Society of Fear

By

       Zeno Potas

       We are becoming a “society of fear”. Individual citizens live under the constant threat of government surveillance. It is an society where individuals reasonably believe their actions are being tracked, recorded and monitored by government agents at all times. They fear having their computers hacked by government bureaucrats. Privacy International spokesman Mike Rispoli said: What is frightening about the NSA's capabilities are that they collect massive amounts of information on everyone, including your political beliefs, contacts, relationships, and internet histories.
 

      We are becoming a “society of fear.” Individual citizens live under the constant threat of social scrutiny. American Patriots are becoming afraid to speak, act and think freely. George Orwell’s 1984 is a classic book depicting a populace ruled by a political regime that persecutes individualism and independent critical thinking as “thoughtcrimes” that must be enforced by the “thought police.” This party seeks power above all, and, through the propagandist Ministry of Truth, presents the people with their version of truth. Sound familiar?

      In 1949, when he wrote “1984,” Orwell predicted all this, including the secret torture, the perpetual warfare, the continuous spying and the fear of the government. His predictions were right on the mark -- he was only mistaken by 30 years.

      Today, it is still held that Communist Socialism and Fascism are considered opposite extremes of the political spectrum. This has not been true for almost 100 years. The Left/Right convention used to describe the two is an archaic and meaningless originally referenced to French parliamentary practice. It has zero application in American politics, where extreme far-right views would be Anarcho-Capitalist or Libertarian, and extreme far Left views would be both Communist Socialism AND Fascism.

      A truly free society exists only when citizens have a reasonable expectation they are free to live their lives without the fear of unwarranted interference from the authorities. Unfortunately, in today’s society, there is a growing expectation that is quite the opposite -- that we are, or soon will be, the victims of government targeting, for either personal or political motives.

Author Richard Dolan puts it quite well:

      "If you are concerned about Fascism coming to America, don’t look for a single fist pounding demagogue. Look instead at a government that can read every email you have ever written, GPS you at any time, know your internet habits better than you do, surveil you literally wherever you go in any major city, and use your information against you if they decide, however loosely, that you are an enemy of the state. That is Fascism, and the U.S. has been living that bipartisan nightmare for years."