In a post under Dorothy’s blog on struggling with anger I spoke of hate as the driver of the current
movement to undermine democracy. As I think about it, that isn’t really the case. The people I know
who talk of Christian values, of stopping the tide of illegals who are taking our good jobs
or just coming to take government benefits are good people. The ones who classify gay and
transgender people as deliberate evildoers are too. They donate to youth programs. They volunteer in their
community. They are not haters. By their own reckoning they are patriots. Unfortunately, their
patriotism is the sort Ursula K LeGuin referred to in LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS. It is FEAR.
They carry guns because they fear those strange looking people who don’t really speak English or
who’s homes smell of strange foods. They fear being marginalized in their own country by an influx of
People who don’t share their culture. They fear that their children will be tempted into a life of sinful sexual perversion. They fear their daughters will be raped by men in dresses in the school restroom.
It’s hard to ignore those fears. I have a brother who’s afraid of heights. He can force himself to
climb a ladder but it’s with white knuckles gripping each rung. That is the kind of effort we are asking
from our neighbors who live in the echo chamber filled with those who share their fears. Education is
the only real hope but change won’t come quickly. We’re asking an awful lot of them.
Comments
Irrational
Their fear is irrational. Worse, they are expressing that fear as anger. Anger = Hate
Education sounds great, but for one problem. You can not educate somebody that refuses to learn. They are lead by political and religious leaders that either share that fear or use it to control their followers. A mind that is filled fear and anger has no room for rational thought.
Neither does a mind filled with an irrational belief in invisible sky faries. Early on the christian leaders allied themselves with the PTBs, the kings, the dukes, the bishops, aka the royalty. Thus we ended up with the"Divine Right of Kings." The religious leaders taught their followers the Kings ruled because that was what god wanted. If you opposed your local duke, knight, or king you were violating god's will and would go straight to hell. In return, the royalty left the churchs alone. It was a perfect example of you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.
This has persisted to this day. The irrational fears and hatreds are directed by political and religious leaders towards anybody capable of independent thought. In other words, those that would rock the boat. If you dare to be different, why then you are rocking the boat. Your goals are different, you can't be controlled by the PTBs. You must be eliminated.
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” - Turkish Proverb
Fear
In my mid-thirties, I suddenly developed crippling anxiety. I say "crippling" because I was afraid to leave my apartment. Luckily I forced myself to go to a bookstore where I found some self-help books based on psychological principles I'd studied to a great extent in college.
Within weeks, I had put the problem behind me and within six months, I was making speeches to large audiences. I haven't had a panic attack since the 1990s.
Through that process, I found that all fears are interrelated. A "rational" fear can easily open the door for an "irrational" fear.
I accept that the Right is largely motivated by fear, ignorance, and misinformation.
Unfortunately, the Left is similarly motivated by fear, ignorance, and misinformation.
Fear and Greed seemingly run the stock market. During the nineties, the stock market had a huge run-up. Its combined value went up 417%. Yet, 70% of investors lost money. Fear and Greed caused them to buy and sell for the wrong reasons and at the wrong times.
There are those who profit from our fear. They want us to feel uncertain -- and to turn to them for guidance. It is the ultimate power.
I have good friends who are anti-abortion. I'm anti-abortion in that I believe it should be an action of last resort. I have friends who own a lot of guns. I don't like guns, going back to two friends being killed in hunting accidents in my late teens. I know people who are racial bigots. Bigotry's fairly common in the insurance industry (where I worked for six decades). Bias is sometimes disguised as actuarial science. . .remember the practice known as "red-lining."
The bigots, the gun rights advocates, the anti-Roe crowd aren't necessarily bad people. The woke Left aren't necessarily good people.
They're all fearful.
After a mass shooting occurs, two things are predictable. 1.) Politicians will debate gun control and do nothing meaningful, and 2.) Gun sales will go up dramatically because people are afraid that politicians might actually do something meaningful. Both sides of the argument are stoked by news outlets.
What we need are more people getting their feet held to the fire like Alex Jones. I hope the Dominion lawsuit results in huge jury-ordered awards.
People have been making fortunes by pushing lies that increase everyone's fears. There is a theory that Qanon started as a clickbait scheme.
It has long been held that shouting "Fire" in a crowded theatre makes you culpable if something bad ensues. That basic ethic needs to be applied to news outlets and politicians.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)