Why is America so afraid?
 

Why is America so afraid of everything?

Afraid of Terrorists knocking on our door?
Afraid of strange people coming into our houses at night and killing us?
Afraid of being SLIGHTLY overweight?

The list goes on, and I must ask, why is the general public of American so afraid? We seem to be a pretty tense group here.

Because the bogeyman is out there.

I wouldn't limit to america. I believe the majority of humanity makes decisions based on fear.

Either that or it's the ninjas. :hmm: :hmm:

Damn broken links....

Survival instinct is the strongest natural response to events. Flight or fight, either way we are hard wired to first worry about personal survival. Blame it on millenia of being either the quick or the dead when it came to saber-tooth tiger attacks.

p.s.- I think this is true for everyone, but the reason that it seems moree prevalent in the US is because our media has found out that scaring people into watching the nightly news is easier than actually reporting on events.

I just KNEW they called it Tilted Paranoia for some reason!

/goes off to watch the 10:00 news..

As far as I'm concerned, fear induced irrational response is a trait common with most half way inteligent organisms. Someone getting better lock on his or her door because of Osama is the same as a dog running from a man because he's wearing a hat. We think we know it's dangerous, but we don't even know that.

The problem is being able to discern what danger is actually out there versus the things we fear out of ignorance. Something tells me mankind (and that includes me, despite my seemingly 'better than thou' tone) is a few milenia away from figuring that out. Oh well.

I'd venture to say that people who don't think much are probably the ones who are afraid. They are the ones who can be easily tricked into thinking everyone is out to get them.

Carn- I see what yyou're saying. I would be an exception to your rule though. I scored near perfect on my SAT (1556), I am an accomplished concert pianist, I consider myself a scholar having read extensivly on philosophy, science, and logic, and I am a respected mind in my community.

Of course I am worried because there isn't enough evidence to prove that commercial airplanes were used on 9/11. I don't get flu shots because they contain mercury, aluminum, and antifreeze. I had my urine tested for DU after coming back from Iraq, and I tested positive.

I consider myself to be at least relatively thoughtful and intelligent, but I have fears (debatable whether they are rational or not) just like joe schmow on the street.

People are afraid because they have unfinished dreams or something like that. I am a collge student and the only thing I am worried about is if the food in the caf is going to taste good. Which 90% of the time it doesn't

We need to be alert, but damn "simma down now"

It's called 'Culture of Fear'....

Read about it here...http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...69733?v=glance

I think that America is "afraid" because of the media. When you watch the news, you see people getting killled, scams, health risks, maniacs running form the police, etc. Negativity and the misfortunes of others make good entertaining stories. Magazine ads and television commercials are designed to market to a specific audience and send a very well planned out message. They intentionally attack your beliefs telling you that you aren't attractive enough if you don't have this or you aren't masculine enough if you don't have one of these. Society is continuously put into a corner and told what to desire and fear. This snowballing effect is why America is "scared."

Blaming the media is too generral and far to "Michael Moore". Yes, they are partially responsible, but many countries news and media outlets use fearmungering, just as american media does. They don't seem to have this fear madness, though. Another lovely cause would be our educations. America houses some of the stupidest people in recorded history. Thingsw become complicated, we become catatonic. There is a big long list, but I see it as irrelevent. I choose to educate myself. Choose to educate yourself, and you will become immune to the fear pandemic.

Most Americans are afraid because the government and media tell them to be.

Most people value their lives and don't want to die. That being said, the underlying reason to be afraid of the three things listed above is that they can kill you.

I'm not sure I agree that Americans in general are living in fear of these things though. Concerned, sure....Afraid, I don't really perceive that to be the case. What makes you feel that American society is "so afraid?"

NINJAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michael Moore is both part of the media and part of the problem.

The media doesn't make me afraid. I read both dailys and watch the news mornings and nights (when I can - fortunately nothing happens on the weekends). What really scares me are the government agents telling me I should be afraid. If the government can't protect this country (which they can't - see borders, and those that choose not to convict all that cross into ours). Another factor is our leaders that have no military experience. We can't stop illegals from entering this country (I know - let's give them [illegal alien status] drivers licenses, or better yet - excuse them!), but we're going to tell a foreign country how to run their own country (WTF?). Billions of dollars spent, and so far nothing to show for it but payoffs.

yup........feedin' us nothin' but fear......


that way "they" have a better chance at control.


