankind is wicked, he has to be governed," he once wrote. "Such governance can only be established, however, when men are united – and they can only be united against other people." Or against external threats such as AQ and Global warming.

In Plato's "Republic", he outlined the basis of the future totalitarian state, ruled by the elite he called "philosopher kings", or "guardians". The Republic provided the basis for communism, the elimination of marriage and the family, compulsory education, the use of eugenics by the state, and the employment of deceptive propaganda methods. Global Warming and GWOT are both products of propaganda that the elite use to control the people.

They also have some stuff in the works like UFO's, perhaps they will say aliens have inflitrated our society and manadatory DNA testing is required to root them out (hey, Dick Cheney does look like he is from another world, doesnt he, could we be ruled by aliens?).

Fear is the mind killer. So long as Americans are so easily terrorized, the terrorists in DC will continue to rule by fear.

Read "The Report From Iron Mountain" (google it, look for pdf version on line)

Purvis ames:

Google "Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace" with Vidal excluded from the search.

You'll find a book with that title, first published in 1953, by Harry Elmer Barnes. Amazon.com says it is "Currently unavailable" but it can be downloaded in pdf format from mises.comn.

Uh, this is news? How old is Chandler? Eighteen? I suggest he move up a few decades and read Vidal's "Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace".

Understanding communication and rhetorical theory is a powerful tool to reading between the lines of propaganda. I think that the american public is largely apothetic and ill informed of current events, not because they are stupid, but because the following issues are very complicated and we are regularly denied disclosure as to what the man behind the social control curtain is really up to:

a. The general public doesn't understand communication theory, and therefore can't spot propaganda when it's right in front of them.

b. the MSM doesn't carry the progressive side of the story... and the public doesn't know where, how, or even that they need to find well balanced sources of information outside of the MSM.

c. the public does not examine, question, or understand media ownership, and how ownership of any source determines the content of the message. And they do not understand how nearly every MSM buck eventually stops on the Military Ind. Complex desk.

d. the public does not understand the vast all encomposing 'success' of the Military Industrial Complex. The MIC has been so successful at hiding it's prolific business conglomerants, funding, and technological support bases, and media ownership, that we don't even see it operating right next door. The money trail is very well disguised.

e. language itself derives meaning through the use of implied opposites. This nature of language and meaning is being exploited as a tool to divide and conquere... even though common citizens share many of the same common concerns. We are being pigeon holed into futile factions that can't form a common consesus... thereby empowering the MIC to be the consesus dictactor.

f. the economy has been setup as a middle class race to the bottom, denying the citizenry the time and resources they need to actively participate in democracy.

g. the 'townhall' has been replaced by the movie theater, direct TV, and corporate sponsored public events. You have no opportunity to speak your mind at these privately owned functions. They exist not to listen to you, but to tell you what to do.

h. Violence and capitalism are perfect bedfellows. No peaceful business alternatives can compete with a sinister capitalist model that is based on death and destruction and devoid of any human/eco friendly morallity. And both the implied and real threat of violence are the biggest money makers of all. People will pay almost anything for the illusionary promise of "Suckerity".

orange alert

RichM nails it again.

This is why I've become fond of characterizing the duopoly as consisting of the Party of Cain and the Party of Judas.

1913 exists -- the year of the Central Bank and the 16th amemndment.

RICHM - RIGHT ON!

Fear 101 (one naught one)

Now who are we suppose to fear again?

Osama Obama .....
Putin Rasputin
pope Ratsinger and
President Hu

Olmert Ahmadinejad
The Talliban.....Mr. Sadaam
or
McCain the McPuppet?

well.......

Barak 'the blessed' goes with Obama
while lightning
goes more with McCain

I'd sooner the blessing
over the bolt
for past policy smites
could become us, ......
the smote

the audacity of hope....
seems rather odd...
though
when it's brave to hope
and...
I ain't beggin for a little poke
for I dare ya to have a little hope!
just like the blessing without the bolt
but....
what will it take to get truly smote?

fear 'one naught one'

tayacan wrote, "That America does not exist."

blackfeather7 replies, "Nothing exists."

It all boils down to: There is no money in peace. Those in the business of running the world, dicatating the economy, and defining the financial paradigm under which the world operates, do not profit without conflict. Regular citizens throughout the world would be content with long-term peace. It would allow for a predictable livelihood, planning for a future in which it is possible to pass the gains of a lifetime of labor on to your descendants. But the barons of industry, the oligarchy of political rulers, the financial emperors who actually control the lives of us rabble, they will not reap the return on investment with steady growth, or with conservation of resources, or with harnessing alternative energy for the masses. Their payback has to be immediate and their control absolute -- why else would you want to rule the world? The future? They don't care about the future -- we'll all be dead.

