Protective powers actively maintain their subjects’ vulnerability, not merely respond to it.

Evidence

People generally choose safety. This is not a trait unique to members of any race or religion. People want safety and security for themselves, but also for their families. And giving people what they want is certainly a route to power. Nations like to have leaders who are strong protectors. And for all of recorded history, opportunists like Trump have understood that they can rise on promises to protect their people from imagined threats just as much as from real ones. — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 329 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The protective state’s hidden principle is obedience owed even when protection fails; Politicians gain power by promising protection against imagined threats — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 329; Trust cannot be demanded but only offered through vulnerability

Related

• Politicians gain power by promising protection against imagined threats (similarity 0.92)
• The protective state’s hidden principle is obedience owed even when protection fails (similarity 0.79)
• States manufacture paranoia so the public welcomes the very power that created the anxiety (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Trust cannot be demanded but only offered through vulnerability #complicates (0.75)
• Politicians gain power by promising protection against imagined threats #expands (0.65) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 329