December 9, 2015
At this excellent self-defense video, the top-rated comment is: "Fear mongering."
And somebody else says: "The fear and thought of something bad happening is just as traumatic as if it really happened. Fear mongering is used in the media to keep the masses divided and afraid to talk to one another, it's a form of passive violence. It justifies the authorities taking away your rights 'for your own protection.'"
There are those who think we've got nothing to fear but fear itself. I know. Absurd. That's such an extreme statement. Let me paraphrase: Fear cripples us now and continually, and what we fear is only a possibility in the future, so reject fear and take the risk of getting hit by what you fear.
But that too is absurd. You don't have a fear switch that you can turn off at will. Numbing yourself or blinding yourself is a possible strategy, but it might not work very well and, like fear, it's a low quality state of mind, not worth cultivating. Another strategy for dealing with fear is to channel it into useful perception and action — which is what is shown in the video — and that should lessen the actual risk.
By the way, FDR said: "[T]he only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."
That second clause matters, and the caution wasn't against "fear itself" but fear that paralyzes. He certainly wasn't saying you should paralyze your fear sensors because fear itself hurts.
ADDED: Speaking of fear that paralyzes, Trump's new book is "Crippled America."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
75 comments:
Childhood is forever. The little girl's voice crafted into a pretend reality was really an excuse for a $10,000,000.00 budget line in the Film Propaganda Office.
what we fear most has already happened
The fear we, as a nation, face is not nameless. It is Islamic terrorism with which we have been at war since 1983.
Fear is a useless emotion, unless you can engender it in your enemy. Trump is doing just that and finds the effort to be exciting.
Under Trump "RAID's here" is going to become the panic cry from ISIL monsters and friends instead of Christians.
You have to weigh the likelihood of something happening, the cost if it does happen, and the cost of trying to prevent it from happening, and determine what action(s) you should take.
Exaggerating the first two would be fear mongering. That has NOT been happening recently.
Heck fire even Jesse Jackson admitted that he feared young black men walking on the street at night. Fear is a rational response to perceived danger. Bravery consists of overcoming fear and protecting yourself.
Not a thing wrong with that video. In fact, I'm going to send it to my daughter who just started driving. I also plan on giving her a copy of 'The Gift of Fear' by Gavin de Becker.
AA reminds us: By the way, FDR said: "[T]he only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."
Great historical quote, but it proves the point that the context is everything.
I mistakenly thought FDR, when he uttered these words, was talking about WWII - i.e., the need to put aside our fears and gear up to fight the Nazis.
But he's not - its 1933, and FDR is talking about the Depresssion. He's asking the people to put aside their fear, and acquiesce into a massive restructuring of the Government, which, historically, now seems to have prolonged the Depression, rather than end it.
In today's context, we don't fear Nazis or Communists. But there is a group of people - Radical Islam - represented by Al Queda, ISIS, Hezbollah, Hamas - who are bent on causing terror to innocent people. We should fear them a bit. But, more importantly, we should fight them. The Democrat leaders, Obama, Hillary, AG Loretta Lynch won't fight them. They "talk" around the problem. They advise us that the threat is "evolving." They are much more concerned with political calculations , than with fully confronting these Arab terrorists.
Fear is the mind killer ...
"Fear is a useless emotion, unless you can engender it in your enemy."
Well, that's certainly not true, unless you're constraining the meaning of the word to something like "nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes."
Yeah, it's fear mongering because that stuff just never happens....
The video didn't say mace anyone that approaches you. It didn't say call 911 every time you walk alone and see someone stare at you.
It did say be aware.
So that is controversial now?
"You have to weigh the likelihood of something happening, the cost if it does happen, and the cost of trying to prevent it from happening, and determine what action(s) you should take.
Exaggerating the first two would be fear mongering. That has NOT been happening recently."
To correct my earlier post, Pres. Obama et al HAVE been fear mongering, by exaggerating the steps that they claim conservatives want to take.
The guy has a smoking body.
Sometimes when I am at, say, Starbucks and I am undressing a woman in yoga pants with my Eyes she will notice and look somewhat fearful.
In my mind I let her put her panties back on.
