Phobia

Why is it that we fear? After the 9/11 attacks the world has became so paranoid that the U.S. and the U.K. attacked Iraq to rid the world of terrorism, sort of like a global "cleansing" of the so called bad guys. When people pack their briefcases for a vacation, they have to put their liquids in a zip lock bag because of the fear that terrorists are going to one day blow up the planes with liquidized bombs. If that is not paranoia, I don't know what is? Now four years into the war in Iraq, terrorism is stronger than ever before because of the spread of Anti-Americanism. Countries cannot go into war with another on false accusations, especially a country that is in an area of an already strong resentment towards America. Fear makes people and even the most powerful countries in the world do stupid and unthinkable things.

Why is it that people like getting scared watching horror movies and reading horror books like "The Shining" and "The Stand" by Stephen King? The answer to this is really simple. People really enjoy being scared out of their wits. Now why is it that the U.S. has to show its fear in a way that means bullying everyone else. Fear is something that made the world go into war against an enormous enemy, terrorists, who will not be defeated until its purpose is done. The U.S. tries to cover up its phobia by making bigger cars, guns, military and showing supremacy toward other countries but what it's really doing is advertising its fear of the world around us.

The presentation was interesting with the lecturer talking about fear in the perspective of different authors who all had the same opinion on fear and its role in today's governments. The people of this country should not be afraid of its government but government should be afraid of its people, like in France for example. The American government on the other hand, uses its power to instill not hope, but fear into the people it governs.