Politicians

Prefering the use of nuance, I have delayed discussing how politicians use fear as a means to their ends until such time that it wasn't so G-damn obvious. But alas, Scaramouche, someone has loosed the monkeys and we will not soon be rid of their menace. So here goes. 

Let us begin with the understanding that happy people, content and comfortable with their station, are very hard to lead. Their indifference to your pleas are only exceeded by the ease with which their attention is stolen by that piece of spinach clinging to your teeth. So the first rule of leadership is to remove their comfort. This is why coaches tell their teams they are underdogs, and anything said to senior citizens must somehow imply that their social security benefits are at risk. From there a person is typically cast into one of two visceral emotions; fear or anger. It is important that people be moved into an emotional state, as opposed to heightened intellectual engagement, because nothing sniffs out bullshit quicker than rational thought and you might need your charge to jump some logical chasm. 

Though anger works well, it tends to have a short life. The gravity of comfort is too great for most folks to break loose for more than two or three furious orbits. This is why anger must be used sparingly, and only in the final moments before the call to action. But fear is cumulative, and Politicians know that regular installments of it will guide your voting choices in the direction of their choosing. Incumbants will pick apart the platforms of their rivals, casting doubt and uncertainty like chicken feed in a barn yard. Challengers will, in every single case, insist that you are unhappy with the status quo, providing miriad reasons, both real and imagined, why this is the case. Both are using various paths to fear and discomfort. Then, in the final weeks before voting, they will push the anger button and hope for the best. 

I have this theory that people tend to repeat actions that work for them. Like a rat that gets a treat every time it pushes a lever, we come back again and again. Politicians use fear and anger because it works. It's just that simple. And the closer the race, the more they will lean on those emotions. This is why so little time is spent actually talking about what they will do, how their vision of a wonderful tomorrow can be brought to life, and what is already good about the place we find ourselves in. 

But the Sardine Safety nation rejects fear, and is inherently suspicious of those who use it. Ours is an intelligent school, which is why we cannot be driven to the surface and ravaged by predators.  We thrive and grow stronger by summoning our collective intellect to cut through the bullshit. We know that the only way to improve society is to elect sound, thoughtful, genuine public servants, and those of us who allow themselves to be pulled into battles of negativity are incapable of doing so. How many people can claim pride in putting an American on the moon because they didn't vote for Nixon in 1960? When the nation saw those first steps on the moon, was anybody thinking about all the reasons they were fearful of Nixon's proposals? No. And the same can be said of every other great moment in our history. No amount of disbelief in one choice equals believing in the other. They are separate processes. As such, the Sardine Safety Nation only gives energy to that they can believe in. They vest in it, talk about it, and invite others to join them. 

Now go forth, my little fishys, be fearless, thoughtful and believing.  Be generous with that energy, and swim swim swim.