Fear keeps them out of the back of the Van.
I am Laslo.
Frank Herbert was right again.
"I will not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
I can't view the video--is it an "anti-mugger" video? Because I can tell you it's well worth the trouble to have an anti-mugger plan.
For those of us who live in cities that decided that the civil liberties of the law-abiding citizens matter not at all compared to the civil liberties of the criminal class, it's important to know what you legally can carry to protect yourself, and to have an escape plan ready. It would be nice if muggers were given a nice case of "air conditioning" but short of that, a face full of mace should be an occupational hazard that might drive them towards staying home and cashing in their welfare checks.
"The fear and thought of something bad happening is just as traumatic as if it really happened."
Total bullshit. Think about it. That person is saying that because of the quoted statement, fear-mongering can be used to control you. But the premise is utter and total shit from the ass of a bull.
Good video, thanks. As you and other commenters say in other terms, fear is a good servant but a bad master. Reasonable fear produces situational awareness, prudent planning, the chance to move out of trouble or (last resort) strike preemptively. Unreasonable fear is just a mire of panic and paralysis.
You can tell a lot about somebody who wants to get your vote or your money by the way they address the problem of fear. Because it's always there.
That "fear mongering", "dividing us" blah blah blah boilerplate is regurgitated all over the 'net, all day every day, by witless muh-feels types projecting their own hysteria onto the prudent.
Hunger is the most useful emotion.
Absolutely incredible. Based upon what's happening now on campuses, I have to believe the fear mongering type comments are from young people. How did we become a nation of sheep?
Paralyzing fear is useless. Fear is meant to alert to danger so you can do something, so paralyzing fear defeats the purpose.
Ignoring fear altogether is a good way to die. You never, ever want people like that in positions of authority. Sometimes it feels like our current leadership is insufficiently fearful of certain issues.
Maybe those who dismiss fear are scared of seeming afraid, or maybe they have an interest in lowering our guard.
One has to marvel at an ideology so committed to denying reality that it instinctively reacts against good faith efforts at educating vulnerable people about real risks. I remember seeing political correctness explained as "the art of not noticing" and I suppose in some ways this is a logical extension of that mindset. I note that this attitude is a strong marker of privilege, since it can only thrive where people are extremely safe (protected, no doubt, by "rough men ready to do violence on their behalf").
Titus said...
The guy has a smoking body.
Heh. I was thinking there's not a small number of women who would appreciate being taken by Rob Gronkowski.
Fear of freezing to death sure does motivate Tom Vincent to build a fire.
"[T]he only thing we have to fear is fear itself." FDR was one manipulative bastard. But when it counted he was our SOB. By the way, after listening to NPR this morning, with Prog "journalist" trying to get Cruz to admit that he was eager to kill Muslim women and children: GOPers should just say that they'll be a lot nicer to Muslims in ISIS areas than FDR was to Germans in Dresden.
Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.
- Maj. Gen. James Mattis
Marine ‘Emotionally Exhausted’ By Having To Plan To Kill Everyone He Meets
QUANTICO, Va. — Lance Cpl. Matt Bennet was admitted to Naval Medical Clinic Quantico with “emotional exhaustion” today after breaking down from the strain of “having a plan to kill everyone he meets,” according to sources in Bennet’s platoon. “Like all real Marines, Bennet reveres Gen. [James] Mattis,” according to Bennet’s company commander, Capt. J.D. Maurer. “He takes the general’s orders, instructions and advice extremely seriously.”
“As do we all,” he added. “For instance, if I need to kill Bennet, I’m going to send him on a night march, and get him with a Claymore as he clears the tree line.” According to fellow Marines, Bennet began the planning last summer at a Denny’s in Stafford, Va.
“My platoon sergeant gave me 60 seconds to explain my plan to kill the waitress, the bus boy, and the short order cook,” Bennet said. “And it was easy.” “Break my plate on the bus boy’s head,” he recounted. “Those Denny’s plates weigh like 10 pounds, so he’s incapacitated at least. Grab the waitress, drag her into the kitchen, and stab her in the carotid with her pen. Then shove the cook’s head into the fryolator until he stops thrashing. Probably takes 90 seconds, unless I have to circle back around to finish off the unconscious bus boy.”
