Fear

 Fear.
 People around the world are being led by fear. This is especially true in America.
 It is a conditioned response being used by politicians and the media. Why? Because it works.   
 Have you ever studied Maslow's Hierarchy of Need? It clearly explains the fear response. The reality of something to fear does not matter, only your belief that there is a threat. Here are some examples. If I simply type some words, pay attention to your emotional response to JUST the words themselves-
 Russia Trump Hillary Bernie DNC GOP Iran Syria ISIS North Korea China
 No matter what the response is, I guarantee each and every one of those words elicited an emotional response from you. For the majority, the response is automatic fear, anger, paranoia, anxiety. As Jimmy Dore likes to say, you are thinking with your “lizard brain”. A completely prehistoric, animalistic, reactionary response. Fight or flight.   
 A college professor gave an example that if he dropped a live tiger in the middle of the class, any thoughts of lunch, job, family, the economy or anything else would cease to matter. This is what our politicians and the media are doing. They are dropping a live tiger in your living room over and over, day in and day out. They are keeping you on edge non-stop.
 Here is the problem with that. Most of those tigers are holograms. There is no threat. The others have you not thinking about who is controlling the tigers, who is placing them in the room.
 The other problem lies in what psychologists call optimal level theory. It means that once you get accustomed to a certain level of stimulation, you NEED that stimulation. I have written before that fear/anger/hate are addictions. If the focus of your negative emotions were suddenly removed, you would not relax. You would be seeking other targets to focus the same negative emotions toward. New things to fear/hate/be angry at.   
 Am I guilty of the same thing? To a point, yes. But my focus IS the ongoing process which I see happening in our society and the effects it is having.   
 We have people right now calling for censorship of all voices which oppose the official narrative. Know what you call that? State sponsored censorship. The major hallmark of fascism.   
 We have people calling for the overthrow of a democratically elected president by any means including a military coup. They fail to look beyond what would happen after that overthrow. Who would assume control? What rules and laws would they put in place to retain that control?
 We have people basically screaming in favor of war with a nuclear power which is no existential threat to us.   
 The same people are often armed to the teeth, placing their rights to assault weapons over the rights of their own children. At the slightest provocation they are ready to start shooting at their own neighbors out of their own terror.   
 What do we do about this situation before it gets completely out of hand?   
 The first step is realizing if we, ourselves have a problem. That this IS our response.   
 Read back over the list above. If your response to any of the above is anything but a call for rational discussion and diplomacy, you DO have a problem. Once we realize that we have a problem, then it is time to start discussing this problem on a wider scale. The media is not going to do it. The politicians are not going to do it. We have to do it ourselves.   
 Share these ideas. Share this article. Talk about it.   
 By all means, take a deep breath when you feel the emotions take over. Become desensitized to the things that cause this.   
 None of this means we should not have an emotional response. It means we need to control that response rather than allowing that response to control us. It means looking beyond the immediate emotional need and considering the consequences of our actions and behaviors.   
 If you have ever tried to break a habit or addiction, you know what to expect from yourself. Tobacco, alcohol, a bad relationship, candy, etc. You know you will try to rationalize it. You will think “this one time won't hurt” and then you are deep into it again. You will try and hide it, even from yourself. You will blame others for the behavior.   
 None of that will work. If we, as a nation, do not break this addiction, we are headed down a very dark path. And the rest of the world may have to be our intervention.   
 Let's not let it reach that point.