On Fear

Some time ago I embarrassed myself by posting the bogus Stella Awards list that claimed to honor the nation’s most outrageous lawsuits. Unfortunately, the stories were made up. However, it turned out to be beneficial mistake. It made me much more cautious about what I link to or post and it led me to the True Stella Awards.

If you go to their site you can sign up for periodic e-mails that discuss real lawsuits. Today I received one that contained a story, which made me realize that when the people who rule over us use fear to advance the agenda of a more powerful state they are using a tactic that individuals can employ too. In a series of articles by Denver Post staff writer Electa Draper ( here, here, here, here, here, here, ) we see someone trying to employ the idea that fear justifies behavior that would otherwise be unacceptable.

The pieces tell the tale of two teenage girls who wanted to brighten their neighbor’s days by anonymously leaving cookies on their porches. At one woman’s house they knocked on the door left the cookies and went on their way. This woman then proceeded to sue the teens for scaring her so much that she needed hospital care, even though she got an apology and an offer to pay her medical bills. She went to court because she also wanted a motion sensor for her porch, lost wages, and punitive damages. She won her suit but only got medical expenses.

Personally, I do not think she should have gotten a penny, however, the story does have a somewhat happy ending. First off, people donated so much money to the teens that it more than covered the court award. Secondly, the woman who sued has received quite an enormous amount of scorn and abuse from the general public. Now, I do not approve of the persons threatening her or using profanities, that is excessive and not necessary. Simply telling someone they are a jerk after hundreds of others have said the same thing to them is sufficient. However, after saying that I sincerely hope that no one really harms them, I must admit that such an intense and widespread reaction to the woman’s cynical attempt to exploit the current climate of fear that has permeated our culture, pleases me.

The story pleases me because it gives me hope. If people can see through her use of fear for personal gain, so readily, then, maybe just maybe, one day they will be able to see through the state’s use of fear to gain what it wants, ever more power. Hopefully, someday we the people will understand that just as the woman generated her fear for her own purposes, the government generates much of our fear for its own reasons. And, if and when we do realize how fear of terror and fear of drugs are being exaggerated and exploited in order to enslave us, then perhaps there will be enough anger to do something about it.