After that, Bennet says, the plans got more challenging.
http://www.duffelblog.com/2015/07/marine-plan-to-kill-everyone-he-meets/#ixzz3tq5VmaXA
@Crimso -
"The fear and thought of something bad happening is just as traumatic as if it really happened."
Total bullshit.
Yep, and the basis for all of the bullshit happening on college campuses recently.
"Fear mongering is used in the media to do things I'm trying to make you really, really afraid of."
"The fear and thought of something bad happening is just as traumatic as if it really happened," said a person to whom nothing really bad has ever happened.
I'm so bored with people claiming efforts to exercise prudent judgement are "fear".
The advice about staring at strangers may not work so well, unless you are armed. A lot of Dindos regard looking at them as an intolerable offense. "Whachoo lookin' at!?".
A female coworker once asked me what I thought she should do if someone approached her in the enclosed and rather isolated area where we parked our bicycles. What would be the best way to avoid getting hurt.
I told her that there is a concept in chess, of "mate in x moves", meaning that there are no options left which will prevent checkmate if your opponent does not make a mistake. Being alone and unarmed with a larger, stronger person is mate in one, unless maybe you are faster. My point was that staying out of trouble is possible, getting out of trouble is problematic. But as I recall, she was rather offended. She wanted reassurance, not advice.
The fear and thought of something bad happening is just as traumatic as if it really happened.
The lack of empathy revealed by that statement makes me suspect that the person uttering it is a sociopath.
Or they have been brainwashed so as to acquiesce to their own enslavement.
holdfast said...
Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.
- Maj. Gen. James Mattis
Marine ‘Emotionally Exhausted’ By Having To Plan To Kill Everyone He Meets
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Duffel Blog is a HOOT.
I don't know how they do it but they produce the funniest stuff on the Web.
You might have to be or have been a member of the military to get so YMMV>
Arming people to handle dangerous situations [with information or actual techniques/weapons] is like a booster shot against paralyzing fear.
Rick said...
I'm so bored with people claiming efforts to exercise prudent judgement are "fear".
Word.
The left likes to do that. They use words like 'fear' and 'hate'. It's how they try and gain control of the narrative. "Oh. You're just afraid of gays." No. I'm bored with gays. They are no longer fabulous. Aaaaand. I'm finding Titus' sexual revelations a bit tedious. Titus. Study Lazlo.
"you hate muslims." No. Not all of em. Just the dangerous ones. I'm allowed to do that. Not really hate though. More like concern.
Well, the media - with its TV ads for security systems and videos like this - have surely made me afraid of violent, criminal WHITE people.
Engendering fear in your enemy is a weapon that engages his flight response rather than his fight response. Muslims brag that since they love death and cannot lose to Christians who love life. Until they meet Presbyterians like Trump who do not hesitate to use firepower and intelligence rather than sweet words. Hesitation is not a Trump's reaction at all.
To Engendering worry in your enemy is not the same thing. That gives him time to plan.
That's a great video. My parents taught me these things, and they've served me well.
"Fear mongering is used in the media to keep the masses divided and afraid to talk to one another"
Its not the media generating an unwillingness to talk, or "fear".
I think its the public's own unwillingness to talk that is at the core of intractable disagreement.
And in my long though of course limited experience, in many venues, it is the left-intelligentsia that is unwilling to engage, to the point of what seems to be reflexive revulsion upon meeting even mild disagreement. There are fairly rare individual exceptions.
The right (or conservative individuals) seem much, much more willing to discuss anything, tolerating dissent in its own venues or attempting to reason with the residents in a liberal lions den.
In other words, the media, defined as you like, is just an echo of the intellectual fashions among the class of people that generate most of its content.
It's always fun to pass the time while at the store to figure out what objects nearby could be useful weapons or whether or elbow strike or a tackle might be a more effective move against the guy with the kufi and caftan approaching you in the soup aisle
Some children are born with an inability to feel pain. It is a terrible condition for the child and the parents. The children hurt themselves and do not realize the injury.
