[Peace-discuss] [Peace] fearful fumors, I mean rumors (fwd)

[C. G. Estabrook]

[I'm re-posting Susan's important note to the peace-discuss list.  We need
to recognize how successful the government's campaign of fear has been.
Her note shows an all-too-common example of its effects.  It's not new --
after World War II, when the Truman administration wanted to initiate a
policy of military and political intervention (specifically in Greece and
Turkey) and knew the US populace would be reluctant, Senator Arthur
Vandenberg advised Truman to "scare hell out of the American people."
That's been the tactic since, usually in regard to communists.  Now
terrorists are the new communists, and both terms are remarkably elastic.
Terrorists can be Afghanistan and Iraq, now Iran and N. Korea.  Look for
the administration to "scare hell out of the American people" in regard to
the latter two between now and the 2004 election.]


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 09:18:02 -0500 (CDT)
From: parenti susan rose <sparenti at ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
To: peace at lists.groogroo.com, sdas at ojctech.com
Subject: [Peace] fearful fumors, I mean rumors

Yesterday, shopping at Meijers, I met a man who I've known from Carle
Medical Supply, a man in his early 30's who is a self-proclaimed
Christian, and a musician when he's off work.

He took me aside, away from his wife and baby, and told me that he's heard
from his Christian journal, and Christian radio station, that there are
100,000 Chinese soldiers lined up across the border in Mexico, ready to
invade the United states.

He was terrified. I've known him for years, as he delivered medical
supplies to my house, and he's not a nut. A believer, yes, but mentally
unstable, no.

When I told him that the situation is reversed---that it's the US that has
soldiers ready to invade all the other countries--he readily agreed, and
said that the Christian newspapers say that we will have World War III any
day now, that Bush is a Mason, and that the Mason's are getting ready for
the apocalypse.

So even the realization that the US is a(the)belligerent force, feeds into
the general terror. Perhaps, like certain microphones which can't tell the
direction of the sound but only that it occurs, fear doesn't recognize
from where it comes, only that it's there.(On an individual level, the
occurrence of panic attacks attests to this).

Our neighbors haven't been politicized, they've been terrified. Susan

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