Avoiding Fear Mongering

I am presently reading "Donkey Dreaming" by Eliza Allen. A mum, takes her 10 year old daughter, a horse & 2 small donkeys on the 5 500km Bicentennial Nationally Trail.  They hike the spine of the Great Dividing Range,  carrying their own equipment,  food & water,  mostly independently.  As they progress they become,  trail hardened,  wiser,  more experienced & confident.  While hiking into Queensland the season is heating up & placing a great strain on the animals,  Eliza hatches a plan to continue by tandem bicycle. It is at the time,  taking on a new mode of travel, that she noted the tendency of people they met to freely offer dire predictions of their demise.  Fear mongering. 

I have learned from all other world bicycle tourers, that it is common to realise that despite common belief at home,  people in certain foreign nations are non- threatening,  lovely,  generous & fun. It few me to do a little research into the purpose of fear in our culture.  Why are we conditioned to fear people who are different from ourselves? 

Apparently, fear exists in the mind rather than in reality & has conditioned people for many a year.   Stoic philosopher Seneca pointed out: “There are more things…likely to frighten us than there are to crush us; we suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”

I learned; though fear may be of one’s own making, many fears are the "consequence of narratives created by those in positions of power. Individuals looking to take advantage of, and manipulate others, have long realized the power of fear."

But why? "A fearful population is easier to control than a fearless one. When one is gripped by fear of a threat, real or imagined, rational and higher cognitive capacities are reduced.

Clearly, the aim of government is to paralyze entire populations with a fear psychosis. .

What can we do? Research encourages us to take responsibility for your own actions and the beliefs that motivate such actions, may be the most important thing you can do."

Ride,  hike,  sail,  do any action to keep you away from the masses & mass media.