..............how do we confront a level of fear that allows us to get past it and function more fully without stripping away that portion which keeps us from being vanquished by the world?
As individual units we can adjust our sense of fear accordingly and within the parameters of our environmental circumstance but as a global society I don't see anything changing for the better or for the worse. Global fears would have to be replaced with global trusts in order to circumvent what seems to have been the mode de jeur for centuries. Private gated communities have established a secluded sense of trust within the confines of the community but the presence of the gates themselves indicate the distrust of all that lies beyond the perimeter. Fear has grown over the past several years with the ever growing terrorist threat. Neighbors are increasingly looking at others around them as potential threats as homeland security pushes to expose homegrown terror. The economic landslide, post the subprime mortgage scenario, is a wake up call for many who never thought they had anything to fear; losing home, job and a good life is a reality. Meanwhile millions of illegal immigrants continue to leach off the public coffers further depleting the resources that once sustained the country. George Bernard Shaw “You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say, “Why not?". This in all reality can change things but I'm not sure that people are still capable of dreaming and bringing those dreams to fruition. We have become sullen and morose and complacently waiting for things to change on their own or trusting others to make the changes. Soap box politicians are still leading us down the path of delusion without any real change and we are stuck in a quagmire of stagnation politics. The whole of it needs revamping as is the case with any revolution. Governments wield the power to make real change but have only indulged those in the world of high finance and capitalist gain; I think capitalism breeds fear. From Pat in another thread: ".........there's a moral wealth that is completely ignored by the ruthlessness of applied capitalism. Capitalism divides society into 2 parts: the rich and the poor. Socialism, to some extent, tries to redress the balance and bring that excess 'wealth' back into a useful form for society's poor. If America doesn't try to protect the well-being of its own poor, then they will be forced to defend themselves against an enemy government, and, the Declaration of Independence, whilst NOT the Constitution, still lays down a framework granting justification for such a self- defence if presented with "...a long chain of abuses and usurpations pursuing, invariably, the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism...". As a proponent of capitalism I don't think you would agree with the premise or the outcome but for sure it is or should be considered as one element underlying the climate of global fear. On Aug 8, 2:01 pm, gruff <[email protected]> wrote: > Sure, times are tough for the average person but that’s no reason to > get nasty about it. I know it’s legend that people used to be much > nicer to each other but I’ve no idea if that legend has any validity > or basis in reality. > > I can believe that rural folks were much nicer to each other and more > concerned with each others welfare. But the country was much bigger > and our population much smaller back then. That lack of crowding led > to conditions that made people behave better toward each other (with > some exceptions as we shall see.) > > Back in that day, people in a rural community also had the same > background, heritage, religion and values, which lent to a common > concern for each other. Today most communities, even some of the more > rural ones, are a homogeneous mix of race, culture, religion and > values, all of which tend to make people a bit more wary of each > other. Or at best it makes them distant from oneself. Makes one more > stand-offish. > > If there is one significant characteristic all species seem to share > it is a general xenophobia – a fear of anything unknown or new, a fear > of strangers. Many blame it on being driven from heaven but > regardless it’s source, as we have with so many of nature’s built-in > protections, our species has taken xenophobia to heretofore undreamed > levels. We even create things to fear – vampires, ghouls and such. > And there are far too many of us even to afraid to look themselves in > the eye in a mirror. It took me till I was in my late thirties and > had some therapy under my belt to accomplish that little feat. > > I can believe some of the legend of nice people because I can recall > times when I would be overcome with an urge to perform some > spontaneous act of kindness and the response was generally thanks and > gratitude or at the very least a smile and a nod. Today when I try a > gratuitous kindness I am too often looked at with suspicion – as > though I had some hidden agenda. I don’t do it very often anymore. > I’m no hero. > > Our politics these days seems to run more on hate than I can remember > in seventy years of the stuff even though I only paid attention for > the last two decades. Sure, politics is the arena most likely to > evoke emotional reactions but anymore it seems like those emotions > boil over into a darker place in us. One that removes all trace of > concern for each other and replaces it with aggression, fear, lies and > hatred. > > Yet these facets of human behavior are not too hard to