Fergie's Tech Blog

Late Night Rant: Culture of Fear - A War on Everyone, Everything, Everywhere

Since September 11, 2001, Americans -- and other nationalities -- have been bombarded with fear.

That's a plain fact. And there are a few other facts I'd like to highlight.

But don't misunderstand me -- 9/11 was a horrible, despicable act of terrorism that took the life of thousands of innocent victims.

The culture of fear that followed set into motion some very distasteful events, "strategies", and governmental policies that may prove to be equally as damaging in the long term, erode the rule of law, the right to reasonable privacy, due process under the law (Habeas Corpus), immorally (and quite possibly illegally) torturing and detention of individuals for unreasonable cause, and further besmirch the reputation of the United States for generations to come.

The news media and the faux, self-serving patriarchal Republican Bush administration cronies - and anyone else on this planet that would benefit from the masses cowering in the fear of a catastrophic terrorist attack - have made it their business to ensure that you are aware that the dangers are everywhere, and "...they're out to kill you, those dirty terrorist bastards".

Issues need to be seen as they are, not as they are presented.

This isn't going to be a full-tilt, vapid rant, but I did want to get a couple of issues off my chest.

So bear with me.

A lot of more eloquent writers (especially Chalmers Johnson) have written much more in-depth about the decay of "The American Situation" and associated issues, so I won't try to reinvent the wheel here. But I would like to mention a couple of salient points.

First, since 9/11, the (what I would consider to be) scared values set forth by our founding fathers in the U.S. Constitution -- the balances of the three branches of government, the Bill of Rights, et al -- have been rendered somewhat "dispensable" by a President that seems bent on destroying this country by ignoring the rule of law, and has promulgated a semi-fascist end-game.

For instance, I give you the FBI "Operations TIPS" program. Operation TIPS is the acronym for the "Terrorism Information and Prevention System" -- a system designed by President George W. Bush to have U.S. citizens report suspicious activity -- to report your friends and neighbors (or any person that looks suspicious, like brown people taking out the trash) as possible terrorists.

This concept is not new, of course.





"Bocca di Leone" - The Lion's Mouth

In 15th century Venice, Italy, the established rulers crafted a series of clever ways for the citizenry to rat out their friends and neighbors for all sorts of crimes, criminal, religious blasphemy, real or imagined.

The most ingenious were sculptured accoutrements built into the walls of government buildings, in the image of Lions [image above] or other figures, wherein the mouth was a slot into which "complaints" could be lodged against someone that "needed to be brought to the attention of the authorities."

Now, of course, you can certainly imagine how this could be abused by someone with a grudge, but the system fostered the prosecution, and persecution, on untold numbers of innocents.

Think: Witch hunt. Or religious purification. Or terrorism, for that matter.

Snitch on your neighbor. Or better yet, let the government do it for you.




A Culture of Fear

Wikipedia has an interesting description of this term that I really like:

"Culture of fear is a term that refers to a perceived prevalence of fear and anxiety in public discourse and relationships, and how this may affect the way people interact with one another as individuals and as democratic agents."

The U.S. Government, and specifically the Bush Administration, has masterfully employed these sorts of tactics to secretly manipulate the rule of law, bypassing the confines of the Constitutional limits of the executive branch, and empowering themselves in such a way as to further their goals -- the complete and utter freedom to pursue their goals and operate in an environment where they feel beyond reproach from congressional or judicial restraint.

This chain must be broken. The Constitutional balance of powers must be restored.

Why Do We Often Fear the Wrong Things?

Grant Jewell Rich wrote that the book "Culture of Fear", by Barry Glassner, was a "...wonderfully written new book, Barry Glassner reminds us again and again that frequently our fears are grossly exaggerated given the actual frequency of these rare events."

Indeed, as Rich points out, "...News media may use these fears to earn higher ratings, politicians may play on our fears during elections, and perhaps, in a sense, even lobbyists for special interest groups may exchange fear for increased fund-raising."

Bruce Schneier often writes about the "War on the Unexpected" -- here and here -- illustrating how this Culture of Fear is manifesting itself, and in very real and sociologically damaging ways.

And in the latest, and most outrageous to date, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) continues to display randoms acts of stupidity, in a rather perverse manifestation of the Culture of Fear run amok.


Why is this important? Real, Unabridged, Truthful Security

Security in your person, security on the world stage, trickle-down security that benefits all of us, globally, instead of the damaging "devil-may-care" slash-and-burn policies of the current U.S. administration.

Without lies, or pretexts, or half-truths.

And maybe even a breath of life into an economy that has been deflated by multi-billion dollar spending on a war that never should have happened.

American leaders, politicians, patricians, and policemen must stop ramming their policies down the collective throats of the American people. Anyone who engages in this rhetoric is not a true leader -- they are a liability, a blow to true democracy, and a stain on the cloth of the American people, and the rest of the peace-loving people on Planet Earth.

It must stop, and it must stop now. We must break this cycle.

The policies employed since 9/11 is harming America, not helping.

Are you better off now than you were 7 years ago?

It really is time for change.

- ferg

p.s. Be glad I stopped now -- I could've gone on for hours...

p.p.s. I forgot mention the "Server in The Sky". That should make you feel even safer, especially as the U.S. "Terrorist Watch List" grows and grows and grows and... actually becomes more ineffective.

And let's not forget about turning spy satellites inward to spy on U.S. soil, as well as sending unmanned drones into the skies of U.S. cities.

posted by Fergie @ 3/29/2008 12:11:00 AM