Published By: Sougata Dutta

Culture of fear

Manipulation of political view and implementation of ultimate Chaos

A culture of fear is a notion, which encourages fear in the general part of the society, to control political scenarios and resources by using the emotional prejudice of general people. Frank Furedi elaborated the basic structure of the concept, later familiarized by the American sociologist Barry Glassner.

Political employ

German Nazi leader Hermann Göring mentioned that citizens can become dreadful and support a war with which they would disagree if they are not filled with fear.

"The people don't want war but they can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounced the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country".

Maria Helena Moreira Alves, in her book, said "State opposition in military Brazil" that 'A culture of fear' was enforced in political suppression from 1964.

There was a system in the Brazilian military called 'Cassation', a punishing ritual for the military members. The government legally declared them dead and endorsed the fear among the rest. The feeling of fear amplifies the perspective of political advantage and control.

In Workplace

Some ruinous sides of leadership which are referred to as 'petty tyrants', which means a toxic leader, who abuses his power to create a fearful environment.

Ashforth discussed this autocratic style of administration in workplaces which can lead to a non-stop buildup of negative impact. Dictatorship is a messy and monocratic way of handling any kind of contradiction and variance.

Utility in Media

Usage of mass media has increased over time. It has deeply affected and implemented terrorism propaganda, especially in the United States, despite the fact, this kind of incident is very infrequent. In the early 1960s, George Gardner and his co-workers found a busy ratio of the propinquity between the increasing usage of media and fear of crime. Gardner discussed yellow journalism referred to as 'recurrent media messages', which means revealing the half-truth on tv, radio and other media platforms.

Constant usage of social media, smartphones and television caused a huge negative impact. News related to violence and terror has affected the lives of the general public and successfully manifests a panicking environment. The media provokes the audience by manipulating truth, to create a chaotic situation by mentioning uncertainty and threats to national security. It has a very negative impact on a large scale of the population, which leads to depression, anxiety and insomnia.