That is what the anti-fear people are advocating for our society. Just replace pain with reasonable apprehension (or fear) and the results are clear.
Is "traditionalguy" paid by the word, or the post?
Every bit as tedious as "TheCrackEmcee" or "AReasonableMan" and indefatigable in his obnoxiousness.
“Break my plate on the bus boy’s head,” he recounted. “Those Denny’s plates weigh like 10 pounds, so he’s incapacitated at least. Grab the waitress, drag her into the kitchen, and stab her in the carotid with her pen. Then shove the cook’s head into the fryolator until he stops thrashing. Probably takes 90 seconds, unless I have to circle back around to finish off the unconscious bus boy.”
Was that a scene from Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday? I'm pretty sure the cook got it in the fryer.
Since when is telling people to be prepared fear mongering? I imagine that the same people with a problem with this would have a problem with the boy scouts.
In Baltimore I had to threaten a street person with a dousing from a gasoline nozzle to prevent him coming closer and closer to me, after I told him to stay back, while I filled my gas tank, with my toddler in the car locked in a car seat (which made retreat impossible for me).
The video tells the truth, and should be considered a useful piece of information.
It also helps to pull your Glock 26 from your purse as you leave the store. Keep it in plain sight in your dominant hand until you are safely in your car. If you see someone giving you the evil eye tilt the gun in such a way as to reflect sunlight. Or scratch your nose with your dominant Glock-holding hand.
This will get you arrested in Progressive states but in the good part of America it will work perfectly. Do not be afraid of not having a carry permit because the cost of the fine will be next to nothing.
Fear is a potent self preservation emotion, it would be ridiculous to dismiss it. However fearing unrealistic threats is unhealthy. I suppose it hinges on how realistically one is able to see one's surroundings and the world we live in.
You don't have to be fearful to exercise caution. The video is common sense.
Also I'm tired of politicians telling us how afraid we are.
If you are fearful, fear for others. The chance that another terrorist attack will come in our country is 100%. The chance that it will fall on any one of us is extremely low,
The guy has a smoking body.
Titus... Putting the lead in "lead balloon" since '06.
Don't tell ME to build a fire Meade, tell the cold to stop freezing me to death!
(To Build a Fire was my dad's favorite story.)
I think these people would agree that wearing a seatbelt is a sensible precaution, but anything that requires them to face and defeat risk like a grown up is instead belittled. The nursery is safer.
I try to console myself with two thoughts. One is that we have produced a society so safe and wealthy that people like this can evolve in it. Most times and places on this planet they would either harden or die. The second is that with so many soft targets out there, my children (who are being prepared for reality) are less likely to be targeted.
Laslo said....
Fear keeps them out of the back of the Van.
This is a very important point.
Anne Freedman said...
"Fear is the mind killer ..."
One of the thing that I was thinking.
You don't have much of a chance if someone with guns like Texans' defensive end J.J. Watt gets his arms around you.
For all I know, the attacker might have been played by J.J. Watt himself.
Monkeyboy said...
The second is that with so many soft targets out there, my children (who are being prepared for reality) are less likely to be targeted.
Sounds like your children will grow up to be productive adults. Might as well paint a big bulls-eye on their backs, they will be targeted by the government.
Sometimes fear drives preparation.
I read an article with an interview with a woman who was born without fear - really, like AA not having a sense of smell - and as I remember it, she said it was a great nuisance because she had to consider everything and tell herself whether it was dangerous or not, and she very much wished she was born with instinctive fear reflexes like everybody else.
Let me translate.
When walking, profile people around you.
(Unless you're a cop, then pay attention only to the white guys.)
FDR was a hack. Exhibit A:
"The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world."
This is the basic gun control argument, that gun proliferation causes gun violence. It's the same logic behind the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928. The invasion of Poland 16 months prior to the speech should have discredited this approach.
Any speech about basic freedoms should say something about property rights (FDR's third freedom doesn't quite get there) and due process, at the very least.
StephenFearby said...
"You don't have much of a chance if someone with guns like Texans' defensive end J.J. Watt gets his arms around you.
For all I know, the attacker might have been played by J.J. Watt himself."
