Fear Porn

Addictive, Effective and Real

Fear is not only a great inhibitor, it serves a double-life as an equally great motivator.

Government propagandists, accurately confused with the MSM, know this and use it effectively every day. Political entities have been doing this for centuries. The Federal government moved it to Standard Operating Procedure with the deployment of Operation Mockingbird in 1974. Maybe earlier.

Now add ‘Conspiracy Theory’ to those government sponsored efforts to undermine the 1^st Amendment’s freedom of the press and put doubt in the concept of Freedom itself.

“The term "conspiracy theory" is itself the subject of a conspiracy theory, which posits that the term was popularized by the CIA in order to discredit conspiratorial believers, particularly critics of the Warren Commission, by making them a target of ridicule.” Interestingly, that scoffing quote is found in Wikipedia which is notable due to numerous articles exposing FBI and CIA operatives as actually editing Wikipedia pages about the FBI, CIA and other ‘sensitive‘ Government agencies and programs deemed unfit for consumption by the taxpayers who funded them.

After reading books, pages and paragraphs exonerating the spooks from their naughty deeds, it’s not a stretch to conclude this sanitizing was done by the same ‘intelligence agencies’ that were besmirched by otherwise accurate entries. Dismissing the history of ‘conspiracy theory’ originating from the CIA as a conspiracy theory is a ‘jump the shark’ moment writ large.

What’s not in question is the insidious influence Operation Mockingbird had on the content of ‘the News’ as disseminated by the Heritage Media. Now, envision the guaranteed effective use of Fear as a primary ingredient of the News. The long-standing respect citizens had for the constitutionally protected First Amendment guarantee of Freedom of the Press assumed the sanctification of news content. Early on, to make certain there was no confusion, newspaper editors separated the news from editorial comments, posting them on separate dedicated pages.

Long before “social media”, Bad Actors could see the advantages to be enjoyed by manipulating news content. While early creative writing was sufficient to sway public opinion, by the time Operation Mockingbird saw action, it was apparent more efforts needed to be made to hide Government’s scandals of usurping application of the Constitution, Rule of Law and any vestige of common decency. When obfuscation was required, flat-out lying was never a bridge too far.

Writers and politicians had one goal in common: optimize the intimidating effect of Fear. The mere forecast of something that threatened the peace was sufficient to rivet the public’s attention even when the reality was doubtful. The tactic is used in newscasts and publications to this day: “Authorities fear more violent demonstrations tomorrow!” The threat of extreme weather - “XXX million Americans in harms way!” (a pretense credited to ABC News anchor, David Muir), shortages, riots and civil disorder, school shootings, gang violence, impending war, world pandemics – these and more are retail examples of Fear Porn. And the News Media practices it regularly, knowing you will ‘stay tuned’ out of fear of missing more “news” even more frightening. Even advertising employs similar tactics to spike sales: “HURRY! SUPPLIES ARE LIMITED! BUY NOW BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!”

While the MSM has a basic obligation to report weather and social abnormalities, it is the manipulation of what constitutes “facts”; those emotive code words that imply to your detriment something that is or isn’t so, maybe or maybe not. Fortunately, regarding abnormal weather conditions, technology has made it easier to confirm or disprove pending issues. In political matters, not so much.

If anything, “news outlets” are incalculable. What constitutes “news”? What are the “facts”? What are the sources? What is the political agenda of the source? Is “news” that contradicts your preferred political narrative automatically false? What is a Black Swan? Straw Man? Red Flag? False Flag? Red Herring? White Elephant? Gaslighting? There are more where those came from, everyone intended to confuse, intimidate, and scare  – all for the purpose of controlling you, freezing you in place, forcing you into submission, to accept their authority without question.

Consider Joe Biden’s SOTU screech.

Sometimes, there may be no constant and you have to divine a conclusion from reason. Mental acrobatics can be employed on either side. It comes down to whomever has the most convincing argument in the abstract, rather than real terms. Sometimes they’ll use data gained from the real world. But there’s no guarantee this data is any good; where there is no constant extrapolating as y=mx+C is a recipe for conclusions way off the mark. Then there is cognitive dissonance.

What must be remembered - or learned - is the overpowering, paralyzing, debilitating power of Fear. In the hands of evil people running criminal and government agencies today, this cannot be understated. Their numbers are legion, their dedication undeniable, their morals non-existent. It’s difficult to even read accounts of what they have already deployed and how effective it’s been. With a sick irony, the more facts contained in these macabre accounts, the more ad hominem attacks are made against the sources to doubt, discredit or destroy them. It begs the question, Why? Sadly, “the evil that men do” cannot be unseen or unlearned. While only fiction, visit Room 101 in the Ministry of Love.  For facts, check The Sound of Freedom. And if you have the time, interest and nerves, there’s this.

BW

Nachos Grande for reading this far.

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