The Propagandist’s Favorite Tool: Fear
“It's better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.” ― Niccolò Machiavelli
We’ve all heard that quote, or some variation of it at some time, or another. The use of fear is the Propagandists go to tool.
pixabay
Remember, if you just follow the herd,
all you can see in front of you is assholes...
Fear is a primal and very powerful instinct. Watch any animal that lives in the wild and that has predators, you will see an animal that is constantly scanning it surroundings, and is ready to commit to fight or flight at a moment’s notice. Life and death may hinge on one’s response to fear.
For modern man, we still need fear to keep us wary. If we step off a curb at the wrong moment, fear of being crushed by that bus bearing down on us, may trigger the response that saves us. Fear, in and of its self is not a bad thing, if it bears on our direct survival, or we use it as a motivating force for achievements. But, living in constant fear can be very detrimental to one’s health and wellbeing. The Propagandist uses fear because it is one of the easiest of the negative emotions to tap into.
How does the Propagandist exploit fear? Well, what is it that you most fear? For most people they will say they fear for their family's and friend's safety, and their own. How does the Propagandist abuse that fear? One way is to show us, in the Media, images of families being victims of horrific crimes, or terrible disasters. And, if that’s not enough there are plenty of stories of family members butchering other family members. A person can go to any 24/7/365 MSM news(?) outlet and find dozens of stories about tragedies that befall families… all just for our ghoulish satisfaction… right? Don’t think so, stop by the social media comments about these appalling events… and, well you know what I mean…
How many other ways do the Propagandists use fear? How is your health, do know which diet is good for you and which will slowly kill you? With all the contradictory information out there daily, it would almost seem to be someone’s plan… to… oh, yeah… well, never mind.
We are constantly bombarded by advertising that uses fear to sell. How about Big Pharma ads? Do you have to pee too much? Are you blue and depressed? Do your feet stink? Are you going to have a heart attack? Are your medications killing you? Report at 11 on the 11…
One of the easiest ways to generate fear, is exploit the fear of the others… Stories of atrocities by other races and religions is a great way to make people afraid. There’s nothing like having Propagandist generated stereotypes committing crimes and starting(?) conflicts. The Propagandist creates the stereotypes of how these people are, and then he sets them up in News(?) stories to be the Villains, and most viewers fall for it because… well… that’s the way the others are! Even if most viewers have little to no, personal contact with members of the other’s group, and certainly not without the crutch of a Propagandist provided stereotype... we already know all we need to know... and it's all prepared for us... just in case...
Are you afraid of the other political Party? Well, probably not on a one-to-one basis, but how about being afraid of the actions of the other Party as a whole? Of course, why else vote your party, against the other party? Just because your Party says it stands for these principles? Since when has a politician stood for anyone, but themselves, regardless of party?
None of this fear mongering is done by mistake, it is carefully designed for maximum effect. Fear is a great tool for Dividing people, Distracting them, and making them Distrust each other. The problem is, all this Fear can be damn tiring... eventually, people can become so tired of living in fear, that they become immune to it... It's like, "Go ahead, Hit me with your best shot!" Question is, will we reach that point before our Country and Civilization implodes?
Even a sheep will fight back when cornered, do you think he'll give up without a fight?
Note: next time you go to a MSM site, scan the headlines, how many of them are selling fear?
Curated for #informationwar (by @wakeupnd)
Our purpose is to encourage posts discussing Information War, Propaganda, Disinformation and other false narratives. We currently have over 7,500 Steem Power and 20+ people following the curation trail to support our mission.
Join our discord and chat with 200+ fellow Informationwar Activists.
Connect with fellow Informationwar writers in our Roll Call! InformationWar - Contributing Writers/Supporters: Roll Call Pt 8
Ways you can help the @informationwar
Thanks again, being a newbie here, how do you know when I post? And, is there a page of Informationwar that shows the most recent articles first? The page I follow for Informationwar shows much older articles... What am I missing? thanks...
Curation is done manually by our curators.
we curate articles on the #informationwar tag that meet our standards and sometimes we look at what others are posting on other tags like politics, truth, freedom, etc.
-@wakeupnd
either fear or sex.
very seldom do they offer unbiased information.
In my opinion, sex sells product... fear can do this as well, but it is by far the better of the two at maintaining control. Put a real good beat down on a man, and he'll remember it, and most likely you won't have to do anything more than the occasional 'tune-up' just to reinforce you point... Sex requires the promise of more... to keep interest alive...
Bias? I'll probably have to devote an article to that at some point... But, sometimes just saying something is biased is enough for the Propagandist to minimize an opposing point of view... so, he can put forth the 'correct' meme...