Fear

[vox_populi]

I'm going to write an essay about how the U.S has used fear in their propaganda. First it was the Native Americans, Then the black slaves, Then the Japanese, Then the Communists and now it's the arabs (i'm not sure about the chronology, but what the hell). I'm going to concentrate on the cold war.

I don't know if you understand what I mean...but if you do, I would really appreciate suggestions on some books, movies, documentaries and homepages and so on...

Peace Out

[drain.you]

I know what you mean but not sure how much I can help you.

I've noticed it myself that the US always seems to have an enemy and it must serve some function but not sure what, guess its just rallying around the flag.

You could say that Europe was the US's first or second enemy. They wanting to escape europe and its ways of life and how they shaped their country was from liberating themselves, fearing europe and its ideals and wanting a better life.

dont forget the nazis in ww2 aswell.
definately the communists, the red scares in us worth reading up on.

would say "terrorists" more than arabs but they are linked together in many US citizen's eyes.

cant really point you in direction of any source, i would just google lots if i were you. wikipedia may be useful too.

[Amusing Scrotum]

I don't really know of any sources, but I do know of subjects that you'd probably need to read about in order to write a thorough essay.

Firstly, with regards the Native Americans, you'd probably find a few useful examples if you looked at some of the most infamous mass murders of Native Americans and the reasons used for them.

And additionally, things like the Indian Removal Act (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Removal_Act). From that wikipedia page, two State of the Union addresses are linked (1829 and 1830)....and after quickly browsing through them, it appears that the American Indians were being removed because they were "savages" who were not "civilised Christians".

Therefore, if you read those pieces in full, I'm sure you could find a useful quote for your essay....for instance, you could say something like: in order to win popular support for the removal of American Indians, the political establishment of which Andrew Jackson was President, resorted to stirring up public fear by calling them "savages" etc. etc.

Secondly, with regards the slaves, I really don't know of anything specific here....though if you dig around on the internet, I'm sure you could find a quote from a famous American politician along the lines of "black people are dangerous barbarians and therefore need to be kept in chains".

Other than that, try the History of slavery in the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery_in_the_United_States) wikipedia page, and the links at the bottom....there might be something there for you.

Additionally, I'm sure some of the Christian sects claimed slavery was "God's will"....a thread in the Religion sub-forum may do you some good.

After that, you have segregation. On this issue, you may want to PM the Admin Hampton, I'm pretty sure he'll know of a few examples of scare mongering being used to justify segregation....if I'm not mistaken, a common story in the 1930's that was used to justify segregation was that "black men raped white women".

I suppose that would be the kind of example your after?

Thirdly, with regards the Japanese, I'm unaware of there being a major fear campaign here....though you could probably find an example of some Congressman saying "they [the Japanese] ate babies" or something like that.

If you want to find a quote though, the best place to look is likely around the period of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I had a debate with someone in the Opposing Ideologies forum a while back on the question of whether these bombings could be consider a policy of genocide or not, and I used some famous quotes to back up my case.

The first source I used for quotes appears in this post....

http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php...st&p=1291985630 (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=43132&view=findpost&p=1291985630)

Fourthly, on the issue of communists, your best bet would be to read some stuff on the McCarthy era....there's sure to be some stuff with regards the "threat of communist invasion/infiltration" being used to justify shit during that period of American history.

I mean, you could probably Google "McCarthy quotes" for a whole bunch of stuff....certainly you'd have a few quotes which you could use in your essay.

Additionally, you could talk about Nicaragua and some of the other South American countries blighted by American Imperialism....there's a quote from Kissinger I think, which goes along the lines of "we're not just going to allow Guatemala (?) to go Communist".

So there, you could say how the manufactured fear of a "Communist threat" was used to win public support for various military operations....like in Vietnam.

Fifthly and finally, on the issue of the present day Middle East conflicts....you'd probably be best served to discuss how false links were presented between Saddam Hussein and Al Queda in order to provoke public fear and help rationalise the Iraq invasion.

Any half decent book on the Iraq War would contain some information on this....I'd also recommend a book by Loretta Napoleoni called Insurgent Iraq: al Zarqawi and the New Generation. That really outlines how the myth of the "great terrorist leader" al Zarqawi has been perpetuated by the American political establishment.

On top of all this, there's a little book/pamphlet I have by Noam Chomsky called Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda which, if I remember correctly, gives a pretty decent account of how Governments manipulate the news for their own agenda....you likely find quite a few good examples there.

Additionally, there's a documentary called The Power of Nightmares (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_of_nightmares) which deals with this subject....if you can't find the documentary anywhere, the wikipedia page I linked may have some useful stuff that deals with both the Cold War politics of fear and the Islamic terrorism politics of fear.

Hope this helps. :)

[vox_populi]

Thanks! It helped alot...at least to get started :D

[emma_goldman]

I'd go into fear as a motivator for wars. Fear of the enemy. The color coded terrorist system. Fear of the unknown (what racism, homophobia, sexism, et al essentially is). Zenophobia. Redbaiting. Look into paranoia, like fear of Arabs after 9/11. I remember a teacher of mine saying when we heard a plane go by "SShhh...This could be another terrorist bombing." I thought it was the stupidest thing.

Maybe look at what's called "the culture of fear":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_fear

Great idea and good luck! Post it when you're finished. :D

[pyro1313]

In regards to Japanese fear, you could look up something on the Nesei (sp?) camps during wwII..... When the U.S. gov't put Japanese immigrants (including 2nd generation) in concentration camps

[elmo sez]

of dont forget the war on drugs , which they used for a while when there was no enemies around