Wednesday 15 April 2009

Britons More Fearful than Ever


British people are more afraid than ever! Surveys done show that insecurity and dread of the future has risen sharply in the last few years (BBC News). Financial insecurity is top of the list of what worries us, with being a victim of crime and terrorism not far behind.

It’s easy to see that the media is the source of these fears for the most part because it is in the media where these things are being hyped. In some cases we’ve got reason for concern, but the world being portrayed by the media is way beyond that. According to them we can’t put our head outside our front door without being attacked by some bird-flu infected, asylum-seeking terrorist hoodie! But don’t believe the politicians when they claim to be sharing our concerns and want to help us. Fear is everything to them and their whole purpose is to generate it in the people. Without fear they lose their power over us. If it wasn’t for our fears, and the promise that politicians will protect us from them, we might start thinking we don’t need these overpaid, pampered bureaucrats taking all our tax money and lording it over us.

I can’t recommend enough this three-part documentary by Adam Curtis, The Power of Nightmares- the Rise of the Politics of Fear:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2798679275960015727&ei=JZDlSYbQCoL4-AbQ7eD1CA&q=power+of+nightmares+part+1

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