Rulers should maintain citizens between fear and hope, not permanent extremes

Evidence

In coping with terrorism, societies are faced with a dual task. The first is how to reduce the number of terrorist acts. The second is how to combat the fear of terrorism. The likelihood of becoming a victim of a terrorist attack is infinitesimal, but fearfulness is high. Events that are relatively unlikely but that have grave consequences heighten the perception of personal vulnerability and fear. A number of factors can amplify fear arousal. As we noted earlier, people have a low sense of efficacy that they can personally reduce their risk. News broadcasts repeatedly portray the carnage of terrorist strikes worldwide. Debates about national security underscore the vulnerability of the nation’s infrastructure and vital utilities, and a lack of faith in the government’s ability to protect its citizens against terrorist attacks. The Department of Homeland Security’s frequent color-coded alerts of imminent terrorist threats added salience to the threats. Frightened, angry citizens can be easily talked into supporting extreme and misdirected countermeasures, because they do not spend much time agonizing over the morality of lethal modes of self-defense. Later, we will see how politicians have manipulated Americans’ fear to gain support for the war on terrorism. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2115 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Fear can drive frightened citizens to endorse extreme countermeasures without moral deliberation — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2115; Manufactured terrorist threats serve governance by keeping citizens fearful and quiescent

Broader Connections

• Manufactured terrorist threats serve governance by keeping citizens fearful and quiescent #complicates (0.80)
• Fear can drive frightened citizens to endorse extreme countermeasures without moral deliberation #complicates (0.75) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2115