Thirteen years ago, after tracking what I saw as an emerging trend in American culture, I wrote in these pages, “Do you sense the schism occurring in the United States? Not just the red and blue of politics, although that comes into it. Something deeper, a shift that is producing two very different reactions. Can you feel the ground moving? The zeitgeist of one population is grounded in fear, resentment, anger and a sense of loss. It is theologically conservative, politically rigid, and exclusionist. The other population holds a sober realization that great change is coming, but also the sense that it offers at least the putative opportunity to create a more stable life-affirming culture. It is theologically and politically accommodating, and inclusionist.
“We all have a vested interest in this schism and the struggle it has produced, not only because through our choices we are its source, but because we will live with the consequences of the decisions made over the next few years. What is particularly concerning is the obsession amongst the population driven by fear with […]
We have had a bipartisan effort over the past 20+ years to sow increased fear in the population. Although this was first manifest in the Red scares of the 1950’s we falsely thought we rid ourselves of it when McCarthy was de-legitimized. We further thought we made progress when the Vietnam war ended as that was driven and justified by the fear of Communism. This progress was wiped out with the so called “War on Terror”, and the Government’s whipping up fear of the Islamic terrorist. Should we be surprised that this fear has metastasized into the society as a whole? This was something easily expected, and now the fear has gone beyond what the propagandists can control. Who knows what the results will be beyond the misery and woe in the population at large
The fear eats us from within.