Richar Hofstadter wrote eloquently of the "Paranoid Style in American Politics." In reality, a thread has always been there; but since Wilson the government has consciously used fear in the way described here; It's only become more bizarre and more destructive over time. Think McCarthy's attacks on the military; Nixon's desperate spying; the CIA flooding the country with drugs during Iran Contra; the constant so-called 'scandals' of the Clinton era and now Bush.

All through this, both parties have been complacent. It was a democrat who announced, when the House was about to do its job and vote articles of impeachment against Nixon, that we had a "constitutional crisis". It was another democrat who declared "impeachment off the table" for Bush. Democrats controlled the house during McCarthy's term, and Wilson -- who planted the national security state -- was a democrat.

Both parties have participated in eroding the republic, and both parties are culpable in the enslavement of the American people in a shroud of fear.

It doesn't seem accidental to me that all major media outlets (radio, television, newspapers, music, movies) are controlled by less than a dozen major corporations. It helps to control the populace.

Thank you, Mordechai Shiblikov. I like you must, whenever the opportunity presents itself, confront the mantras and the self-delusion. In this ocassion you responded to another writer who wrote, "Americans believe very deeply in the ideals that America stands for . . . " In another piece recently at TruthOut it was a writer using the phrase "our beloved Nation of America". I think my response to that writer works equally well with regards to the phrase "Americans believe very deeply in the ideals America stands for ..."

I do have to take major exception to some of the statements like the
"ideals America stands for" and "our beloved Nation of America". Are you kidding me? Who brought us Vietnam? Who brought us the contras in Nicaragua and death squads in El Salvador, and any number of other atrocities and anti-democratic barbarities committed by or with military support and financing of the U.S.?

Our America! But beloved? By whom? Those short of perspective and weak of analysis.

It sort of reminds me of former U.S. Marine intelligence officer Scott Ritter who I heard in Spokane a few years ago bemoaning what has become of the CIA under the Bush administration. Is he kidding us? What has become of the CIA under THIS administration? Oh, yes, our Beloved CIA and our Beloved America. Once so noble, only now fallen from grace.

Get a clue. The heart of this beast is a cold, hard, ruthless organ of destruction, blood thirsty and capable of much worse than we have seen of yet.

The Clinton years and the Carter years and the Johnson years and the Kennedy years were not the years of a peace loving, justice seeking America. Nor will the years of the ruling class Obama be years of "our beloved America" and the "ideals that America stands for".

That America does not exist.

Blame it on the Russians, they went broke playing bad guy, blame it on those Aliens, they didn't show up in time, so now Americans are reduced to living in fear of raggedy assed Islamic militants living in caves and slums to be the great enemy. It's pathetic, but help may be on the way. Wait until China starts dumping all those treasury bonds at 10 cents on the dollar. There may be a great enemy emerge yet.

It's not just about fear. 3 books that may help in the quest to understand the impulse:

The Mass Psychology of Fascism by Wilhelm Reich

Saharasia by James DeMeo

The Emotional Plague, by Charles Konia, MD

among others

Thanks, Rich M., for putting it so well in the opening comment to this thread: that the promulgation of fear is a fully "bi-partisan" operation in our politics. Republicans promote fear of terrorist bogeymen, Democrats promote fear of Republicans. As Obama has gone "so bad" in the eyes of many progressives for his multiple panderings toward "Republican" positions, they can only justify their continued support of him by pinning a tail and horns on McCain and scaring us away from the only admitted "alternative" to an unsatisfactory Democrat. The fear game has many permutations and will only be ended when people genuinely express their aspirations over their fears in their choices of candidates and positions to take on political issues. Many things (like 3rd party success) that appear to be impossible are possible if the fear of alternatives can be put aside and people can start to construct the world of their ideals rather than the one of their defenses against those things they fear. "We have nothing to fear but fear itself," what FDR exists today to utter that sentiment in support of a genuinely "New Deal?"

All posters who blamed fear mongering on the republicans need to go back and read the first post again.

