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Why We're Living in the Age of Fear

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Re: Why We're Living in the Age of Fear

#71

Post by karmelapple »

SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #53
dbingham wrote: post #35

I think some of the fear is justified. Climate change is a very real threat and it's justifiably scary. Our government, in the last 8 years, used remotely operated drones to carry out extrajudicial killings of American citizens -- including a teenage boy. Our security state now engages in mass surveillance of us in a time when our government is engaging in extraordinary rendition of suspected "terrorists" in secret w…

> Climate change ... extrajudicial killings ... those are simple statements of fact. Those things are scary and fear of them is justified. The funny thing is though, the anxieties that you see on TV are pretty much fear of anything but those things . You will see big-league fear-mongers using "hit them harder" with more extraordinary rendition and "climate change is a con to handicap us" lines of thought.

This. The people talking about fear the most are not talking about any of the things in the grandparent post, and instead are asking to double down on that behavior.

Re: Why We're Living in the Age of Fear

#72

Post by calimac »

Face it. We live in a time where mass media persuasion is extremely sophisticated,as a result of 85 years of refinement, that your version of the "truth" is highly dependent upon what information source you started with. At some point you established a baseline of credibility which was the foundation your beliefs were built on. You must realize that your "facts" are mostly opinion.

EVERYONE needs to take time to ask questions about their foundational beliefs. Was the source of your beliefs credible? CNN, Credible? MSNBC Credible? internet Credible? Uncle, neighbor, dorm roommate credible? Whatever the source most have proven to be bias; some nefarious others innocent.

The absolute irrefutable examples of media manipulation and deceit are easy to find these days. Take a look at Wikileaks and pick your flavor of lies.

Re: Why We're Living in the Age of Fear

#74

Post by harryf »

dbingham wrote: post #35

I think some of the fear is justified. Climate change is a very real threat and it's justifiably scary. Our government, in the last 8 years, used remotely operated drones to carry out extrajudicial killings of American citizens -- including a teenage boy. Our security state now engages in mass surveillance of us in a time when our government is engaging in extraordinary rendition of suspected "terrorists" in secret w…

What's unique about this time in history is the degree of transparency and information we have available...

> Our government, in the last 8 years, used remotely operated drones to carry out extrajudicial killings of American citizens -- including a teenage boy.

Governments have done all manner of terrible things to their own people and others throughout history. What's new in this era is it's becoming harder and harder to hide such acts.

That means, as a citizenry, we're collectively confronted with topics which, in the past, were kept hidden from us. That in turn means we have more "triggers" of fearful responses, and of course industries are growing to exploit that, but ultimately we're talking about something which is a Good Thing(TM).

Re: Why We're Living in the Age of Fear

#75

Post by Mikeb85 »

cholantesh wrote: post #39
jontayesp wrote: post #30

Also, don't discount the role religion plays on fear (yes I am a Christian.) The popular idea in the church is that we are currently living in the end times and the world will progressively become more sinful/dangerous until the earth is destroyed and recreated by Jesus. This is a relatively new idea since the 19th century, but represents the current theological and emotional state of the church today. Look at Islam…

Isn't this mostly a Protestant idea? Most all Catholic/EO christians that I know dismiss 'end times' theology.

Yup, mostly evangelicals believe this.

Catholics/Orthodox and even more traditional protestants (Anglican, Lutheran) dismiss it, and these groups make up the vast majority of Christendom.

Re: Why We're Living in the Age of Fear

#76

Post by Pigo »

jontayesp wrote: post #30

Also, don't discount the role religion plays on fear (yes I am a Christian.) The popular idea in the church is that we are currently living in the end times and the world will progressively become more sinful/dangerous until the earth is destroyed and recreated by Jesus. This is a relatively new idea since the 19th century, but represents the current theological and emotional state of the church today. Look at Islam…

I can't think of a church in my area that you would hear a hell-fire sermon in. I was raised in a Vineyard church, which mostly revolves around small groups and community outreach. There's little time to worry about the mark of the beast when you're building fences or working food drives. I go to a smaller Crossroads now where we study Timothy Keller or GK Chesterton. I feel relief when I go, not fear.

