FEAR IS THE KEY OF CONTROL

While reading both novels,  V for Vendetta and nineteen eighty four I found a common pattern used by governments; The use of fear to control people. And thinking critically, if going back in time it makes much sense taking into consideration the Nazi movement in Europe, facism in Europe, the aparthaid in Africa and even closer the militar uprising that took place during the 70’s in our country.

Fear is an innate quality in all oridnary human beings, and they function and respond based on fear. For instance people vote for a candidate or support an idea controlled by the fear of something happening or not happening. There are certain kind of people who are capable or less succeptible to be taken over by fear but sadly they are often very few.

Goverments, politicians and movements have had awareness of this fact since always and they have made use of fear as a primary tool whenever they need to achieve their goals. More especifically techniques such as marcial code, discrimination against homesexuality, mass media control can often be found.

More worrying, it is believed by some that some of the biggest and most powerful nations have intencionally provoked some attacks to evoke fear in people. Such is the case of the 9/11 or the Ebola epidemy more recently; for both there are several who believe in conspirations that propose that governments are responsible for millions of dead people and the panic caused, all this persuing power and domination.

“Fear, like every other “productive” resource, is subject to the laws of production. Thus, it cannot escape the law of diminishing marginal productivity: as successive doses of fear-mongering are added to the government’s “production” process, the incremental public clamor for governmental protection declines. The first time the government cries wolf, the public is frightened; the second time, less so; the third time, still less so. If the government plays the fear card too much, it overloads the public’s sensibilities, and eventually people discount almost entirely the government’s attempts to frighten them further”.

More concretely, and seeing it from a more pedagogycal perspective, there has always been teachers who based their teaching methods in fear; they believed that students will learn better or faster if bein afraid. As  Machiavelli (The Prince) stated, it is easier and safer to be feared than be loved.

References

Fear vs. Power; Published on March 11, 2013 by Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. in The Main Ingredient

Fear: The Foundation of Every Government’s Power; Robert Higgs ; 2005