Industrial Fear Machine
I’m sure someone has used this as the title of an article, podcast or as the introduction into a lengthy magazine article on the role fear plays in the lives of people the world over. It could also be the first song released off the 92nd SoundCloud album of an alt-rock (wtf is alt-rock anyways?) band none of us has ever (thankfully) heard of. Needless to say, fear on the whole is very popular and more importantly, incredibly lucrative. I’d like to talk about why we need to engage with fear in general in order to stop this obnoxious trend that fuels the internet and by extension, the world.
What is fear? This is the definition I found on VeryWellMind.com:
What is fear?
Yes, I know that is a gigantic screenshot of the definition of the word fear but I did that on purpose (or I don’t know how to re-size an image inside the web editor I’m using; it’s a mystery that may never be solved, but I digress). I’d like you to pay close attention to the last sentence in that definition: fear is composed of two primary reactions to some type of perceived threat: biochemical and emotional. Why do I believe that is important you may ask? I think it’s important because we rarely discuss the role that our own body chemistry plays in our response to fear. In this post, I’m not talking about fight-or-flight, immediate fear response. I’m talking about the slow, deliberate and confusing fear that is pumped into our lives on a minute-by-minute basis through our phones, televisions, radios, newspapers, magazines, etc. Fear elicits a very strong response because many times the information we’re being fed is DESIGNED to make us fear. In a moment I’ll dive into the brain-side of fear but I’d be remiss not to mention how much information our phones are giving companies that pump the fear. There’s an old saying in the app-world that if the app is free, then you’re the product. Think Facebook (errrrrr, cough, choke, gurgle “META” puke, choke, cough), Twitter, et al and then go watch The Social Dilemma if you haven’t already so you get a feel for just how robust this data-human-manipulation machine is. We give these companies literally a shit-ton of personal information FOR FREE (because who’d really pay for Facebook?) so that they can then personalize fear to be delivered in the most strategic, direct and efficient manner. Each of us is engaged in a David vs Goliath fight on a daily basis for control of our own brains and I’d venture to say most of us don’t even know it. As parents, this battle is even more important because our kids don’t stand a chance of understanding the forces working against them.
So what does fear look like from a brain-chemical standpoint? This is information I gleaned from Northwestern Medicine and it helps us understand why fear plays the role it does in our life.
Fear is Physical
Fear is physical
What I find very intriguing in this description of fear is how fear is displayed on the outside of each of us. Think of how you regularly see fear displayed by people. Think about political rallies, social media, etc. People yelling, screaming at a perceived threat that can’t be seen. Think of how we’ve been divided along political lines and now public health decisions. Society is pushing towards a “gated-community” mentality where we’ve begun to think of the world as only the place we actually inhabit and that the problems of the rest of the world are of no concern so long as they don’t affect the gated community a person has created for themselves. I believe this can be directly attributed to the Industrial Fear Machine that has profited greatly from this mentality. Last time I checked, large corporations like Meta, Twitter, NY Times, Google, Fox News, CNN, etc aren’t laying off workers because they’ve been forced to account for their negative impact on society by those that interact with their products. Check out this thread on Twitter on Gated-Community thinking.
We’re seeing this play out real time in the community I live in. I’ve seen families torn apart over politics, vaccines, economy, etc. I’ve also seen families pack up their shit and run to another part of the country because they’re so scared of some invisible boogeyman that’s been cooked up by charlatans looking for clicks and political donations. Never forget that enragement equals engagement and engagement is the cocaine social media snorts every second of every day. Here’s a perfect example: I’m a gun owner and I firmly believe in the Right to Bear Arms (responsibly-it should be at least as hard to purchase and own a gun as get a drivers license IMO, if not harder). I own many guns, including guns that we hear a lot about in the news, and one thing that I’ve seen pumped into the gun ethos is that the government is coming for my guns. I’d say that the majority of my adult life I’ve been told by the fear-mongers (and grifters, liars and thieves) at the NRA that my guns are for sure going away because of the heavy-hand of the US Government. Why would they constantly instill this fear in me? Because it pays very, very well. Who has benefitted the most (besides Wayne LaPierre)? Most every corporation involved in the manufacture and distribution of weaponry and ammunition. Remember, I’m a big fan of guns and believe in citizens owning them but I refuse to be a pawn for their gain. How stupid do they think we are? Unfortunately for all of us, the answer is VERY. It’s our job to remind them that we won’t stand for them sucking every last cent out of us.
