Keith's NO EMPIRE Blog

A radical dissident perspective on various topics. Comments welcome at saskckforseattle@msn.com

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

FEAR-BASED IDEOLOGY

I think that to a certain degree it is fairly obvious that this whole anti-Islam, clash of civilizations campaign is fundamentally propaganda designed to manufacture consent for an endless “war on terror.” Yet, this crass propaganda seems to work. In fact, it almost always seems to work. Herman Goering in an interview before he hanged himself said that it was easy to manipulate the population by appealing to their fears. The question is, why do people allow themselves to be manipulated, and what, if anything, can be done to counter the hysteria manufactured by the elites?

A critical feature of a fear-based ideology is that at the core it is a power-seeking ideology. The ideology provides a rationale for acts/activities which, in and of themselves, are not legitimate. Nazism provided a rationale (the Jews are out to destroy Germany) for naked aggression and internal oppression/genocide. Anti-communism provided a rationale (world communism is out to destroy us) for US imperialism and a purge of the left. Zionism provides a rationale (the Goyim, particularly the Muslim Arabs, are out to annihilate us) for ethnic cleansing, regional hegemony, and internal solidarity. In the case of US Zionism, it also provides a rationale (prevent pogroms and a second Holocaust) for Jewish power-seeking and anti-Gentile chauvinism. What must be kept in mind is that for the power-seeking elites, fraud and deception are critical components of power accumulation. What also must be kept in mind is that the average person seems psychologically incapable of opposing elite rule or rationally evaluating elite actions.

As for why people go along, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that most people wish to be members in a powerful organization/group/society as a form of protection and security. There is a certain defensive logic to this. Most groups are hierarchical in nature with a few leaders and a lot of followers. Most choose to become faithful followers of group ideology. The ideology isn’t rationally evaluated, rather, it is accepted as a condition of belonging. In fact, rational arguments are frequently ineffective when put up against group ideology, particularly when the ideology successfully exploit’s the group’s fears.

As for what can be done about all of this, I don’t think that there is an easy answer. Recently, this fear mongering was countered by progressive organizations with contacts within the community. The presence of organized resistance is critical because they represent a form of power. People respond to power. Without organizations, the power of the media to influence the unorganized multitude is enormous. Since media is expensive, the message reflects elite money power, and is taken as a cue as to elite expectations. Alas, social organization in the US is low, and money power is highly concentrated. To return to my original point, unless and until the majority of people shed the ingrained logic of tribalism and begin to view the world rationally, hope seems dim.