*fuck that......not from me*

hmm... to be honest i don't very many people in my state of oklahoma are afraid at all. day-to-day fear seems to be assuaged by buckled seatbelts.

i've lived in plenty of other states, but i don't feel qualified to speculate on how people in other parts of the country feel.

It's a control thing. Fear has been an effective way to influence and even control the masses. Think about it, when you are afraid you want someone to help you control and eliminate these fears. You then begin to rely on this entity to control your fears and eventually this entity assumes a 'Big Brother' role in our lives. And we all know how the 'Big Brother' in our lives can have such strong influence over our decisions and opinions. If you want to influence someone, make them afraid of something they think you can help them with.

I find this thought very interesting. Although I don't really like Moore's approach to his anti-fear discourse, I beleive that he has, in essence, revealed what is really going on in the U.S. That is, in a nutshell, that the powers that be, both government and a massively consolidated media, are finding it easier to goevern and manipulate a population that is in fear.

Is Moore part of that mass media machine? No. Is he still part of the problem? Partly, yes. Can you dispute that much of what he says about the culture of fear in the U.S.? No.

I think you guys, as citizens who are mostly intelligent and tired of the autocracy that you live under, need to find a process to pry yourselves out from the feet that are stomping you down, and those feet are on the legs of those who walk the halls of large white houses.

Peace,

Pierre

I do not agree with this premise because I do not believe what the media tells me about how things are in America, for example. No one I know is "afraid"...

Hell... if I lived in America I would be afraid.

Having a government that tries to force other countries to be just like you, and then wondering why they are disliked would scare me immensely.

I'm nervous just living north of America. I feel like I'm guilty by association or something.

I don't know what it was about that sentence but as soon as I read it I immediately cracked up...something about the language just tickles me.

Aaaaanyway,
If you haven't seen Bowling for Columbine, do it. Get beyond the Michael Moore is a liar crap, the ideas he puts on the table in Bowling for Columbine are definitely something to be tasted.

If by "ideas" you mean "ridiculously manufactured propoganda", and by "tasted" you mean "thrown into the bowels of hell to burn for eternity", I'd absolutely 100% agree with that statement.

The idea that America breeds a culture of violence, fear, and unbridled vehement nationalism is "rediculously manufactured propaganda" to you? The fact that we can't put our guns down even after so many years of homicide and tragedy is propaganda? Ignorance (read as RangerDick), not some film maker, is the reason America is afraid, and ignorance is on the rise today in America's Age of Nonreason. That said, scapegoating Michael Moore for America's problems is the same as saying people like Marylin Manson cause our kids to shoot up schools. Look at that, a Moore analogy!

I didn't scapegoat America's problems on Moore, how did you get that from my post? Moore may be a miserable vomitous bag of steaming excrement, but I wouldn't say he is responsible for the problems in this country.

At the outset, I don't buy the idea that American's are cowering in fear. The only fear I hear is coming from you and other posters like you runnning around like chicken little yelling "the sky is falling, the sky is falling!"

I'm not afraid, my eyes are open, but I'm not afraid, and I don't know anyone who is.

I was referring to other folks posts as well as yours.

Just because your eyes are open doesn't mean they aren't blind to the truth. Why else would Americans give the government so much power if we weren't afraid? Why else would George W. Bush be POTUS if we weren't afraid? Look at the last election, the platform of both candidates rested on fear: fear of homosexual marriage, fear of future terrorist attacks, fear of a failing economy...the list goes on. The war in Iraq was started out of fear (and lies, but that's a different thread). Watch Bowling for Columbine, I dare you, maybe your current beliefs will be challenged, unless you're the 52% of America that fears that sort of thing...

I think the idea that anyone is manipulating the media on purpose is cause for this thread in paranoia - however, fear does sell, and in a free-market economy, stories that exaggerate the dangers inherent in the world are going to get more coverage than the ones describing the pleasant ways people interact with one another.

In answering the question, I'd say that the US may have the most commerically saturated media in the world, and since sensationalism brings in the bucks, it's no wonder that the situation is as we find it. Sorry to dissapoint, no conspiracy, no political agenda, just boring old free market economics. Mix in a little human psychology, and you are left with the situation we find today.

How can you solve it? That's a whole other matter.