Nicely put, RichM

i tend to agree with Mordechai Shiblikov when he challenges the notion that americans have this strong commitment to high ideals

poppycock and rubbish

mordechai writes:

"They believe in "The Secret", winning the Power Ball, the wisdom of Donald Trump, Oprah, Paris, Brangelina, tattoos (sorry, body art) and they hope that at the next NASCAR race there will be a multi-car pile-up in which several drivers are burned to death."

i would take the secret out of that list as it is too complex for most americans to even follow let alone agree with

to me it is more than irony to see the public sleepwalk through the georgian crisis that is transpiring at this moment - leaving us all in peril from an all out nucular (bush) war

they shit their pants over a guy who is in a cave in afghanistan - got a newsflash for the quivering american public - bin laden was killed in 2001 - a ghost who isn't even alive yet they have no awareness of a real life situation that could truly end the world

the same public who did not want to know who smeared jfk's brain all over dealey plaza, the public who is too afraid to determine who it was who destroyed the wtc on 9/11, the same public mesmerized by paris hilton's blowjobs, britney's pussycat and john edward's sperm deposits can't even get their minds around the true moment of peril when it finally presents itself

now i know there are many many americans who are brave and true to their schools

what is frustrating is how impotent they are in this crucial time

if anyone mentions the word security one more time i think i'll barf

Leo Strauss expressly endorsed fascism and its fascism's "authoritarian and imperial principles"
in contrast to Hitler and Nazism, apparently regarding the new German regime as not sufficently extreme in repudiating the revolutionary principal of "the rights of man." This was contained in a letter to Karl Loewith dated May 19, 1933, obviously before he understood the seriousness of Hitler's anti-Semitism. To my knowledge, Strauss never later retracted the pro-Fascist views expresssed in this letter.

Actually, Orwell was an astute student of history. He studied Hitler's techniques of creating "national unity" for a dispirited, broken, and demoralized Germany.
Hitler's solution? Give all the Germans a "common enemy," one they could all unite and rally against--variants or subsets of this theme were the communists, socialists, anarchists, gypsies, etc.
Hitler's point was to find a social glue, a unifying, cohesive principle by which the collective anger, free-floating fears and anxieties in post-Treaty of Versailles Germany could be "harnessed." He succeeded alright.
Any student of the past and of present day demagogues will find these opportunistic blood-suckers in our midst, some preach from a TV network, others from talk radio, and still others from the pulpit.
Some get elected to Congress, another to the Oval Office and some in the Supreme Court condone this crap!
A people who "feel" disempowered will empower anyone who _promises_ to empower them. And that is the downfall of any nation.
Perhaps there are systems and social structures that are _intentionally designed_ to disempower people (or at least make them feel disempowered), from the currency system manipulated by a handful of crooked bankers (that devastate the average family's savings and retirement and purchasing power at the grocery store) to the oil/gasoline oligarchs/corporations that play with the "law of supply and demand." To our entertainment industry that exploits "power-worship" and sells us a _synthetic_ "power hierarchy" in cop and military TV series/movies where the (wo)man with the fastest draw, harder punch, or largest organization behind him/her "wins" in the end...
Snap out of it, folks.
We have a Constitution that empowers us to _do a lot about it_. We have a right to vote. We have a right to read up on what _all_ the candidates really stand for, not just the Two Party tweedle-dees and dums. It is laziness on the part of the voters. Look up. Who are all the candidates running besides the "Big Two?" There are Greens, Socialists, Citizens, Americans, Constitutionalists, etc. And we have a right to run for ANY ofice in the land we want, if we are dissatisfied with the clowns in office and with those waiting in line to run...and how _they (mis)spend_ our hard-earned taxes.
We _don't need_ a demagogue to tell (or sell) us anything, who to fear or who we can "avenge ourselves against," or who we need to destroy to emancipate our spirits.
This is a Constitutional democracy. We don't go get bullets, we get ballots and change our future that way. We don't sit on our butts and watch someone on the little screen _vicariously_ defeat "our enemies." There lies the self-destructive path of delusion. We are supposed to grow up and outgrow Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Rambo, John Wayne, and even the Lone Ranger.
By the way, I suspect a big reason demagogues create these _strawman_ enemies is to distract the public from noticing the power grab, the loss of rights, and the control freak's dangerous autocratic policies.
To end, two quotes come to mind:
"When I was a child I spake and believed as a child..."
"The fault is not in our stars...it is in ourselves."
And, you know FDR's about "Fear."

For a good example of the philosophy of fear, check out:

"The Beijing Olympics, are they a trap?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqNaAU2vXlI

And the amazing thing is that McCain stands a chance to become the next president in the succession of fear-mongers. If he wins in November, the USA will slip even farther down the credibility charts in the eyes of most of the world.

