Politics of FEAR

We live in a society whose dominant emotion is FEAR. The tragic events of 9/11 reminded us that we live in a dangerous world and that there are people out there who really don't like us. Through the machinations of the Department of Motherland Security, our government has seen fit to keep the country at an "elevated" threat level, indicating a "significant risk of terrorist attacks," and has occasionally raised it to "high" when something bad has happened in the world. Bad things happen in the world every day, so we live in fear.

How did our government react to 9/11? It sent troops to Afghanistan to blow shit up and kill people. Then what did it do? It invaded and now occupies Iraq. If someone thinks you're a bully, beating them up isn't going to convince them otherwise.

After all of that, are we better off today? No. The world is just as dangerous a place as it was on 9/10, and there are still people out there who really don't like us, more now than ever. Is anyone ever going to try to understand why these people hate Americans? No. Most Americans today are not interested in the truth -- their democratic and christian dogma are sacrosanct. Our government is not interested in the truth either -- it just wants you to be afraid, so that you will willingly sacrifice your freedoms and personal liberties on the alter of homeland security, all for their holy war on terrorism.

So it is with some sense of irony that I quote Patrick Henry:

Give me liberty or give me death.