They Are Using Fear to Control You

Let’s face it, you are now under the control of fear. When and how did this happen? When did fear become all that you react to?

Yes, you have been manipulated into responding to reptilian brain fear triggers and ignoring facts and detail?

Fear is the political currency of the 21st Century. It is what is traded and it is used to “motivate” and control you. “Our elected leaders are at war with your emotions, fear is their weapon, and the battleground is your mind.”

Some Things to Consider

In just the past few years, fear has moved to the forefront and prominent agenda being peddled. Some current examples:

• The current United States Trump Administration and now Republican Party — Fear of anyone not like ourselves, fear they will take our rights, fear of the unknown, fear of our place on the global stage
• The 2016 U.S. Election — Fear of the candidates, on both sides
• The UK Brexit vote — Fear of change and fear of outsiders
• The list goes on and we all know it and live it.

No longer do we as a human race socially aspire to great things. No longer do we aspire to great accomplishments, exploration, learning, intelligence and the bettering of ourselves and all those around us. We no longer make collective decisions based on growth, but on fear. We only aspire for someone to address our fear. Do you recall “The Moon Shot”, do you recall the fall of The Berlin Wall, do you recall a time in your life when fear wasn’t the primary problem that society was trying to solve?

Society historically was focused on great achievements and growth. Today, society is focused on fear. Even the Trump Campaign’s slogan “Make America Great Again” is a subtly fear based statement with the addition of the word “Again”. It implies that we’ve lost something and we had better get it back. Be afraid.

Individuals Are Not Afraid

But are we? Are we afraid? Individually, are we under the control of fear? I argue that individually we are not. Individuals are not existing, living, and breathing in deep, perpetual panic and fear. From the smallest of rural towns to the largest of metropolitan cities, individuals are not horribly afraid of what will happen with their next breath.

Of course, fear is an emotion that we all individually feel, there are people that are having a rough time and some that have been spun up into such a frenzy they can barely breathe. Typically, however, one’s fears are more on the magnitude of being afraid of losing a loved one, what might come next when we’re unsure about our future or our own mortality. These are all legitimate circumstances that elicit fear. But it doesn’t, except in rare circumstances, control us.

If you don’t believe me, I challenge you to spend the next week being very conscious of each moment of your day. Walk down the street, drive your car, take public transportation, shop for groceries or go out to dinner and as you do so, be aware of how you feel and take stock of those feelings. Are you “horror movie” afraid? I don’t think so. Don’t let others tell you how you should feel, be present to the moment you’re in and ask yourself, “How do I feel?”. Pay attention to those around you. As you sit at airports, public locations, etc., notice your fellow humans and be attentive to their state of being. Are they afraid or are they going about their lives in a calm, ordinary fashion.

Groups Are Afraid

If you tried the above exercise and reflected on your day, I’m sure you found that you are not in a constant state of fear and panic. What you found, if you were aware of your feelings and understood the source of fear, is that it isn’t you that are afraid, but that society is in a state of fear. You are being made to feel and believe you should feel afraid. As a result, you are being controlled by fear.

As a country, as a group, we are afraid and we’re making important decisions around fear. What we listen to is making us afraid and causing us to make those decisions based on fear.

In short, outside influences or “influencers” are making us panicky

The politicians we elect, the news we watch, the reaction we garner is not our own, but what we’re told to have. It’s what we’re made to feel based on the perspective and words used in its communication. As individuals, we are rarely afraid, as groups we are now in a perpetual state of fear and panic.

People Rarely Panic, Groups Easily Panic. (Lee Clarke)

It is only as a group that fear controls us. Using as an example the current U.S. Administration and the election leading up to it, we are and have been amid a fear campaign in which those that we elect to lead us and the organizations that report on them are using fear as a marketing tool.

Fear drives better ratings, fear drives attention, fear creates panic, fear creates extreme positions, fear steals our freedoms and our liberties.

We are now firmly living and operating in a society based on fear. It controls all our group decisions and actions. We are making policy and society decisions based on fear not on intelligent decisions for a better world.

How Should We Feel?

This is where both sides will point at the other side as something that we truly need to be afraid of. Yes, both sides do it.

To counteract this, slow down enough and learn the facts behind what you should stand for and what you shouldn’t. Look at history, look at reality, make your own decisions not based on the manipulation of those that lead us, but based on well educated, well-read details and I guarantee you, you can easily discern what you should fear and what you shouldn’t. From there, you can stand for something concrete and real and not be standing on fear.

One last point, do you think that any success, any huge victory, any great team is motivated by fear? Do you believe that coaches of championship teams, leaders in any area of life where success is the outcome are driven to that success by those coaches or leaders instilling fear in them? Do you believe that success is driven through building an approach based on positively motivating people?

Remember Our Promise

Tom Graves, a Congressional Republican from Georgia said the following in response to the September 11 attacks on the United States:

“But still, as a nation, we refused to bow to terror. On September 11, 2001, Americans came together, united in our common values and strengthened by our resolve to overcome this new threat. We did not — and never will — let fear dictate our way of life. We carried on. We persevered. — Tom Graves

After many a terrorist attack around the world, words similar have been vowed. The United States, Paris, Turkey, Britain; all have made this vow.

After all the strength and hard work, we are letting the current wave of leaders take that strength away from us. They are disempowering us through fear mongering. It’s just that simple. It is time to stand up and be better and stronger than the world these leaders are creating for us. Let us take back our optimism and build a world that eradicates fear and builds hope.

“Optimism may sometimes be delusional, but pessimism is always delusional.” — Alan Cohen

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