Fearmongering
I find it very interesting how words related to fear have become very popular lately.
Xenophobia
Agoraphobia
Homophobia
Androphobia
Anthropophobia
Gynophobia
Arachnophobia
Autophobia
And there is even phobophobia, the fear of phobias.
Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are very common. They’re estimated to affect more than 30 percent of U.S. adults at some time in their lives.
https://www.healthline.com/health/list-of-phobias
What triggers fear?
Real danger that triggers a fight or flight response for survival.
Imagined danger that can be triggered by words and phrases, anxiety and phobias.
Most of our lives, we live in fear…
… fear of the future
… fear of the past
… fear of regret
… fear of failure
… fear of falling short
… fear of what others might think
… fear of having too little
… fear of not achieving enough
… fear of losing things and people
… fear of death
… fear of life and really living
Why do we fear that which we do not agree,
that which is not the same?
Diversity and divergent perspectives are everywhere...
the essence of life itself.
Why do we fear what we do not understand,
that which may be beyond understanding?
Mystery and uncertainty is everywhere...
the essence of life itself.
So we must learn to...
Embrace mystery.
Embrace diversity.
Embrace change.
Amygdala: Instinctively Triggering Fear
Why do we attack that which we fear?
When there is now rarely a need
for the survival response of fear?
Here's why...
The amygdala instinctively hijacks our brains
so that we act with fight or flight.
This reaction is deep in our bones.
It is a survival instinct that can save our lives.
The purpose of the amygdala's reaction is to protect us
but it cannot distinguish what is true danger
from what is simply difference or disagreement
because difference equals danger in the primitive mind.
So we react with fear automatically.
It used to be that when we faced our fears,
we get eaten or hurt by an enemy or by nature.
Now we must discern and choose how to respond.
Unfortunately we instinctively and often needlessly
react in our gut, as if we are in danger,
when we are faced with people that
look different or think different,
even though there is no eminent danger
of losing life or limb.
We cling to our personal opinions and "beliefs" so tightly
that we identify ourselves with them.
When someone disagrees, we feel attacked
like we are in eminent danger of losing life or limb
when all it is that we might lose is our ego or our rightness.
As I live on and get older, I'm amazed at how many
of our reactions, interactions, and actions
are detached from thinking.
What drives us? Who drives who?
Do we know? Do we want to know?
Are we willing to do the inner work necessary
to discover and face those fears?
“Until you make the unconscious conscious,
it will direct your life,
and you will call it fate.”
(Carl Jung)
Propaganda: Triggering Fear**
The propaganda machine, which is simply a collective effort (coordinated or not) to steer the mind of the people towards the political influences that will meet the needs of people in power. (see the end of this blog post). There are so many sources of propaganda that we must stay vigilant.
Language is used in very powerful ways through repetition. It uses words and phrases to trigger emotional responses that make people pay attention and respond by passing on this virus of the mind to others. The Virus of the Mind is also called a Meme.
Words and language are already infused with whatever meaning we want it to have in our culture. Words are simply signs and symbols that point to reality. They are never the reality itself. So while culture is infusing words and phrases with meaning, we are also infusing them with meaning in our own minds. You know how thought can run away with you in the middle of the night. Thought is a powerful thing and often takes on a life of its own. We must learn to pay attention to our thinking and recognize when it is triggering fear or imagining fear based on what we are being told by propaganda. Check out the post: Virus of the Mind: a mental health pandemic for more on memes and the virus of the mind.
So it is no wonder that fear is such a great enemy. Just look at the fertile playground it has within our minds because of unchecked external influences and internal influences.
Following is a great example of how words and phrases are used to trigger fear in our minds. Keep in mind that this kind of fear is nothing more than fictional stories in our head that we allow to take up residence.
Propaganda Email Example
Here is an email forward that has been flying around the internet trying to show how smart the sender is. But really the sender is being used as part of the propaganda system to twist people’s thinking and trigger fear. Check out the way it uses words to trigger fear, resentment, dis-ease, and anger. It is no wonder there is so much division among fellow Americans. Divide and Conquer is what they say.
