Barons
Enemy Within
by
Randy Schaefer
We need a new enemy of the people to come along and
shake everything
up. The terrorists are doing their part to keep the great hate and war
machine greased and oiled, but they aren't as scary as they were a few years
ago. The thought of Iran and North Korea firing nuclear missiles is damn
frightening but unoriginal. That menecing scenereo was done to death during
the cold war, when the Soviet Union aimed 7,000 nuclear warheads at western
Europe and the continental United States. "Duck and cover, kids, there goes
the flash."
Of course, the iron curtain came tumbling down in 1989 as
thermo-nuclear war was avoided. We had a damn good scare, lasted some 40
years. The kids lived in fear and the grownups were paranoid and
mistrusting. The Russians went broke building bombs and the United States
created a nuclear arsenal capable of blowing up the world a thousand times.
Those were the days when the enemy was clearly defined, such as North Korea
and North Viet Nam. Both of those wars were waged to stop communist
expansion in Asia. Otherwise, we were warned, the communists would soon be
fighting on American soil. This kind of fear mongering, whether based in
reality or not, worked to rally the nation toward war. It worked then and it
works now.
We are told that we need to stop the terrorists over there so
we don't
have to fight them here. Children listen to horrible sound bites on
television about boogey men called radicals and extremists bent on killing
them and their parents. They overhear grownups talking about the "axis of
evil." They don't know what it means, but it is clear in their little minds
that there are enemies everywhere and no one can be trusted.
In the days following the September 11 attacks, the blind
patriotism in
the United States was enough to frighten a witness of Hitler-era Germany.
The hate and war machine fired on all cylanders and plowed into the Middle
East with one eye open. Donald Rumsfeld, former secretary of defense, said,
"Criticizing any aspect of the war in Iraq encourages the terrorists." Now
the little minds were told to distrust anyone who disagreed with their
government's decision to go to war. Television evangelist Pat Robertson said
the threat to the United States from activist judges was "probably more
serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings." He recently
said that about a million Americans will perish in a terrorist attack by the
end of 2007.
Here is an updated fear list: Osama Bin Laden, Kim Jung Il,
al Qaeda,
liberal judges, the visions of Pat Robinson, your parents and peace-loving
people anywhere.
"We're still not completely safe," said President George W.
Bush.
"People want to harm us for what we believe in...Islamic fascists will use
any means to destroy those of us who love freedom." If that is the case, Mr.
President, can we expect terror attacks in Canada or the Scandivavian
countries any time soon? Perhaps it is botched American foreign policy and
not our love of freedom that puts us in harm's way.
Missed is the color-coded fear meter that popped up on our
television
screens from time to time. How afraid should we be without first checking
the fear meter? Here's a start: Fear luggage, shoes and carry-on items like
eye drops, shampoo and baby formula. Fear your neighbor and fear your
employer.
Terror is the black widow in the web of evil. Terror is our
boogey man,
our very own bump in the night. Living in fear of a terrorist attack is
reminiscent of living under several thousand Soviet nuclear warheads; an
acute feeling of fear is omnipresent in both cases. Whether the fear is
exaggerated, non-existent or completely justified is irrelevant. What
matters is that fear will take a toe-hold in the masses, then it will spread
like an infectious virus. Soon the people are so beaten down by fear that
they do not realise they are living in fear. And the crap gets piled so high
that I can't believe it.
Fear job security, social security, national security and
drinking
water purity. Fear dirty bombs, suicide bombs, car bombs and the ghost of
Sadam. Fear the tax man, political man, policeman, son of sam, spam and
"Silence of the Lambs." Fear the influence of the spooky religious right and
fear godless sodomites. Live in fear of poverty and fear longevity. Fear
loss of love and fear there is no help from above.
Fear for your child's safety and hope for enough money for
food at the
end of the month. Hope for affordable health care and fear unforeseeable
illness in your family. Fear unscrupulous politicians selling out your
future for the fast buck instead of looking after what is in the best
interest for the public at large.
Stick a fork in my ass and turn me over,I'm done