That's why you should always travel with the Packers linebacker Clay Matthews.
Gosh! There are so many intelligent comments on this post, as well as a few really stupid ones, I'm left with nothing to say except "WATCH OUT!"
Reverse head butt if someone grabs you from behind
The video covers a number of useful points:
(1) What is it with young women and texting? In cars they run over pedestrians or fail to perceive that traffic in front of them is stopped and plow into a line of cars hard enough to wreck not just the car they hit, but a couple more besides. On foot they walk in front of moving cars in supermarket parking lots or -- in the case of the video -- ignore obviously dangerous situations.
(2) The girl totally loses her head. She doesn't search for the trunk release that by law is supposed to be there. She doesn't try to find something she can use as a weapon. All she can think to do is scream for help that isn't going to come, right until the guy finds an out-of-the-way place where he can pull over, rape her, kill her, and dump her body where no one will find it. If she had a concealed carry permit the guy might get a surprise when he opened the trunk. If she had the wit to hang onto her phone she could call 9-1-1 and listen for clues that could help the cops find the car. If she took martial arts she might have broken the guy's hold and run back to the store entrance. Now her raped corpse will just be food for crows, small mammals, and various insect larvae.
(3). She's not alone. Does everyone here maintain awareness of what's going on around them? Did you notice the three young men who were looking at you? Now they've split up and one is moving behind you and another is moving to intercept you from the front and the third is parallel to your path. Now what? I'll bet most of you won't notice them until the knife is at you throat.
Big Mike said...
"Does everyone here maintain awareness of what's going on around them?"
I always try to. I don't walk around constantly fearful, but I do keep my eyeballs peeled and my ears pricked up. It's mostly to keep from getting hit by a car in a crosswalk, or hitting a pedestrian with my car, things like that, but I'm also on the lookout for bad actors, just in case.
Fear of freezing to death sure does motivate Tom Vincent to build a fire.
Then again, it turned out to be useless.
If she had the wit to hang onto her phone she could call 9-1-1 and listen for clues that could help the cops find the car.
She doesn't need to do that. When you call 911 the phone will turn on its GPS, so the cops already know exactly where you are.
traditionalguy said...
Engendering fear in your enemy is a weapon that engages his flight response rather than his fight response. Muslims brag that since they love death and cannot lose to Christians who love life.
Where do you get this shit? That must be why, when captured alive by the Kurds, ISIS 'warriors' cry like little girls. I can gaurantee you what will instill fear in ISIS warriors. You introduce a batallion of us marines into the mix. The United States Marines are good at instilling fear. It's kinds what they do.
At night especially, approach your car from a point that you can see whether an assailant is lying under your car by the driver's side door.
Rusty...I agree with you. Muslims are not strong when they face a firefight. The Loving Death brag was Osama Bin Laden's boast to recruit kamikaze Muslims. But the principle concerning the emotion of fear is the same
1. Never have your head up your ass. Never. Be armed and skilled.
2. When seconds count, the police are just minutes away. Be armed and skilled.
3. Size and strength matters. So be armed and skilled!
4. If you are armed and skilled your whole demeanor will signal any aggressor you will be difficult to deal with.
5. In short, be armed, be skilled, and keep your head out of your ass.
I have three fire extinguishers in my home. My family has discussed several scenarios in which a fire might threaten our safety. We know how to get out of the house from our bedrooms at night, we know where to meet afterwards.
We don't live in a culture of fear regarding fire.
We should be able to prepare for violence with the same rational sobriety that we do for fire, without being considered "paranoid" or "extreme".
Blogger Eric said...
If she had the wit to hang onto her phone she could call 9-1-1 and listen for clues that could help the cops find the car.
She doesn't need to do that. When you call 911 the phone will turn on its GPS, so the cops already know exactly where you are.
Correction. Where your body is.
It can't be repeated enough. Ladies. Buy a gun and learn how to use it. If you don't like the idea of a gun get a knife preferably a switchblade, but one you can open with just one hand. learn how to use it. You weren't born to be a victim.
Laslo, I thought the point of yoga pants was that the onlooker didn't have to make that mental effort.
Post a Comment