More Fear
Aspects of fear
As you can see in the above image, fear can be both delicate and brute in nature. It can save us and sink us and cause pleasure and pain, sometimes simultaneously. That’s important to remember when we think about how people react to each other when we disagree. We can’t ever be afraid of opposing viewpoints. It’s good to have disagreement because why would we want to live in some homogenized world where everyone thinks the same way? This is what I think about when I hear about someone moving to a more politically-aligned state or nation. Letting the fear of an opposing viewpoint cause you to spend untold amounts of money, to leave family and friends all because of something you may not even be sure you’re fearful of is downright obnoxious in my opinion. I want to try and save these folks from themselves but unfortunately a side effect of fear in 2022 is the inability to actually listen and think critically about an idea that doesn’t walk in lock-step with what you’re being fed inside your self-imposed social media echo chamber. Check out what this neuroscientist says about how politicians and the media neuroscientist explains how politicians and the media use fear to make us hate without thinking. This is what scares the shit out of me. Watching friends and family fall prey to this evil is heartbreaking.
Conclusion
I know I’m getting a little long-winded so I want to finish with this. I once had a friend ask me why my political (and life beliefs) have changed so dramatically over the past several years. I think it really boils down to two ideas
People have lost the ability to think critically for themselves and instead have become so lazy that they’ll believe anything presented to them by an “authority” talking to them on a screen. If anyone asks me to believe anything without, asking questions, and the. actually attempts to dissuade the consumer, me, from asking questions, then I believe I must be very wary of their message. No entity or person is above reproach, if you’re not questioning the ideas you agree with then how on earth can you engage in meaningful discussion in good faith? I don’t believe you can. The more someone or something demands my allegiance and decries accountability of those demands, the more likely I am to be suspect of their motives.
I look different than every single person on this earth. Yes, you also look different than every other human and save me the identical twin blah blah, you get my point. As I’ve begun to try and understand who I am, I’ve had to confront the reality that people have, and will, treat me differently because of my hand. I’ve spent far to many years giving any and every one a pass for the bullshit I’ve dealt with. That’s been very freeing for me because I now understand I don’t have to put up with the BS just because someone else might get uncomfortable when I ask them not to call me a mutant or treat me like a zoo animal. When I see a tweet advocating for the elimination of handicapped people, you know because we’re a waste of a human, that usually strikes a nerve as well. What I see occurring in our great nation is something that has occurred for a very long time but it has come to a boiling point-if you look different than those you’re surrounded by, then you very well may be treated drastically different. Whether it’s racism, sexism or whatever -ism you’d like to slap on it, I believe fear is the underlying cause of most of this.
It’s our job to make sure we are in control of our emotions and not let them run roughshod over our ability to think-especially critically. It’s also our job to educate ourselves and at least accept that just because someone looks different, or thinks different, that they are not inherently bad. I saw someone today say that if someone is a democrat that they’re automatically wrong. Like wut? That’s exactly what I’m talking about. We all have the power to make the world just a little better but it means we’re going to have to be comfortable being uncomfortable at times and that it can be a good thing and actually make us a better person. This battle against the Industrial Fear Machine will not end soon so we’re going to have to gear the fuck up and go to battle against it. The IFM wish us to live unfulfilled and unhappy lives all so they can profit off the intellectual and emotional degradation of society simply by making us scared. Don’t fall for it-we’ll all be better off if we work together to show the IFM that we won’t fall for their cheap parlor tricks, even if it means we work with the opposing political party.
In the end, I write this stuff to make you think. I don’t want you to agree with me just to agree with me. I hope everyone that reads this thinks about how fear is impacting their life and if they’re happier being angry at everything they disagree with. I’d posit the answer is no. I’d like to ask you a favor: if you valued this piece, please share it and consider checking out our content at ManVsMood and subscribing, rating and reviewing our podcast. I’ve got more pieces planned so you’re not getting rid of me anytime soon. I appreciate all of you (even my haters stalking me across all of my social media platforms) and truly hope your day is great.
I.Am.Will