Were we always afraid?

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This comes from a conversation I had with my grandad a couple of weeks ago, which had something to do with Iraq. I can remember saying something along the vein of "It must have been nice in the old days, when people weren't constantly afraid", and ol' Grampa said that well, actually everyone was afraid in the old days.
Think about it: before the war in Iraq we had the first Gulf War. Before that? the 40-odd year long stretch of abject paranoia that was the Cold War. Before that? WW2. Keep going back, and there's a chain of wars, plagues and political mishaps following us back to the Dark Ages.

And now, we have the outside chance of a possible war with the Iran over nuclear weapons. And the North Korea issue is still prominent, so it looks like the fear isn't going to abate just yet.

 

So what is your question? Were we always afraid? Yes, we always were, and we always will, because no one will ever stop fighting. Greed and ambition (to name two) cause people to do stupid things, and because of that, the people they lead suffer. We will always have to live in fear...


We might as well get used to it

 

Actually, it's a survival trait of the species. As Quark from DS9 so eloquently put it, "If our ancestors hadn't jumped back the first time they met a snake, we wouldn't be here."

 

nothing like a healthy dose of fear

 

In my travels it often struck me that fear and worry for world concerns such as war in a distant land, national debt, government policies and such seemed permeate the population centers of our (USA) country.The rural areas populace usually had more immediate concerns and the simple faith that whatever troubles our nation the good ol' USofA will come out on top.

 

I get the feeling that we're being more told that we're afraid (by the media, the government, etc.) than we actually are afraid (when it comes to terrorism and such, at least). I for one, when I go to a public place or whathaveyou, do not start trembling in terror because there might be a terrorist attack.

Yes, we can see that the world is going downhill, but that's not really the same thing as being afraid, which is what we're being told we are.

(and to show how sinister this is, an example from real life: we were having a class discussion/debate on the Australian anti-terror/sedition laws. Naturally I was all 'hell no - I'd rather risk terrorists than risk the government having the power to terrorise me'. One of the arguments I encountered there was 'but while we're afraid we can't be free' - when you hear statements like that it's hard to dismiss the idea that the government is feeding our 'fear' (which is really very abstracted - as above, I am not actively afraid, and I doubt you are either) to give itself power...)

 

It appears that between the time the Berlin Wall came down and the attacks on 9/11, America seemed to have little to fear. I remember the early Reagan years being the scariest. It was by far scarier than it is now.

 

Yeah, no kidding. Absolute worst case scenario regarding Al-Qaeda involves the destruction of one or more American cities, with loss of life running into the low millions.

Worst case during the Cold War was the end of human life. Nuclear winter > Islamic extremists.

 

There was the first Gulf War after the Cold War was finished. Then for a few years where there weren't any wars, but there was that fuel crisis, which was mysteriously followed by the second Gulf War.

 

Yes, I think we were.

Most of us don't have the experience of living or growing up during the Cold War. Most of us didn't grow up in Communist regimes, or places where people who criticised a politician, the state or a police force "disappeared", or during the McCarthy era, when one could be persecuted for "un-American" values. I don't think any of us have personal memories of World War 2.

Today, "the enemy" is less visible, certainly. There's no country called Terroristia. Methods of dealing with "the enemy" have had to change. I don't have a problem with giving some agencies greater powers, so long as those powers are made entirely accountable.

I think we're more afraid of what's outside our doors today than we were 50 years ago, but that fear is exaggerated considerably. We've been force-fed a diet of sensationalised violence, criminality and danger which really doesn't mesh with the truth (for most of us). I say that as a person who is in the category of people most likely to be bashed or murdered (male, 18-30).

Fear is not unnatural. As shoshino said, there's nothing wrong with being afraid for the right reasons. Unfortunately, it's long been known that the easiest way to control anyone is through fear. A person, a populace that is afraid of an external (or externalised) enemy will hand over all sorts of power to those who would claim to be their protectors.

