The Gift of Fear

In the middle of his show that aired on September 24, 2009, after playing a clip of schoolchildren celebrating Barack Obama’s being the first black President by singing a song (during Black History Month) to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic that lauded the President’s accomplishments, Glenn Beck encouraged Americans to “listen to the gift of fear: it’s there for a reason.” Wow, thanks for the inspiring words Glenn. I can’t think of a less helpful thing to say to an already terrified public mired in the midst of a recession that, while slowly lessening its grip on the American economy, remains a painful reality for many of those who have already or are about to lose their jobs or houses, not to mention the other things they already fear thanks to the 24/7/365 inundation of information that is omnipresent in today’s society.

We live in a society that has been conditioned to be manipulated by fear. The rapid expansion of media of all sorts in the early twentieth century enabled more people to be aware, and with the proper word choice, pushed them to become paranoid. The conception of “yellow journalism” really opened the door for things like alcohol and drug prohibition, the Red Scare and McCarthyism, the Cold War, the crack epidemic, and gang violence, to constantly scare the living shit out of Americans from all walks of life. America slowly turned into a country where people (and the government) feel the need to set up elaborate home(land) security systems, keep firearms on them at all times, and generally respond outrageously to all things that could potentially be perceived a threat. America is an enormous and powerful country. While it is undeniable that we have many enemies, both domestic and abroad, that threaten our safety, it seems as though these days, far more people are afraid of being blown up on their way to work, mugged by a gangster while out after dark, or of having their children snatched away from them by a paedophile at any moment. This isn’t my point however, as this subject has already been talked to death in documentaries and on the news media when they discuss the “state of fear” pushed on American society by our obsession with dwelling on the unpleasant instead of focusing on the positive.

The trendiest fear, especially for people upset that their party offered up a crotchety old man and a bumbling idiot for the ticket, since the inauguration of Barack Obama more than ever, is that of the prospect of the government having any role in American life whatsoever. America has been cutting taxes and deregulating at a pretty rapid pace since the Nixon days, and I think that more than anything, what is actually happening in the United States is that people have forgotten what government intervention looks like because of how long it’s been since they have actually seen it. The only plausible thing that I can imagine is that when people think of government, they immediately revert to thinking about totalitarianism and Stalinistic practices, and with Glenn Beck calling anyone who takes a look to the left of center a communist, it’s frankly rather understandable.

When the government sets up an institution that has a primary objective of interacting with the American populace, such as the welfare system, they don’t build a big old castle with gargoyles on the walls surrounded by a moat full of crocs, they build a regular looking building, or perhaps even rent space in an existing one, and set up an office much like one you’d see in a bank or any other business. In fact, if it weren’t for the seals on the walls declaring that it were an institution of the government rather than the office of a corporation, you wouldn’t even think twice. When the public option is put into effect, the public insurance company will have regular insurance offices just like Blue Shield, Kaiser, Humana, etc., and they will issue cards that fit in your wallet just like those corporations, and you will get things to sign and attach a check and return in the mail, and if you took all the logos and identifying information out of the documents, you probably wouldn’t even be able to pick them apart in a blind test. Why should anybody be afraid of that? Does that not sound like a reasonable approach to granting so many American citizens the right to health care that they have so long been denied? The employees will not all be undercover CIA and FBI agents, and there won’t be nameless men in shitty suits with clipboards and red pens sitting in your doctor’s office with you. In fact, almost nothing will be different, except for the bigger numbers on your bank statements at the end of every month.

Why should Americans listen to the instinct of fear, Mr. Beck, when instead they can listen to the gift of optimism, the blessing of hope, and the strength of confidence? The content of your programming serves solely to perpetuate itself, to feed the horrible addiction you have given to the people who you have convinced that they want to be scared. Why don’t you use your power of free speech, your obvious gift with words, and your stubborn dedication to the causes you choose to support to further the unity of the American people and the progress of American society? You belong to a small but growing group of Americans that is so disillusioned and scared and confused about the world around them that they have decided to abandon reason for blind faith in their god and desert their optimism in favor of an unfounded fear of the government and terrorists and communists and everything else they see as bad in the world. It is just not realistic. There is not a conspiracy (except for that vast right-wing one) against the American people, but a movement for them and the strength of their future. It is true that the American government has done bad things in the past, but do not lose faith so quickly. If what we have has caused the problems, does it not make more sense to leave them for the chance of greener pastures than to fester in what is disintegrating around you?

Instead of wasting their time all dressing up in the same t-shirts and carrying signs with unintelligent slogans, imagine if all those tea party protestors thought about offering something slightly more helpful than “no, you Nazi.” Maybe, juuuust maybe, they could come up with something a little better than their current proposal, which consists of doing nothing at all. I just find it a stretch that people could possibly think that the best solution to any problem would be to listen to the gift of fear.

2 Responses to “The Gift of Fear”

1. Siegfried says:

   September 29, 2009 at 1:51 pm

   Jeff, you’re hardly better than Beck yourself. Once you strip away the sneering condescension, partisan posturing, factual distortions, ignorant simplifications, and feelgood handwaving from this and your past essays here, there’s hardly any substance left. Can you actually provide something other than agitprop?
2. Eric says:

   September 29, 2009 at 4:38 pm

   Oddly enough, the word “gift” means poison in German, and I think it’s a more fitting term for the fear that these politicians are trying to spread.

   I mean, fear has always been used to manipulate and extort large populations. An example of this is the Iraq War.

   But where does this fear come from? I say it comes from ignorance. An educated person would be able to call out bullshit when they see it, but instead the public is being controlled with emotionally-charged terms like “socialism” and “terrorism”.

   It’s the citizens’ duty to keep a vigilant eye on their government, and to keep themselves informed. That’s how democracy works. If we can’t even do that, then honestly, I think that we deserve what we get.