This is typical of the attitude I've experienced when talking to liberal friends of mine about this issue. Somehow, they start with the assumption that the way they see things is the only correct way, and that anyone who disagrees with them on issues does so out of either (a) ignorance (b) fear, or the fail safe trump card (c) an attempt to stomp on their right to free speech.

George Bush is President because 52% of Americans thought he was the better candidate. Are you calling 52% of America ignorant and scared? Cuz it sounds like you are.

Homosexual marriage - Why wouldn't this be a legitimate concern for people? Not agreeing with it doesn't necessarily make one scared of it. I don't agree with a lot of things, it doesn't make me scared of them.

Fear of future terrorists attacks - It is a harsh reality that we are at WAR, and that finding the most effective way to deter future attacks on our soil (and abroad) was a major factor in the election. Fear? Or is it dealing with reality?

Both parties played up possible future economic scenarios, and presented their approaches (although Kerry just said he had a "plan"). The Dems were the party of doom and gloom on this front though.

I still don't buy the premise of this thread that Americans are, by and large, a bunch of scaredy cats. If they were, I wouldn't have to deal with a standing-room-only subway tonight on my home. Instead, I could sit wherever I wanted, because everybody would be at home hiding under their covers.

I am.

Because it isn't.


Here's one scenario I saw played out on TV in my battleground state:

Picture a dense forest at dusk...all of a sudden wolves start coming out of hiding, running across the screen. This is the voice over: And you want to tell me that's not fear in action?

Maybe not to you. Priceless. Thank you, see my previous post.


Brilliant ad, brilliant cuz it's true. Did it scare you FourtyRulz? It didn't scare me nor did it scare anyone I know. Matter of fact, I can't think of a single person I know who said, "that wolf ad scared the bejeezus out of me!"

Pour a sip of your Fourty on the ground for all the homeyz who died on 9/11... and on the USS Cole, and in embassies in Tanzania, Kenya, etc....

Are you drunk or just an idiot? Do you not see how that ad plays off of the public's fear of terrorist attacks?

How is gay marriage an issue to anyone? Or more importantly why? What business is it of yours what other people do in the privacy of their own homes as long as they do not harm another human being on this planet? The answer: NONE of your fuckin' business. So go get drunk you great bigot you, and keep posting nonsense...because to be totally honest it's been a slow night and you're just the pick me up I need.

If you want to come join the big boys over in the politics board I'm sure we'd have a loverly welcome for you.

Your coming apart at the seams. Take it easy, big guy. Slow down, and take slow deep breaths.

Your lack of respect for an opposing view is apparent and your tactics are transparent. You, FourtyRulz, are a big joke. Go home and pass out.

Why is America so afraid? that's an easy answer. Americans have to sink or swim. We have no safety nets like Canada or European nations. If we have a bad year or get laid off, we are going to scared shitless. That's why we strike out.

Followed by...

Amazing.

Well you're absolutely right on one account, I don't respect bigotry no matter what your opinion. On top of that you never answered my many questions, rather you chose to make fun of my chosen screen name (which has nothing to do with alcohol). If you don't have the brains for the argument don't post alright? Don't get defensive and spew nonsense insults. And my tactics being transparent...no...I think I'm pretty straightforward with everything I say. Anyway, I'm leaving this thread before either of us gets banned.

RangerRick and Fourtyrulz- You are both running the risk of being banned with a conversation like this. You are both making wild stereotypes of each other and it's getting you nowhere. You both have broken the flaming and respect rules each a few times (not to mention thread jacking). I strongly suggest you both take a walk over to entertainment or artwork and get your minds off each other. I would have gladly continued this debate had you acted mature.

I'll close this message and bit you 'ado' with a quote from my post above: "Choose to educate yourself, and you will become immune to the fear pandemic."

The names RangerDick, Willtravel. ;)

If I was flamebaiting , it was not on purpose. I respect FourtyRulz, I just don't agree with him, I never resorted to namecalling.

I'll agree that the thread go a bit off topic though.

Please, don't let the degeneration of this thread stop you (or anyone else) from giving your input on the original topic.

OOPS! Sorry, I didn't intentionally miswrite your name, RangerDick. (Somehow it seemed more respectful the other way...)