 

I think we, as a species, have an innate need to define who our enemies are. History proves that mankind thrives on conflict. Not war and violence necessarily, but conflict. If it's not terrorism, it's communism or despotism. If it's not poverty, it's greed. If it's not Iraq, it's North Korea. And if we're not at war with another nation, we're at war at home. Culture wars of moral vs. immoral, political wars of liberal vs. conservative, race wars of black vs. white, sex wars of gay vs. straight, white blood cells vs. the viruses, east coast vs. west coast, superman vs. batman, coke vs. pepsi....it never ends.

Peace does not exist in any form for more than a few minutes. And that, evidently, is the way we like it, whether we're conscious of it or not.

So it isn't fear that is everpresent, it's conflict - and fear is a biproduct of conflict.

/so goes the resounding chink of my

 

I think it's hilarious listening to all the young reporters talking about fear of terrorism. That THIS is the age of fear.

What a joke. We used to have NUCLEAR ATTACK DRILLS! Everyone would get under their desks, put their hands over their heads, close their eys tight, and wait for the blast. Fortunately, we were all to ignorant to realize the futility of those drills (otherwise the drill would have been 'bend over, grab your ankles, and kiss...).

I'm with Chandos (OMG what am I saying?!?!), the Reagan years were the apex of the cold war. I though we would go to war at any moment (damn senile old man with his finger on the button). But everything worked out okay.

Iran and terrorism doesn't really come to same level as the red scare. The only fear I live with is the rising violent crime rate -- I'm almost concerned enough to buy a gun ... almost. But then, I don't believe everything I see on TV and realize reporters go for sensationalism (hype is more important than content).

 

hey... that we really2 need this war ?? do we really2 need this all ?? tell me why ??

 

Because peace is only a brief intermission between two wars.

 

Yeah, I agree (now, what I am I saying?) I remember when the Russians shot down the Korean airliner. I thought it was all over. But you have to give Reagan credit - he did Ok, in that regard.

 

Yes he is. That guy you attack today, sets a bomb tomorrow.

 

If anyone does want to feel safe, I can direct you to the New Zealand immigrant application forums. This is a country where the biggest international worry we have here is that the Japanesse are eating too many whales and they might win majority support on the IWC this year; and where every single murder makes head line news of all our national papers

 

Wow, Chandos.

 

Well, certainly there's a lot to be afraid of, quite apart from making the mortgage payments and having a home, and wondering just how weird your daughter's next boy friend will be. Let's see: there's global warming and the threatened collapse of civilization; there's terrorism and the possibility of sudden meaningless death; there's still the possibility of accidental--or deliberate--nuclear warfare; not to mention the statistical dangers of walking down the street in the wrong city at the wrong time; or saying the wrong thing to a stranger. Oh! And comets! I forgot comets!

That's why my family and I have moved to the bottom of a well, where food and supplies are passed to us by a rope. But what if the rope should break? What if our neighbors secretly don't love us?

The point of this is that while a certain degree of fear can be healthy, it's possible to overdo it. Once upon a time--for it must seem to the younger readers on this board that such times are much like a fairy tale--there were leaders in this country whose chief message was one of hope.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, with the nation mired in the depths of the Great Depression, said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." ("...except maybe danger...", I always privately add.) But the point is that the theme of his long presidency was optimism and hope,even through WWII. Despite the stresses of the Cold War, this was also the theme of Truman and Eisenhower, and especially of Kennedy, and of Johnson, too, until he was misled, or stumbled into the morass of Vietnam, where this theme that fear could be overcome was lost, and has not yet been regained.

Since then we have seen a succession of Presidents who have made fear their friend, Carter and Clinton being mere holding actions, until we have arrived at this present administration, which makes fear its centerpiece and its cornerstone, to the loss of all of us.

 

You cannot let fear rule your life. During the 80's there were bombs going off in all major N.Irish cities, but that did not stop people going about their daily lives.

A funny but true story - In Belfast if there was an explosion, everyone would rush to the Crown Bar for drinks as people used to say "sure they will never blow up the Crown Bar!"