Really Pissed Off!

As citizens of the United States of America, we are, without a doubt, the safest nation in the world. We are the only Super Power left standing after the 20th Century of Total War and as well as the Cold War. After the fall of the Soviet Union, The United States remained the only nation who could influence any other nation in the world. We have the most advanced and best equipped Armed Forces of any nation today. Yet, Americans are becoming paranoid regarding their safety. Whether it be real of imaginative, we not only fear for our safety, we go so far as to create issues that have no threat to our lives, our children’s’ lives or our nation’s future. What the Hell is going on!

There are several factors that play important roles, which allow this aberration to fester. Fear controls! It has been a very useful tool throughout History, and there are many examples of how Fear has led to not only controlling the minds of people, but the destiny of civilization. How about the big one……Religion! Throughout the civilized, and for that matter, the uncivilized world, Religion has thrived on Fear. Early civilizations used it to control its people and the best example of that is Christianity, the Catholic and Orthodox Church, as well as religions, which rose from the Reformation. Islam, up to the 20th Century, had a better record in that department. National Socialism and Communism were not only economic and political movements. They were also a Religion, or an anti-Religion that accomplished the same thing…….Control.

So why, at the dawn of the Twenty-First Century, is Fear such a strong force among Americans? We have been sold the Fear Factor by the Bush Administration, and the Republican Religious Right. It may not have been on the front burner of the Bush Administration, but when the opportunity arose with 9/11, they couldn’t resist. Initially, their response was immediate shock and retaliation to Bin Laden and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The American people had, up to 9/11, we believed that were impenetrable, still believing in only “over there”….wherever the Hell that was! For the Bush Administration, it was like being a kid in a candy store……the Fear Factor became a means to accomplish otherwise impossible goals….Iraq, Imperial Democracy and the means to remain in power! It was an easy sell and four years later, the Administration made sure to use it in a campaign for re-election. It will used again in 2008, as the Republican Party will dig deep into our minds to ignite Fear as a driving issue to retain the Executive Office.

The Republican base of the Religious Right has its own agenda and is using the Fear Factor to accomplish its goals. Number One is Gay Marriage, or for that matter, homosexuality in general. Although it may only include a minute percentage of the population, the idea of Gay Marriage has become an issue festooned with Fear, when in fact, is actually a non-issue, which is really a mater that should be left to the very few who might participate. The Fear of the demise of family values has been the banner cry of the Religious Right. What a waste of time and energy! In fact, I’m not going to give it any more ink than I already have.

What we have good reason to Fear are matters that we can actually try to deal with and overcome. The first is Global Warming, and the horrendous consequences that it implies. Even if we contribute little to a natural changing environment, we have to learn how to survive, or we’ll share the same fate as the dinosaurs. AIDS still ravage the world, as well as right here at home in America. It didn’t just go away because we stopped talking about it. The list never stops! Fear, however, is not the response needed to deal with these matters. The only use for Fear is make you aware of a problem and determined to resolve it. Fear initiated our response to the attack of Japan at Pearl Harbor and our victory in World War II. It accomplished the same with forty year Cold War with the Soviet Union. Let’s fear less and respond more to resolving those threats to our lives and civilization. If we don’t, we will not survive!