The Price of Fear, the Wages of Ambition

The Price of Fear, the Wages of Ambition

Fear

“Superpredators” was a a ‘90s catchword for the politically ambitious. Stoking fear translated into votes because you could show the world that you weren’t a soft-hearted liberal. You were TOUGH ON CRIME.

That strategy led to thousands of people imprisoned at the cost of billions of dollars.

Referring to Goebbels’ Principle of Propaganda #16, “propaganda to the home front must create an optimum anxiety level,” so you can see fear has been used to create political power for a long time. We can see old Goebbels’ ideas right now, as the U.S. holds its breath and marches through another shit pit of an election. Creating or accelerating fear is a useful tool for the ambitious. Sadly, it often comes with side-effects.