A little background first:
Like everyone I am a creature of my environment, and I'll freely admit my biases because it's part of who I am. Without revealing a lot about my identity, I can tell y'all that my background is more technical and science based, but I've been involved primarily retail sales and marketing through my work career.
Fear exists in the marketplace of ideas.
It's a deeply ingrained part of our American culture.
I'm not so biased or sure of myself of my ideas or ideals to be sure that I am always right and the 'other side' is always wrong. Paraphrasing what Potter Stewart said about pornography in the 60's,
"I know lies and propaganda when I see it." Yet on the other hand, I don't want to silence people who make arguments based upon facts and the truth.
But sadly for the Republicans and those who mistakenly call themselves 'conservatives', there's hardly a spokesperson they have who can espouse an argument based upon facts or truth. Perhaps, somewhere in the universe of 'modern conservative thought' there are people who can make legitimate arguments to defend whatever nuggets of truth they've got; but it seems to be extremely hard to locate them.
I welcome people who post here at dailykos who honestly and forthrightly try to represent a 'conservative point of view'; I want to hear what they have to say. Trouble is, in the nearly 5 years of reading and posting here, I can count on one hand posters who ever tried to make the attempt without introducing fear as the primary argument. It's been quite a pathetic showing. And the same paradigm holds true across all the commentators, analysts and talking heads of the right wing. Fear is the one constant theme they have to offer, and it poisons everything they have to offer.
Like everyone else here I have seen the garbage from Fox and other media; I've worked with people who were Limbaugh "ditto heads" back as early as 1990-1991 and argued with them back then.
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The one thing that is a constant from the right, that is constantly pounded out from these so-called 'conservatives' is fear. It's ear is finely tuned and listening closely to bigotry, typically grounded in some form of greed: it a feedback loop to people who are afraid of losing property rights, their wealth or their status.
And yes, from the left, we have fear as well. We had best be cognizant that it can play into our narrative as well. The Left has fears typically of loss of individual human rights being trampled, fear of our environment being poisoned, of being cheated by non-human conglomerates called corporations. We have a palpable fear of what some call the 'creeping fascism' which appears to have taken roots deeply in our nation's psyche.
Fear can be a natural reaction to perceived threats.
Fear can be a normal expected response.
But fear can be used a powerful political weapon, and used to incite the madness of crowds as well. Understanding fear and how people who are being motivated by it is important in any conflict resolution.
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Finally, here is where my experience in retail comes into play.
You see, fear is a powerful marketing tool.
You might not realize it, but it's a signature tool used in almost every ad you've ever viewed. Americans have been steeped in fear for decades by Madison Avenue. It drips from every aspect of our culture.
Please note: I am not saying that fear necessarily makes a commodity or idea false or untrue. What I am saying is that our culture, our modern consumer culture is built upon fear. It's a very American thing, something I do not believe that is found so pervasively in the cultures of Western Europe. Fear is worthy of understanding, because it drives many of the narratives we witness today.
The very concept of life insurance is selling 'fear'. Listen to phrases used in the ads. 'Protect your family'. 'Unforeseen events'. 'Who will care for your family after you are gone'. Health insurance of course is a variation of the same thing.
If you buy the wrong brand, you are somehow buying an inferior product.
The food you buy might not taste as good, it may not be as nutritious as the brand being advertised.
If our breath is bad, we have to fear we might offend someone.
If we don't have a certain body appearance, accessory or fancy car to drive, our status will be lower and we might not be as attractive in competition to the person standing next to us trying land that mate we've got our eye on.
Of course ..
If you are a male, the ultimate humiliation is a failure to 'get it up'.
And fear is constantly used to hammer on the elderly. It's in that fear you might fall down and hurt yourself, so it's important to have a life line, that 'button to press' if you should need help and no one is around. The fear of being alone is very powerful, profoundly evocative.
Fear of pain itself has become a whole multi-billion dollar industry. As we know, the FDA has approved and people take drugs which can kill them, in order to prevent pain. An important side note: only in America and New Zealand are drug companies allowed to advertise in electronic mass media.
And then there's the crazy 'fear' that people's very lives are at risk if 'socialist health care' takes over. Sarah Palin's crazy statement about Trig, or the insane idea that some government official will order an elderly person their death is simply today's lunatic version of fear.
It doesn't take much to realize that political operatives like Pat Buchanan, Lee Atwater, Karl Rove and others have used fear for decades. The fear of 'the other', the 'different', of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual identity has been manufactured, refined, instilled and broadcast by The Wurlitzer since the 1960s.
When it became obvious that the biggest fear of them all in modern times, the "Red Menace" [still always lurking in the background, however] was losing it's teeth and ability to motivate the uninformed, the Republican Party specifically chose to embrace race, ethnicity, religion, sexual identity as the vehicle of their ideals.
As an example, to this very day Pat Buchanan makes no bones about it: he's proud to whip flames of white people losing their status. He's ready to embrace the Orwellian idea that old people will lose their lives because some faceless government bureaucrat will 'decide' to end that person's life. Buchanan is a master of fear; he's been using it since the 1970s working for Nixon. What was fear of the "Red Menace" has morphed.
Fear lives in America. It's poisoned out culture. It's part of my psyche since I am part of the culture, and I actively have to fight fear every day.
FDR was very correct when he said these words.
"The only thing we have to fear is fear, itself."
How do we use fear as a tool?
Is it ethical to use fear as a tool?
I'd say at times, it can be ethical to use fear as a tool. Specifically when the 'target' of fear is not a human being, but a corporate entity. Here's one example I just used this morning, my e-mail sent to companies that advertise on the Fox networks. People who decide where to spend their advertising budget are consumers, they pay for and buy advertising space. I'm doing my part to poison that well that they are trying to drink from.
Motivating them to make a choice by using fear?
Just simple good old American marketing.
And a healthy dose of the truth, as well.
It would be very unfortunate if one of your ads were to be branded or associated with violence that can be tied back to programs that air on the Fox Network.
I'd highly recommend you reconsider where you spend your advertising money.