The Culture of Fear and Its Effects on Society free essay sample

The Culture of Fear and its Effects on Society Min Kim Fear and the marketing of paranoia and uncertainty have become daily staples in today’s culture. Every day there arise new threats to national security manufactured by politicians and fuelled by the public’s demand to be protected from these imaginary bogeymen. With the vast increases in technology our society has experienced in the past forty years the news media have become an especially effective orator of impending doom, the daily exposes about the â€Å"silent killer† that lurks in your kitchen cabinet; bombard our society daily with dozens of urgent reminders of the real and imagined dangers that lurk in and outside our homes. The consumption of fear has become a diet our society will soon choke on if something isn’t done to introduce common sense back into our collective psyches. History has shown that living in a culture dominated by fear and ignorance can have catastrophic consequences if it is leveraged by the right people, the Holocaust and World War II was only allowed to occur due to Hitler exploiting the fears of everyday Germans that their country was slowly being dismantled from within by the Jews and without by the international community. We will write a custom essay sample on The Culture of Fear and Its Effects on Society or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Paul McCarthy and his manufactured Red Scare would never have gained enough traction to destroy the lives and reputations of countless people without a society frightened enough to allow him free reign in the name of national security, the passing of the Patriot Act, Gun Control Act of 1968 and even Executive Order 9066 which paved the way for Japanese American internment during World War II were all the products of media hysteria and public ignorance and each one subsequently led to further legislation being enacted that somehow reigned in the rights of the people. Little by little the society we live in has gone from one that lived in relative ignorant bliss to a â€Å"risk society†, which is described by Ericsson and Haggerty as â€Å"A society organized around communication oriented to policing, control and prevention of risks. † (Policing the Risk Society, 1997). An increase in the public’s perception of danger invariably increases the power governing bodies have in further regulating and controlling a population. In conjunction with the media, fear mongering is quickly warping our society into one that only harbors fear and paranoia towards each other (Perceptions of crime and anti-social behaviour: Findings from the 2008/09 British Crime Survey). As instances of violent crime decline the media has ramped up reporting instances of violent or disturbing crimes, according to a recent Gallup poll they approximated that about half of Americans are now more concerned about crime since 2004 (Perceptions of Crime Problem Remain Curiously Negative, 2007) even though crime has been shown to be in decline since 1993(Reflections on the Crime Decline? Lessons for the Future? , 2002) during this time media reporting on crime nearly quadrupled (Do You Believe What Newspeople Tell you? Arlington, VA: Newseum and The Roper Group 1997). The hysteria in the aftermath of the Columbine shootings and Michael Moore’s exploitative documentary there was an uproar across the entire nation about the prevalence of easily accessible firearms, the effects of violent entertainment on youth and security in schools. The response to these fear fuelled flames was to enact draconian zero tolerance policies in public schools across the country that have forced teachers and administrators to suspend or even expel students outright when before they were allowed greater discretion instead of indiscriminately punishing students for seemingly minor infractions (American Psychologist, 2008), the transformation of schools to institutions that are run more like prisons than places of learning and has sparked renewed movements by lobbyists to further restrict the purchase of firearms and violent video games. Time and time again history has shown that culturally and possibly on an even deeper level Americans are prone to knee jerk reactions to fear that are seldom rational or effective. This media saturation of violent crime stories and their strict adherence the age old adage of â€Å"If it bleeds, it leads† has led to greater social paranoia of the people around us in our communities and neighborhoods and has weakened the cohesion many societies had as a result of being able to openly and comfortably communicate with one another.