Cultivating Fear

Fear is a powerful emotion, a necessary emotion. It tells us when we shouldn’t do something. It saves us from making some of the gravest mistakes in our lives. In fact, without fear humanity wouldn’t exist today. In some ways, fear necessarily guides every action we take. It undoubtedly saved our ancestors from going into that dark cave inhabited by a saber-toothed tiger eons ago.

While that primal instinct was undoubtedly important, fear has morphed itself in today’s society. In some cases for the better, but in many cases for the worse. Fear prays on society today in so many ways. That original emotion directly correlated to our physical wellbeing, but it’s now attached to so much more – image, health, stability – sometimes for good, but often for the worse.

Fear is more pervasive, I think, more subtle, than anyone realizes. Talk to any liberal  (about fear) in the US and they’ll undoubtedly mention Fox News and the culture of fear it propagates throughout the conservative base. And they would, of course, be correct – just listen to one of Glen Becks rants and raves. But I think the culture of fear is far more ingrained, far more subversive than most people realize.

Could you quite your job if you hated it? Move to a new country on a whim? Ask that cute girl or boy you’ve been crushing on for the past six months out? Some people undoubtedly do, any and all of those things; good for them. Most people, however, can’t or won’t. Fear prevents them from doing it. It isn’t active, visceral fear; it’s latent inert intangible fear. It’s something most people don’t even realize exists.

I’m making these grand, sweeping generalizations because of my growing awareness of them. Perhaps it’s a result of living in Singapore – the government actively instills fear in the population. Or maybe I’ve just become more attune to it – living so closely with people who have chosen to resist it (well maybe, but something convinced us all to up and move out).

I’m coming to realize that popular culture – pervasive culture – utilizes fear on a subconscious level. You see it in the advertisements, the political slogans, and what have you more than anything else, but it pervades society on a much more individual level. Ask someone for advice and they will probably counsel you towards the least radical course, the safest action. And hell, most of the time, they’re right. But hearing that over and over again – it wears a groove in our subconscious selves away from the radical course – towards safety and stagnation.

It takes courage to confront that latent insipid fear and rebel against it. It takes awareness. What is the true motivation behind your course of action? Personally, I’m examining mine a little more closely – the origin and the source – to see the root emotion. I am finding the results startling. More though, I see it in other people – a stagnation stemming from fear coated in supercilious logic. Take a second look. You might be surprised.