They want you afraid

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They want you afraid. They want you feeling hopeless. They want you to turn to them for help.

Who are “they”?

Well, who scares you? Government bosses? Drug commercials? Political commercials? Some sales guy who says his product will solve your fear?

Could be it’s all of the above. It’s a common tactic, and it’s a common tactic because it works.

The whole idea is to alarm you and get you to search for a safe solution, which they just happen to have here for you — just $19.99 plus shipping — just tax the rich and you can have it for free —oh, and we’ll need to trim just this tiny bit of your freedom to go about your business and make your own decisions.

Sometimes you just have to acknowledge that you’re scared and plow ahead anyway. Everything carries a risk. When you leave the house, you might get hit by a falling meteor or held up at gunpoint. When you drive your car, some idiot might T-bone you at an intersection. When you apply for a job, you might not get it, or when you quit your job to pursue what you really want to do, you may not succeed right away. When you question government rules, regulations, guidelines or other edicts, or heaven forbid you decide not to follow them, something might happen.

With every step you take in life, you risk something going wrong.

The only safe place is in a cage. Nobody can hurt you if you’re behind four sturdy walls. Ask a prison inmate alone in his cell — it’s very safe in there.

They want you afraid: It makes it easier to back you into your cell. They promise this will make you safer. They never promise this will make you freer.

“Freedom is slavery anyway,” they scoff. “Don’t question why; ignorance is strength.” And then they send us off to war in the name of peace.

Published by WarrenBluhm

Wordsmith and podcaster, Warren is a reporter, editor and storyteller who lives near the shores of Green Bay with his wife, two golden retrievers, Dejah and Summer, and Blackberry, an insistent cat. Author of It's Going to Be All Right, Echoes of Freedom Past, Full, Refuse to be Afraid, Gladness is Infectious, 24 flashes, How to Play a Blue Guitar, Myke Phoenix: The Complete Novelettes, A Bridge at Crossroads, The Imaginary Bomb, A Scream of Consciousness, and The Imaginary Revolution.

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