The purveyors of fear are indeed cleverly diabolical in their manipulation of the masses. It seems trite to mention the stupidity, the self-serving ignorance and the mean-spirited myopia of those willing to be bamboozled by the Dick Cheneys of the world, but such is the nature of reality. Not a very nice image of the human race, is it?

Americans have gone through 2 or 3 generations of constant fear mongering by their government.

Whether supposed or real external threats, such as, communists' global domination, left-wing regimes that nationalize local industries, terrorism against Americans, to internal threats, such as, crime, gays, abortion, socialism.

Today, there are no independent voices. Constant amplification of the fear by media has created a supple citizenry.

You'd think that the internet would shed light on this illusionary state of being. Hopefully this site is helping change things.

Michael Moore covered this topic quite well in Farenheit 911. He exposed the government and media for fearmongering, noting that the Japanese have violent TV and movies just like Americans, and that Canadians own lots of guns just like Americans.

I've talked to many otherwise reasonable people who are "afraid of what will happen" if Obama is elected because of what his old preacher said, because his wife isn't proud enough of her country, and because his race "might interfere so much he won't be able to accomplish anything." It's not fear of anything real, it's free-floating, media induced anxiety.

And, in addition, I have a theory that the patriarchal powers-that-be have been very threatened for a very long time by the "feminization" of the US populace as represented by the hippies in the '60s. Generally speaking, peaceful societies tend to admire traditionally "feminine" characteristics like cooperation and nurturing and have female deities and leaders, while warlike societies generally tend to admire traditinally "male" characterstics like aggression and have male deities and leaders.

When many young people, seeing that America had more than enough resources and was not really threatened by outside invadors, began to move toward peace, nurturing, and cooperation, a backlash took place. Entities like the neocons and their PNAC organization found ways to ensure that the US is threatened and needs its warriors.

Fear creates a need for protection, and who better to protect than the military industrial government complex? Women are not admired or given equal status in this kind of environment.

This is a very brief overview of points made in an article I read years ago, but it still makes sense to me. In fact, recent events have made it even more applicable.

I haven't seen anything about Orwell's "1984" being back in print. Has anyone here? I found an old copy at amazon.com a couple of years ago. I remember a time when publishers, acting on the public sentiment, would have had that book in print so fast it would make our heads swim. A very good indication of how tightly the screws are on us and the country.

Thanks johnkotch, I have noticed the same and asked the managers at the establishments, from cafeterias to autoshops if they would just turn the darn thing off, if that is the only station that has good reception. I believe that ClearChannel is the culprit there, by having bought the biggest bandwith???? or some other hi-tech reason that escapes my limited knowledge of such.
One of the things that I have come to understand, however, is that the Republicans who are the party of the richest people in the world, are very good at setting up systems that when the opportunity arises, can be taken advantage of rather easily. Case in point: the invasion of Iraq after the 9/11 attack. I have urged before on this website that someone should investigate the ties between Lowery Mays, Sr. the head of ClearChannel before Jr. took over and the Bushes in Texas. With Rupert Murdock and ClearChannel, it is no wonder that Fox soon dominated. I have it from a good source, however that the American public is getting tired of the Faux News Channel and that their ratings are dropping.
One more thing, since this column is about fear: I'd like to hear Garrison Keelor talk about fear in a Demo ad during the Olympics, or during the Demo or Repub convention. to be more specific, hear him debunk the paralyzing fear that has gripped some of the people during the Bush admin. Anybody with me on that?

"Americans believe very deeply in the ideals that America stands for . . . "

No, they don't. They believe in "The Secret", winning the Power Ball, the wisdom of Donald Trump, Oprah, Paris, Brangelina, tattoos (sorry, body art) and they hope that at the next NASCAR race there will be a multi-car pile-up in which several drivers are burned to death. Totally awesome, dude! Obama peddles change we can believe in and we all know it's a crock. McCain peddles fear we can believe in and that's what will make him the next president. That and the color of his skin.

johnkotch 3:31 PM: I know exactly how you feel. My son, daughter in law and myself went to a nice restaurant in Madison, GA a few months ago, and were offered a seat in front of a big plasma TV blaring Fox News. I told the owner we would not eat at that table, and he offered to change channels, but we took another table in the back with a view of the outside. Fox and CNN are both the same: propaganda. And the line of scary boogey men never stops. Nasser of Egypt is the first one I remember.

