The Nature Of Fear
It’s commonly said that we live in a society that has great fear surrounding us. “We have nothing to fear but fear itself” is the famous quote, but how often do we really listen to this message? While it’s no doubt important to keep ourselves secure and our families in good health, we can’t let fear get the best of us. It’s a great idea to make sure workplaces are secure, with fall protection and rail guard installed where they are needed, but when keeping our own notion of safety intact borders on creating danger to ourselves and others, we need to rethink the kind of society we take part in.
The day of September 11 ultimately, had the largest effect on our perceived safety of the world. Terrorism was certainly in existence, but it was not in the top of our minds. When the attacks occurred Al-Qaeda terrorists were quickly pointed to as the perpetrators of the violence, and retaliations were eagerly put in place by the Bush administration.
The response made by the Government of George Bush and Dick Cheney is one of the most controversial decisions since Vietnam. The decision to attack Iraq, a place where it was admitted Osama Bin Laden had no connection to, and the only noteable reason to invade was a large number of oil stocks and an opportunity to engage in wider penetration into the Middle East, is one that was at first thought of as a conspiracy theory, but now is the mainstream view of the truth. There can be little doubt that the Obama campaign would have gotten little chance of success had the decisions of two terms of Bush’s reign not been so damaging to American security.
It’s here that we can see an interesting irony about fear and the desire for safety. While many supported Bush whole-heartedly as they believed this was best for our safety, the reality is that this giving into worry was what ultimately has made America a less safe country to live in, as the damage caused by Bush to the global standing of the US has been massive.
Today, there is a new fear present in the world such as the fear of climate change and global warming. Is this fear valid? One of the major points of contrast between global warming and the fear of terrorism is that there is no real enemy to fight against when it comes to global warming. In fact, those who trust that climate change evidence is present; are less and less likely to believe their government. A belief in a widespread terrorism threat, though, leads us to look to support the power structure that is currently in place.
In summary, we need to think deeply and properly about any aspect of our society that brings fear out inside us. By disconnecting ourselves momentarily from our fear, and peering dispassionately at the evidence we have, we can make an informed decision as to what kind of measures need to be taken to make ourselves and our families safe.