The Narrative of Fear and Insecurity
On March 4 1933 FDR in his inaugural address to the American people said,
“…the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself….”
And it’s true. It is fear more than anything else that prevents people from turning away from what has failed them and stays their hand from picking up the tools which would allow them to build what would work better. And precisely because it is true, every politician, banker, judge and general has realised that if they wished to stop change from weakening their grip on power and wealth, then what they need above all else is …more fear.
As FDR went on to say, it is
“…nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes….”
So if you want to control a people and contain their desire to replace the system which benefits you, with one that benefits them, then you need to feed them fear and the more of it and the more slippery and inscrutable it seems to them, the better.
A looming, shadowy foreign power lurking just beyond the borders is always good. Russia, China, Communists in general, or if they are too far away, then any kind of socialist will do at a pinch. In 1983 Margaret Thatcher famously branded British miners and their union as ‘The enemy within.” Terrorists are a wonderful new fear. They are everywhere, much like Red’s used to be under every bed.
All these are good and have been used, still are used, to good effect. But there is a new fear, one closer to the fear FDR was talking about. And the currency of that fear is Debt. Here is a very short history, in just a few sentences, of how debt became the currency of fear.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
