Would there be any advantages to a government engineering a 'climate of fear' over its citizens?

Question

Just wondering. I'm no expert on this matters.

Firewomen: yes.

Adam, I have my own opinions. I just wanted to hear some more. Calm down son.

The question was wordered deliberately to be non specific.

ID cards won't make us safer. You really think criminals will carry valid ID cards??

The media is a TOOL of the government. You are wrong to think otherwise.

Answer 1

Look no farthur than the present Republican administration.
By instilling great fear of others, most of the USA populace is not looking at Fraud, Graft, Sex Crimes within Gov, the real "War on Drugs", certain segments of the economy, manipulation in Iraq, and how these actions are destroying our credibility in the World.
I, a Moderate Republican, with a long history of service, could orate for hours on just this subject.
And, I question why USA citizens hide behind Sports, Entertainment, and Computers.
Remember Kruschev, said "We Will Bury You".
And he probably meant on doing this by the diversions mentioned above.

Answer 2

The question is very non specific ie which Government?, which country?, what time time in history? So the answer has to be yes, especially in dictatorships for example. The reasons are so obviouse they are not worth listing.

But if we are talking this country, this government etc then the answer is NO. If we are all feeling scared then we feel that the government are not doing their job very well and so get voted out next time round.

All those with the Big Brother conspiracy theory thing going on should ask thenselves that if the British and the American governments are so sinister in their motivation's why didn't they just plant WMD's in Iraq once they had invaded. 'look World, we told you so, they had them all along' "Hey Bob get that Fex Ex sicker off that Nueclear bomb before they start taking pcitures. And somebody scribble out 'Property of CIA'."

On the one hand people call the government incompitent and on the other credit them with sinister plots.

As for the previouse comment about ID cards...if you drive a car in the UK it is the Law that you MUST be in possession of a valid drivers licence at the time ie in the car with you. You can be arrested for this offence yet how many people are? virtualy none, instead you are given a ticket to produce your licence at a police station within 7 days. With ID cards there would be a lot of leaniency too. The quection is how 'free do you want to be?' if you want to be free to do what you want to do everyone else will also have that right. Not everyone would exercise that 'freedom' responsilby. And pretty soon one person's freedoms start to encroach on another persons freedoms. So we decide to give up some freedoms and decide to have rules to stop others encroaching on our freedoms too much. The benifs of ID cards far outweigh the disadvantages. I am quite happy to have just one more piece of plastic in my wallet if it makes me and society as a whole a little safer. Why safer? because it gives the Police another tool to protect us from criminals.

Slight off topic sorry. Back to topic. Never before has a government or individual politican been under such constant scrutiny in the age of the internet and 24hr News. Never before has the individual citizen had so much knowledge and information at their finger tips and thus power. The real engineers are of a 'climate of fear' is the media, good news does not sell! All that you know or think you know comes from the media who decide what information they tell you and what they don't, what you see and what you don't see and all without the same level of scrutiny a government is subjected to. I am not suggestion a conspiracy, they are just doing what they are meant to do as a buissnes which is to put the interests of the shareholders first and make money, it is to the shareholders that they are accountable to not the people, unlike a government who are.

Answer 3

this is the oldest ploy in the book and examples can be found in all recorded history ... the advantages are to the government not the people and that is the very definition of a dictatorship. You create an enemy either real or imagined and then you protect your people from that enemy and demonize the hell out of the enemy to rally the people ... all you have to do then is burn a building down or kill a few citizens and throw them in the street ...then you can get your populace to go to war against this horrendous enemy ...(but really you just wanted the gold in the neibouring nation) ... sound familiar? 911 ring any bells? people think its so incredible and just an unbelievable conspiracy theory when it is one of the most common tricks in history... 911 was just on a large scale with alot of "wow" factor.

Answer 4

Evidently there is, as the bush administration got voted in on that very platform. Also, that very same government used people's fear of terroism to undermine the constitution - for your own good now do ya hear! Worse, they do it in such a way, that to protest is "unpatriotic" even though what they are doing would make the founding fathers turn in their graves. On the plus side, it's allowed the admin to focus on their goals such as oil expansion and massive weapons spending, areas where Bush and Chenney have alot of financial investments. So the advantages are there for a select few.

Answer 5

shoppers would decide on themselves no be counted if it exchange into worth it to purchase such an costly element that broken our surroundings lots, while we are form of on the hours of darkness on the 2d. And if for an person-friendly occasion, something is on the industry in a ton of packaging, if that's taxed i'm specific that's going to be some nanosecond earlier companies arise with a lots extra helpful way of doing it so their product is extra fee-aggressive. Or if a undeniable form of nutrition expenses a fortune because of the fact the toxins in contact in transporting it so a ways is taxed then we are going to all consume something else! it somewhat is inevitable that the abuse of our ecosystems by utilising capitalists to make money for their own wallet collectively as every person bears the environmental effects of their strikes will become unlawful - why won't be in a position to we do it now collectively as we nonetheless have somewhat time?utilising alongside M4 from city to the western suburbs, ninety 5% of automobiles that slowly strikes with the bypass of the site visitors are drivers purely. If community (the bigger area of it or community community) encourages motor vehicle-pulling, we would all be shocked to discover that there are extra beneficial than 3 people in the comparable location that easily head in direction of one direction. this additionally will motivate community mateship and perchance make our section a lots safer place to stay in. enable's hit 2 birds with one stone!

Answer 6

Make the people afraid.

1) Communists everywhere -- Black lists, Domino theory = war and scret bombins of countries by the reappearing Kissinger.
2) Evil Empire
3) Axis of Evil
War, Deficits, Misrepresentation
Next thing you know you are being told you don't need your rights. As a matter of fact individual rights get in the way. The government needs to secretly be able to do whatever it desires or we all go to hell. If you won't cooperate you border on treason.

Answer 7

the people who benefit from fear, are lawyers, health and safety, insurance companies, social workers of different kinds,quangos
and anybody El's who make money out of fear.consider this if you say to somebody here is 40 thousand a year i want you to abolish benefits fraud. but you have to justified your job or lose it, in the same breath they are pretending to mean what they say and not mean what they say at the same time, because who ever takes on the job is going to make sure he fails so he can keep the forty thousand a year, they need street crime and all the criminal activity they can get in order to feed the social workers, they are inter fearing with everything we do and destroying liberty and freedom, if they can createe jobs that get on peoples nerves why cant they creat jobs that dont get on people
nerves. When we do need to be afraid, like serious enemies who want to destroy us they play everything down. if one says anything about the enemy in civic street they are accused of being racist which causes fear because one feels one will be persecuted for defending himself.

Answer 8

Are you refering to the "climate of fear" Bush is trying to keep the American citizens in? If the government can keep it's people in fear, it then can operate with no oversite, no questions, feel free not to give any real answers, free to take away any rights of it's citizens, feel free not to obey the laws, feel free to do a signing statment, every time a law is passed, saying he doesn't have to obey it. Is this the "climate of fear" you were refering to?

Answer 9

Yep, it's the basis of Machiavellian politics...create the fear and then take the role of 'protector'
It's happened many times already - Macarthyism was possibly the best example, but 'the war on terror' is the current example.
And, let's be honest, it's how the Catholic church works...hell and damnation and all that crock of $hit

Answer 10

Er ... that's the usual tactic of Labour ... if they aren't scapegoating then they're scaremongering to disguise their general incompetence and to let them introduce things that infringe our liberty. For example detention without charge for 30 days (suspending the rule of law) and ID cards not to mention terror laws that allow the extradition of bankers (Natwest Three) without any EVIDENCE. They can't even get reciprocal priviledges from the US!