If you want a fear based church, there's still some that handle snakes in Kentucky (despite being illegal). But these are closed-set churches, that some poor souls are born into. We don't see growing attendance or large community involvement in these places.

Re: Why We're Living in the Age of Fear

#77

Post by megous »

Noseshine wrote: post #21
guard-of-terra wrote: post #12

Well maybe we should stop backing people into a corner then? For example, why don't back down on immigration? Instead, it sounds like "we're not listening to your concerns, rightful or not, your opinion won't affect how things are done". Hard to imagine how this treatment won't lead to panic attacks. Actually, countries definitely become harder and harder on immigration but there's a failure to project these changes…

> Well maybe we should stop backing people into a corner then? I agree with you thus far... > For example, why don't back down on immigration? But why this? I would ask for one thing: Rationality and existence of a connection. For example, if my country Germany is any guide, the parts of the country with the most fear of immigration are the ones least affected by it! Given that missing connection, how would it solve…

In Czech Republic, it's even more pronounced. The government accepted in total about 20 immigrants from Syria so far and if you read comments on the internet, or watch demonstrations, it's like the end of the world is coming.

Also some of the fear might be quite shallow. There was a report of some old lady in the village that accepted some refugees. She was first afraid when asked about newcomers, stating fears that are commonly represented in the media. Then when she was told that they have children, and lack some stuff, she went there and donated some clothes.

Hardliners that join fringe political parties are probably quite different. But also less open to reason. But I suspect that most people's fears can be quite easily ameliorated.

Re: Why We're Living in the Age of Fear

#79

Post by blaze33 »

tossaway1 wrote: post #63
jacquesm wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Our government, in the last 8 years, used remotely operated drones to carry out extrajudicial killings of American citizens -- including a teenage boy. Not my government, but still I can't help but wonder why it should matter that they are American citizens. A very large multiple of citizens of other countries is murdered in this way and from where I'm sitting I don't see much difference between the two.

One reason it matters is because our Constitution explicitly grants citizens (not foreigners) certain rights. Our government is not allowed to violate those rights and if they do, they can technically be held accountable. The government can do shady things to outsiders within the constraints of the Constitution. As long as our government is honoring the Constitution, we have some hope of fixing its problems/flaws. If…

There's still this thing called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that says "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person". The United States voted for it in 1948.

Re: Why We're Living in the Age of Fear

#80

Post by pjc50 »

guard-of-terra wrote: post #12

Well maybe we should stop backing people into a corner then? For example, why don't back down on immigration? Instead, it sounds like "we're not listening to your concerns, rightful or not, your opinion won't affect how things are done". Hard to imagine how this treatment won't lead to panic attacks. Actually, countries definitely become harder and harder on immigration but there's a failure to project these changes…

There is no "back down" on immigration, because immigration is already pretty heavily restricted. There's no way for bystanders to check someone's immigration status, so when you see someone complaining about "too many immigrants", some of the people they're complaining about are actually nationals who've been around for years. And there's no way of getting rid of them, short of violence.

We've already seen this kind of thing (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-37227313) happening more after Brexit. Listening to people who are dangerously wrong on the facts just encourages other people to agree with them.

Whatever the right word for people who turn on immigrants like that is, it's definitely not scared. They're the ones doing the scaring.

Likewise with refugees: there's not really any policy change we can make to stop refugees coming, other than trying to fix the conflict they're fleeing. They're already fleeing death, you're not going to scare them with paperwork. Are you going to deport them (including women and children) to a warzone?

(It's rather like crime: the amount of crime you and your family have ever experienced is a number that can only go up, whereas the probability of becoming a victim has been generally declining over time. So people think crime is rising when it isn't.)

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