“Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.” ~ Aristotle
Society is broke, pure and simple. It’s been broken for a while, we all know it. There have been many theories circulating as to why it’s gone so much the wrong way. But this article is not about theories. This is about the methods used, nefarious or otherwise, to feed us fear, and their harmful and sometimes disastrous effect on our systems.
Method 1
Bad News
Shock Doctrine you say? Most definitely. The systems in place to distract and placate us from the real horrors being slipped under the table, are nothing short of diabolical. Isn’t it strange that every time there’s a disaster; a terrorist attack, fire at an international monument, a war started in the Middle East, some law sacrificing our global human rights is passed?
It may sound like paranoia, but it’s not difficult to see the strings in the media nowadays, even when we still fall for the rush of adrenaline that shock precedes.
Method 2
Materialism
You need it, you really do. You won’t be whole until you get it. Look how shiny and new it is. You’ll be laughed at if you don’t have it. You’ll be hated. In fact, you’ll be in danger, because everyone knows that when you’re rejected from the tribe, you perish.
And if you don’t perish, then you won’t be loved. Everyone wants love don’t they? But if you don’t have it, you’re ugly. You’re repugnant. You’re dull. You could always look to the celebrities for role models. They have learnt to follow the code of conduct and have reached the top of the food chain of materialism (under the 1% of course). They will show you how to act, how to dress, and how to talk yourself out of exposure when someone blackmails you.
So buy it, buy all of them, keep going, don’t stop! Buy, buy, buy!!
Method 3
Desensitization
There are plenty of scary images around, usually pumped into us on a daily basis. But maybe it’s not just the scary images we need to be aware of.
Placing two images next to each other, such a charity poster depicting refugees… or starving children… or dusty Syrians clutching each other, with a glossy, photoshopped image of some models wearing bikinis, will create a de-sensitization in the onlooker. They will not relate the two images, but instead think they’re entirely separate.
Couple that with the materialism of Method Number Two, and we have fear. Refugees come to a country, seeking help, and rather than being perceived as human beings, they are seen as a threat. They belong somewhere framed and far off, hidden behind the veneer of the media, and encased in a television on the six o’clock news.
Method 4
Separation
Leave your family, then leave your home town, then leave your school and move to the city. Become linear, not cyclical and live in a box separate from everyone else, and focus on succeeding, and don’t let them distract you.
Only sense them through their wifi signals, and connect with your friends, but only online. Look! Everything you could ever want is online. Don’t leave the house, there’s pollution, and traffic, and rape. There are pedophiles and viruses, and terrorism. Only focus on one thing in front of you at all times, preferably the future when all your materialistic needs will be deposited to you in the form of a cash machine. Amen.
Method 5
Accusation
Following on from materialism, not being accepted is the number one fear of us all. Why? Because we’ll lose our love and our livelihoods. Better to shut up and fit in. And doesn’t disaster Capitalism know it.
Fearing isolation leads to fearing the other, which leads to fear of accusations of being perverted or insane. If we keep our integrity, we’re usually accused of something. Society goes after our weaknesses, such as having made a mistake, which, by the way, is a very human thing to do.
The accusation of insanity (think any Whistleblower or Woman on the face of this earth), or perversion (think any Whistleblower or man on the face of this earth), lives within us. Fear is cultivated in secret, and shame is a public affair, but we all know it could happen to any of us. And so we keep in line.
Method 6
Poison
No! Don’t eat the stuff that feels good! Eat the junk in the shiny supermarket. You think you know how to grow your own food?! Think again. Seeds are next to impossible to harvest, and the time it takes! Wouldn’t you rather spend that precious time trying to get laid? Or better yet, shopping? Growing your own food is messy, and unnecessary. And look, we’ve already packaged it all up for you in convenient shiny bags.
We’ll put the fruit and veggies in the first aisle, so you can feel like you’re being good when you enter the junk food sections and pile them up. We’ll code the bad ingredients and keep changing their names, so you’ll ignore the mind-altering effects your groceries have on you. Oh, and we’ve made sure to light the supermarket with anesthetizing hues and will play upbeat music, to help you dissociate while you shop. Enjoy!
Method 7
Compliance
Compliance comes in at an early age, and it begins by crushing a child’s creativity. After kindergarten age, we learn that the only thing that’s praised, i.e, will get you love, is ‘getting it right.’
Through a series of conditioning tests and humiliations, the child quickly learns to no longer speak up, or have any individual voice. They’re homogenized. By the time they have any choice, the work they create follows in the footsteps of their predecessors, and they struggle to have any original thought. They do, of course. Because the human spirit and potential is phenomenal, but that is quickly squashed with the threat of accusation later on down the line.
But all is not lost. Ok, so we haven’t looked at the threat of the future (think climate disaster and a revolting community of A.I).
Society, and whoever pulls the strings, has found a chink in the human chain, yes. But they also provide an opportunity. And the opportunity? To transcend our primitive fear? Surely not! It’s not possible! …Or is it?
If society is broken… well, perhaps it’s time to rebuild it.
Image Sources:
Art by Mark Henson