The reason for this government's need to foster fear in the sheeple is this: America and the rest of the world is about to enter a deep depression. The "global" economy brought to us by thirty years of Reagan economics is about to hit home. We have seen a great restructuring of wealth from the workers to the elite--this restructuring is about to increase at a rate unseen in history.
The elite are placing their pieces on the board: Haliburton builds massive prisons in the south, New York City proposes spying on ALL citizens entering or leaving the city. Bush removes "habeas corpus" for anyone he deems to be an "enemy combatant." China is sold huge quantities of security apparatus. America now has free speech zones--when the Constitution declares that ALL of the USA is a free speech zone. Bush signs an order allowing "Homeland" security (can you say fatherland???) to seize ANY laptop, cellphone or electronic devise on ANY international flight--US citizen or not.
The game is over, boys and girls. We either REVOLT or we give our kids this FASCIST GOVERNMENT.
STAND UP!

FRANK 1569 -- Loved your post!! You are so right.

Johnkotch --- GOOD for you voicing your objection to that vet and leaving for good! I'm sick of the screens, too. In the bank, CNN is on many screens all over the place. In our elevators at work, we have a screen called "Captivate" which gives headlines of junk news all on a republican slant. Many of us complained bitterly when the screens were installed but we were told to just move to the other side of the elevator if we didn't want to see it. However the stupid people who work here just LOVED the new screens and so they stayed.

MR E AUGUST -- Well put! And in a very amusing way.

RICH M -- Well, put, too!!

I don't know the answer, Johnkotch but I would bet that is where they get their statistics that more people watch FoxViews than any other so called news channel.

Why are people so stupid? And the other thing that amazes me is they try to justify their stupidity.

I've noticed over the last few years that FoxNews/CNN is broadcast in nearly every public place... banks, grocery stores, department stores, restaurants, EVERYWHERE!!!

Is someone "requiring" or "forcing" these public establishments to pump the propoganda and fear?

Fox "News" was on display on four screens at my veternarian's office, and I called them on it! I told them I was offended that they were forcing their patrons to watch Fox "Bullsh#t-News" and there was no way to escape it. Of course they said there was nothing they could do. I asked them to change the channel and they said they "couldn't". Why? Obviously, Me and My dog left never to return, but jeez... it's EVERYWHERE!

Who? How? Why?

Anyone have a reasonable answer?

Being glib feeds into the Big Brother scheme. Better to notify your friends and family to resist and take a stand yourself. Superficial remarks however are good openings to send to friends and family to begin a dialogue. Thanks, I'll use them since probably unlike you all, there are a lot of AHs in my family. Friends seems to be a better thinking lot.

the russians, the commies, the terrorists, the iraqis, the cubans, the mexicans, the north koreans, the iranians, al-qaida are coming!

not to mention Y2K, the killer bees, and whatever else i'm forgetting...

whoever said the only thing to fear is fear itself was right on

Thank You RichM . . . .
That about sums it up just fine.

"Big Brother is Watching You"

Posters plastered everywhere in Orwell's Oceania.

"We're always watching!"

Posters plastered about the Dallas DART public trans system.

Meanwhile, unlike in "1984," our very scary "boggyman" changes when necessary - first there was Osama and al Qaida, then the Taliban, then Saddam (and dead-enders and extremists and, depending on the week, Sunnis or Shiites,) then Osama again, then there was Zarqawi and al Qaida, then Osama again, then Ahmadinejad and/or Iranian-supported whatevers, then the Taliban again, and just rolling out for a September wide-release:

The Russians are coming. Again. The Russians are coming. Again!!!

Chandler notes the Orwellian truth: that Republican policy is based entirely on cultivating irrational fear & hatred of external threats into the national psyche.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party politics is based entirely on cultivating fear & hatred of Republicans into the collective psyche of susceptible voters. At the very same time (shades of "doublethink"!), the Dem Party supports virtually all Republican initiatives, exposes no Republican crimes, opposes virtually none of the Republican program, while protecting Republicans against impeachment & accountability.

It would be hard to say which of these is more Orwellian.

"This fostering of fear and hate among Americans is necessary in order to prepare our nation to go to war."

Yes, it's also necessary to keep the fearful in denial of other pyschological manipulations, especially with regard to our economic crisis. Another aspect of
psychological "warfare" of, by and for the elite rulers of our borrow-and-spend declining kingdom.

http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/deepcaster/2008/0815.html