Because when you live all the time in fear, you do stupid things. And other people can and will make use of your fear, and not necessarily to your benefit.
I mean, heck, think of our cinema and fear. Think of that frightened person up on the screen, being pursued by Something Awful. We feel their fear, but we're also shouting at them for all the stupid things they're doing — running like a lunatic, dropping their flashlight, going back into the haunted house they were warned about, backing up into the shadows, arguing loudly over trivialities, splitting the party, tripping over their feet or other obstacles, whatever … and about how the Something Awful takes advantage of those bad, bad, fear-driven decisions.
Sometimes that's us. And sometimes that fearful flight can last for eleven years or more …
Reshared post from +Chuck Wendig
9/11 for me created in me a sense of fear and anxiety. F'rex: I was afraid of flying for years after. Okay before and now. But then: afraid.
Thing is, that's of course the aim of terrorism. But what nobody really tells you is that it's also the aim, in part, of the government.
This became clear recently when flying out of PHL airport, where before security they play a video that literally evokes the events of 9/11. Because, hey, if there's one thing that'll get me to submit to a violation of my human rights by the TSA, it's trying to drum up that fear.
9/11 taught me a lot about fear. And over time, it taught me that we have to find a way to operate without it.
Because fear trumps wisdom, logic, science, common sense, love, all the good stuff. Fear will fuck you up, stop you from taking chances.
I mean, listen, fear is fine if you're being chased by a fucking mountain lion or something. I'm just saying to let fear know its place.
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+Chuck Wendig's post is such a great reveal and resonated with me because I went through much of the same kind of feelings.
Our political system works on these same fears. The fear of economic collapse, of losing civil liberties, of not getting healthcare for yourself or someone you love all play into our emotional response and can easily cloud our ability to logically think about what is truly important to us.
I accept the fact that there are things I am afraid of. I have learned to accept that I have to sometimes set that fear aside to make good decisions.
And fear can be helpful. It can be a motivator. Like fire, it's a good servant, but a terrible master.
The appeal to fear is a very common logical fallacy. We see it used by politicians (including political candidates, of course), religious groups, conservatives, liberals… anyone who wants to change others’ thinking may fall prey to this, because it can be such a strong motivator. Just look at how many arguments you hear invoke a worst-case scenario.
So, besides the much needed overhaul of the TSA (which I agree with) does anyone have any alternatives?
Well, an overhaul of the TSA probably — but overhauled in what fashion is probably a bigger question. Airport and transportation security is its own full tangle of imperatives.
Treating terrorist attacks as all-out war, rather than either law enforcement or, at most, counter-intelligence (thinking of the Cold War here) is probably not all that more effective, and has resulted in a variety civil rights assaults. Thinking we can invade / bomb / drone our way to safety from overseas terrorists groups needs serious re-evaluation too — it might feel good to "send in the Marines" against something we fear is an existential threat, but is that really effective or sane, and has been and will be the cost?