I think that fear is natural. I think fear can be rational. I think that fear can keep us safe. *But only under certian circumstances.* I do think that many nations, including the US, use fear in their propoganda. Why? Well that's simple. People can be dumb and aren't reliable a lot of the time. You have a public that can be dumb and that isn't totally reliale, you have a goverment that is run by those people. So what do they do? They try to control the people. First off, it is for honorable reasons. They try to educate people, but let some exaggerations slip and such. The big problems come when self interest meets this propoganda. This always happens. Eventually a group of individuals who can control most of the propoganda takes permenant residence.

America does have things to be afraid of. But the threat from terror is technically negligable compared to more pressing matters. Imagine that we spend 1/100th on heart disease that we spent on the war. I know it might not equate in your mind, but just think. Imagine we invest 200billion in cancer research. I think this money, not to mention the lives of soldiers, can be better spent. Whether we helped in Iraq or not only time will tell, but for now it *seems* more of an effort from the oil industry to control.

Because the government says "OH SHIT WATCH OUT FOR THE... oh wait, nevermind. It's just a middle easterner that we are accusing of being a terrorist. BUT HE STILL MIGHT KILL ALL OF US! SOUND THE MAGENTA ALERT!"

politics and fear go hand in hand
 

In the USA you have a unique way of perceicing the world. To us in other countries we see you as a little odd. Your politics are very contolling yet you do not see it. How many American people got to see the Micheal Moore film "farenheit 911" and how many think that the USA is the greatest nation on earth. The fact is the US governments along with many other nations have controlled various military factions around the world since the end of WW2. The only possible reason is to have control. One final question to ask yourself, How old is the state of Isreal and what colour are the citizens.
I am a white British citizen who is sick and tired of the fear created by governments and in particular the American politics along with our own British way of jumping into bed each time America wants a snuggle. For christ's sake wake up and see the world thruogh your own eyes and not how Bush wants you to see it.

It all comes down to the fact that we're all twitchy monkeys. Seriously. Look at a squirrel: they're always looking around for danger and jumpy at the slightest sound. The same goes for bird, fish, insects.., really any animal. This is th instict of survival. Unfortunately Humans have forgotten the fact that we ARE ANIMALS TOO. We have all of these same insticts inside of us, and they are very much in every day use, conscious or unconscious.

Just because yor paronoid doesnt mean there not after you!

I won't say that we are an afraid people, but the human mind does have some sort of a "worry box" which always needs something in it. We here in america don't have to worry about the essentials like food, water, and shelter; therefore our brains move further and further, looking for more interesting fears to occupy ourselves with. The fact that we worry about a six and a half foot tall saudi on kidney dialysis (sp?) hiding in afghanistan (or wherever) goes to show that we don't have a lot of things to worry about.

Well basically.. people are afraid of the unknown.

it is in our nature to be afraid of things. It's what keeps us alive

Because most Americans don't travel and really believe that everyone else wants to be here and they are angry and jealous and hate us because they can't. Ignorance spawns fear. I have travelled to over 25 countries in the last 3 years, and I have never met anyone that didn't like America or Americans, they just don't like the current leaders of it.

The only terrorists that actually scare me are Bush and his cronies.

I think because people don't fully understand the odds of something happening.

For example, local news always reports on murders, rapes, and kidnappings. Well, in a city of MILLIONS, yeah, the chances of you hearing about it will be quite high.

What are the actual odds that it will happen to YOU? Quite low. To SOMEONE in the city? Pretty high.

What are the chances YOU will get into a car accident on your way home? Pretty low (well, for the most part, anyway), but what are the chances that SOMEONE will get into one today? Very high.

If you're fed this type of stuff day in and day out, it's only natural to become paranoid and fearful of your surroundings.

Raises glass to mkultra
:thumbsup:

I wouldn't say americans are scared more then anyother part of the world.I mean how many times are we going hear about global warming.Sure it might be true ,but what the heck we going do about it if we can't get off oil.

I would have to say that it had a lot to do in part of Bush's campaign. Think about it. Every third word out of his mouth was 9/11, terrorism, or the patriot act. He never talked about the issues that affect us all. It was all "you better vote for me or we'll get hit again!" Even Cheney blatantly came out and said it within the last month of the campaign. It's been proven time and time again that scare tactics work in this country.

Feed somebody the same drivel long enough and they'll begin to believe it. Look at the stats of people who STILL believe that Iraq has WMD's even though the CIA came out and said two weeks ago that there aren't any.

This isn't an America only thing.

I've been to Europe, cops walk around the airports with sub machine guns.
America is now just taking steps to protect itself from terrorists