Take note of the way specific words are used and perverted from their original intended meaning turning them into lies to benefit the political power players and undermine We The People. As you can see and feel, this message is just seething with hate, resentment, anger, and fear, conjuring up horrible stories in our heads that we then believe, even though they are lies. This is exactly how we lose our democracy. These are all being used for labeling, categorizing, dehumanizing, and eliminating fellow human beings, which are all tools for fascist takeover. There is no person or group of people who deserve to be treated like this. Also, notice how many imaginary enemies are being made by this one simple email.
Trigger words: Privileged, racist, slavery, fascist, advantaged, gay, homophobe, infidel, right-wing, conspiracy nut, xenophobe, socialist, anti-socialist, sociopath, militant.
________________________________________________
NORMAL? This is what I am , I guess . . .maybe
As a man, I used to think I was pretty much just a regular person, but I was born white, into a two-parent household which now, whether I like it
or not, makes me "Privileged",?? a racist & responsible for slavery???
I am a fiscal & moral conservative, which by today's standards, makes me a fascist because I plan, budget & support myself.
I went to High School, got a diploma, got into some college & have always held a job.?? But I now find out that I am not here because I earned it, but because I was "advantaged???.
I am heterosexual, which according to "gay" folks, now makes me a homophobe.
I am not a Muslim, which now labels me as an infidel.
I believe in the 2nd Amendment, which makes me a de facto member of the "vast NRA gun lobby???
I am older than 60, making me a useless eater who doesn't understand Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat.
I think & I reason, and I doubt much of what the "main stream" media tells me, which makes me a "Right-wing conspiracy nut???.
I am proud of my heritage & our inclusive American culture, making me a xenophobe.
I believe in hard work, fair play, & fair compensation according to each individual's merits, which today makes me an anti-socialist.
I believe our system guarantees freedom of effort - not freedom of outcome or subsidies which must make me a borderline sociopath.
I believe in the defense & protection of America for & by all citizens, now making me a militant.
I am proud of our flag, what it stands for and the many who died to let it fly, so I stand & salute during our National Anthem - so I must be a racist.
Please help me come to terms with the new me because I'm just not sure who I am anymore!
Funny - it all took place over the last 7 or 8 years! If all this nonsense wasn't enough to deal with, now I don't even know which restroom to use-----
and now I gotta go more FREQUENTLY!
________________________________
The Stories We Tell Ourselves
Except for the bathroom part, the rest is all lies, fictional stories that are destroying America and allowing fellow citizens to be poor, pitiful victims.
That is the story we tell ourselves.
Throughout this email, the thing that is creating the most fear is the idea that a “normal” person is being persecuted for being normal.
That is the story we are telling ourselves.
I’ve been normal all my life and now everyone's out to get me!
That’s the story we tell over and over.
I need a savior, a big strong man in the White House to save me from all the enemies that he has told me I have.
That’s the story that’s being told.
As we grow up we must learn not to play the victim card, which allows us to get out of our responsibility as adults and as citizens.
The stories we tell ourselves will determine our outlook on life.
Loving people live in a loving world
Fearful people live in a fearful world.
It is all the same world. We choose. No one else.
We choose what we are going to learn.
We choose what we are going to believe.
We choose how we are going to live.
We choose to be a victim.
We choose to be a conqueror.
We choose to be a success.
There is no political savior that will choose this for us. But what he has been doing is creating a symbiotic dependence so that the base cannot survive on their own, can’t think on their own, and especially are not capable of saving themselves as Americans have always been able to do.
No more fictions. No more stories in the head. No more political savior. No more victims. No more shirking responsibility.
"We seldom realize... that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society" (Alan Watts) and which our society infuses with meaning of its own.
As Mark Twain so aptly put it, "Some of the worst things in my life never happened."
**”In contemporary politics, the fear-appeal continues to be widespread. When a politician agitates the public’s fear of immigration, guns, or some external threat, proposing that voting for her will reduce the threat, she is using this technique. When confronted with persuasive messages that capitalize on our fear, we should ask ourselves the following questions:
Is the speaker exaggerating the fear or threat in order to obtain my support?
How legitimate is the fear that the speaker is provoking?
Will performing the recommended action actually reduce the supposed threat?
When viewed dispassionately, what are the merits of the speaker’s proposal?”
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