Waking up to the politics of fear

[Frederik]

"The famous quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt "There is nothing to fear but fear itself" may resonate with most of us, but not with neoconservatives holding high positions in the Bush administration.
Their greatest fear could be the departure of that very emotion from America's collective unconscious. The fact is people who are afraid are more easily manipulated than those who aren't."

"Until recently, anyone who dared advance this theory risked being labelled either a conspiracy nut or a loony lefty, while well-constructed documentaries, such as Hijacking Catastrophe and The Power of Nightmares, recently shown at the Cannes Film Festival, were written off as figments of overheated imaginations by the mainstream media."

"This strategy is now being exposed by credible individuals. Last Saturday, a Guardian headline read: "Britain accused of creating terror fears" and continued, "One of Britain's most eminent judges (Lord Steyn) yesterday accused the British and US governments of whipping up public fear of terrorism and of being determined 'to bend established international law to their will and to undermine its essential structures'"."

"Carl Sagan may have the answer: "One of the saddest lessons of history is this: if we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge even to ourselves that we've been so credulous." "

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/OpinionNF.asp?ArticleID=169799

[DinahMoeHum]

1. Carl Sagan, boiled down: It's not easy to accept the fact . . .

that you've been had.


:evilfrown:

[AX10]

3. Most people cannot admit that they were wrong.

The reason Bush has survived so long (besides the media bias and weak opposition) is the people have opted not to believe that they were wrong.

[melissinha]

4. Exactly!

Most people can't accept admitting they were wrong. I, for one, don't have that problem.... I like to step back and check myself... therefore its difficult to understand being in this position. Of course in the case of THIS charade I wasn't "had".

But let me tell you... I once used to think I was a pro-lifer. Always a Democrat, but a pro-lifer. Then two people who were very close to me had to make "that choice", I suddenly was able to look beyond moral rhetoric and learned to see the reality and cast away my pre-conceptions... my imposition of my values on others with respect to this issue.

I still would never make "that choice" for myself, but really understand that circumstances can really shape a situation.

[tk2kewl]

2. Ther is nothing to fear but the neoNaziCon warmongers

and the real posibility that they might pull a 9/11 for summer of '05