The Politics of Fear in America: A Nation at War with Itself
October 1, 2012
By John W. Whitehead
“Fear is the foundation of most governments.” – John Adams
Turn on the TV or flip open the newspaper on any given day, and you
will find yourself accosted by reports of government corruption,
corporate malfeasance, militarized police and marauding SWAT teams.
America is entering a new phase, one in which children are arrested in
schools, military veterans are forcibly detained by government agents
because of the content of their Facebook posts, and law-abiding
Americans are being subjected to the latest in government spy
technology.
These threats to our freedoms are not to be underestimated. Yet even
more dangerous than these violations of our basic rights is the language
they are couched in—the language of fear. It is a language spoken
effectively by politicians on both sides of the aisle, shouted by media
pundits from their cable TV pulpits, marketed by corporations, and
codified into bureaucratic laws that do little to make our lives safer
or more secure.
This language of fear has given rise to a politics of fear whose only
aim is to distract and divide us. In this way, we have been discouraged
from thinking analytically and believing that we have any part to play
in solving the problems before us. Instead, we have been conditioned to
point the finger at the other Person or vote for this Politician or support this Group, because they are the ones who will fix it. Except that they can’t and won’t fix the problems plaguing our communities.
No amount of freedom has ever been won by sitting back and watching
things play out, or by voting for a certain person, or giving money to a
certain group. Freedom is won through action, not just in terms of
nonviolent protest or petition (which are vital), but in terms of daily
interactions with friends and neighbors, discussing the issues and how
best to equip communities to deal with daily challenges. Freedom is won
most effectively by taking a stand, starting at the local level, whether
it’s challenging the influx of profit-driven red light cameras at
street intersections, taking issue with a school board decision that
sends a message to young people that they have no rights, or demanding
that local police de-militarize.
These small acts of rebellion are what win us our rights. Yet as
information technology rapidly advances and mindless entertainment
proliferates, this type of “free” thinking is being squelched. In the
absence of individuals who will stand up for themselves and their
freedoms, it is all too easy for the politics of fear to gain traction.
Having abdicated our responsibilities as citizens, we have ceded power
to bureaucrats and government officials who, with our tacit approval,
continue to dismantle our basic rights while providing an illusion of
safety and security. This lack of ownership and willingness to engage in
self-government on the part of the American people has, in turn, given
rise to the rapid militarization of the police over the past 40 years,
the criminalization of non-threatening activities such as gathering with
friends and family in the privacy of one’s home for prayer and worship,
the surveillance dragnet which now tracks virtually every American, and
the general sense that we no longer have any control over our
government.
A perfect example of this masterful use of the politics of fear to cow
the populace is the government’s War on Drugs. Reputedly a response to
crime and poverty in inner cities and suburbia, it has been the driving
force behind the militarization of the police, at all levels, over the
past 40 years. While it has failed to decrease drug use, it has
exacerbated social problems by expanding America’s rapidly growing
prison system and allowing police carte blanche access to our homes and personal property.
Undeterred by its failure to check drug use, the governmental machine
keeps chugging along. Consider that in 2011, half a billion dollars’
worth of military equipment flowed from the military to local police,
with another $400 million worth of equipment reaching local police by
May 2012. In addition to direct transfers of equipment, the federal
government has given local police departments grants totaling $34
billion since 9/11. The 50-person police department in Oxford, Alabama,
for example, has acquired $3 million worth of equipment, including
M-16s, infrared goggles, and an armored vehicle. All of these new toys
lead to specious SWAT team raids that eviscerate the Fourth Amendment,
acclimating us to the vision of police in jackboots with assault rifles
patrolling our streets.
Enter the War on Terror, the logical endpoint of constructing
government policy based upon fear and paranoia. Marked by constant
surveillance, torture, kidnapping, extrajudicial killing by our
government, and the resulting loss of our basic rights, the War on
Terror is the culmination of a mentality of fear cultivated by the
political elite and willingly accepted by the American people.
A case in point is the creation of the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) in the aftermath of 9/11. Supposedly tasked with protecting the
American homeland from terrorist threats, DHS has become more of a
domestic army than a security agency. For example, in March 2012,
defense contractor ATK agreed to produce 450 million hollow point rounds
to be used by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office. DHS placed another
order for 750 million rounds of various ammunition in August 2012.
DHS is just one of many aspects of a total militarization of government
which has been taking place since the 1980s and rapidly advancing since
9/11. Consider that in August 2012, the Social Security Administration
(SSA) placed an order for 174,000 rounds of hollow point ammunition. The
SSA plans to send the ammunition to 41 locations throughout the United
States, including major cities such as Los Angeles, Detroit, and
Philadelphia, among others.
It’s unclear why the SSA would need hollow point bullets, which are
designed to explode upon entry into the body, causing massive organ
damage. However, it’s worth noting that DHS and SSA have already
collaborated in police exercises. In January 2012, Federal Protective
Service officers with DHS conducted a training exercise at the SSA
office in Leesburg, Florida. One officer carrying a semi-automatic
assault rifle randomly checked IDs as people filed into the building,
while other officers combed the building with K-9 units. The exercise
was part of the larger Operation Shield, which, according to DHS
officials, involves federal officers randomly showing up to government
buildings throughout the country in order to test the effectiveness of
their security procedures.
DHS and SSA aren’t the only agencies beefing up their ammunition
stockpiles. In August 2012, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), which houses the National Weather Service,
requested 46,000 hollow point bullets to be sent to locations in Maine,
Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Florida, as well as 500 paper targets.
The NOAA later released a statement claiming that the ammunition is
intended for the Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement which is entrusted
to “enforce[e] laws that conserve and protect our nation’s living marine
resources and their natural habitat.”
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its state level counterparts
are also becoming militarized. Consider the increasingly violent
campaign against raw milk farmers in recent years. In April 2008, Mark
Nolt, a Mennonite raw milk farmer, was arrested in a raid on his
property involving six state troopers and a representative of the
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. In April 2010, Dan Allyger, an
Amish raw milk farmer in Pennsylvania, was subjected to a predawn raid
conducted by agents from the FDA, US Marshals, and a state trooper.
These police exercises are the result of government policies engineered
to maximize fear and paranoia. Yet they are only possible because of
the acquiescence of the American people to all government programs
relating to “security” since 9/11. Despite the fact that violent crime
rates are low, and terrorist attacks are radically unlikely (in fact,
one is more likely to die in a car wreck or be struck by lightning than
be killed by a terrorist), we are seeing government agencies
“protecting” us by harassing, arresting, and sometimes killing our
friends and neighbors, all in the name of security. This is the inertia
of government bureaucracy. Created during moments of fear, such agencies
and the corporate entities that benefit from them always resist change
once a citizenry gathers their senses and demands are made for the
restoration of free government.
Thus, fear is the root of the problem. The only thing which will
improve our present condition is the taming of our fear. We must act on
courage. Courage to think differently, speak loudly, and challenge
directly the systems which we know to be unjust. Voting will do precious
little to circumvent the politics of fear which Democrats and
Republicans use to justify their attacks on our personal liberties. As
author Mark Vernon has noted, “…the politics of fear plays on an
assumption that people cannot bear the uncertainties associated with
[risk]. Politics then becomes a question of who can better deliver an
illusion of control.”
WC: 1512
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