understand. > After all we’ve come from a very frightening past and certainly still > carry a lot of those fears with us. But there is a new dimension to > our xenophobia, a new level we’ve taken it to that is beyond anything > rationally acceptable as a survival instinct. In spite of commonly > available knowledge we fear differences in each other that we know (or > should know) are false. > > But to borrow a Gumpism, fear is as fear does and most frequently it > is fear itself which drives itself to higher levels of intensity. > Remember Roosevelt’s admonishment? “We have nothing to fear but fear > itself.” I don’t think many realized the eternalness of that truth. > > Lies are virtually always rooted in fear which accounts for the > overwhelming number of them being floated about these days. Fear of > not appearing a certain way, fear of not being what we think we should > be, fear of accepting responsibility, fear of the consequences of both > acting and inaction. Fear drives most of Madison Avenue’s best > creations: Fear that you smell, that you don’t look good, that your > teeth are not white enough, that your skin’s not smooth and blemish > free, that your medical condition needs a cover up, that you need the > newer drug, that your children are too fat, too thin, too disturbed, > too talkative, too … anything. Superficial fears all. > > A new aspect to commercials I’ve noticed is the disdain they show for > civil behavior: the shopper who leaves her no longer wanted pain > killers in the basket in the aisle, the man who treats children > cruelly and dishonestly, the executive with not enough sense to know > that if he fell on the lizard it would crush their main advertising > gimmick. The list goes on. Any fool can pick out the commercials > that are destructive to society and civilization: virtually all of > them. There are few commercials that are constructive and honest and > fewer yet that are even creative and entertaining. > > Right now the two biggest fears clutching our hearts are jobs and the > economy. Following closely on their heels come two wars, the deficit, > health care and the future of our nation. Some may change that order > but I think it’s fair to say that those are among the Top Ten. > > To my thinking the most dangerous aspect of this out-of-control fear > that is driving a lot of our behavior is that it blocks clear thinking > which is the key to finding solutions. This is easily seen in some of > the bizarre options people, pundits and politicians are spewing. > > We expect our judges to put aside their personal feelings and rule on > issues and events based on the evidence and the law. Would that we > could even come close to that ideal in our individual and public lives > we might be much further along than we are. But on the other hand can > we afford to do less? > > President Obama would probably gain a few points in the polls were he > to come out and demand responsibility of the citizens to and for each > other, our society and the government. Push responsibility. Demand > it. Accept no less. A side benefit might be that more people would > come to meet their responsibilities as rational and honest citizens of > a civilized society. Wouldn’t that be nice. And I bet people would > start to be nicer to each other again – if we ever did, that is. > > While a nice dream it does not get us any closer to the core problem > of xenophobia. Classic psychology and the wisdom of ages teaches that > it’s best to confront a fear head on. It’s a method that I recommend > but it does not work easily. The easiest fears to see are the > superficial ones we used to mask our deeper more real fears. > Superficial fears include those which commercials are designed to > salve. > > In chasing this grail, I recall back in the early seventies Primal > Scream therapy became popular because it allegedly allowed us to go > back and visit that first primal moment we became swaddled in fear, > the first event or thought that wrapped us in a core cocoon for > protection. > > With most people it didn’t work to well if at all, but with others it > worked only too well. Those who had the necessary self-awareness and > empathy were able to go back to that primal moment and experience that > initial fear as we did back then. This led to the title reaction in > most people of those achieving it; a primal scream. It has been said > that John Lennon and Paul McCartney both went through it. Ringo as > might be expected couldn’t make it. I don’t know about the other > one. > > Confronting that fear with the intellect of an adult allowed all the > defenses they’d built up to be stripped away. They were as > defenseless, trusting and happy as a newborn babe. But regardless the > heavenly Eden-like aspect of it, it was not the best condition to > allow that person to function in the real world. > > The world requires a certain amount of defensiveness and aggression in > order to function within the societies we have created. Perhaps in > some far distant future when humankind has evolved sufficiently we can > have a society where no defenses or aggression is needed. But that’s > not today. > > So the begging question is how do we confront a level of fear that > allows us to get past it and function more fully without stripping > away that portion which keeps us from being vanquished by the world? > > For those who deny fear, please go stand in the corner. I don’t care > if your nose is growing. Keep your face pointed up or down. And run > your mental anti-virus. > > \et
