The Politics of Fear, Hate and Elites Led to Charlottesville Riots and Conflict With North Korea

Since evil is cruelty, always inspired by fear and reinforced by elites, it’s not so easy to blame Unite the Right and AntiFa for the violent protests that erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia. Neither is it fair to call President Donald Trump a racist leader, or accuse him of not doing enough in stemming racial hatred. And as for whether a former president did enough to stop North Korea from pursuing its nuclear capabilities, or claiming that if the United States is ever attacked then “any means necessary” must be used to completely eliminate the evil perpetrators, fear seldom restores us to the clarifying knowledge needed in making moral, deliberate action possible once again.

The Politics of Fear
The violent and deadly clashes between Unite the Right and AntiFa over removing a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee is not that difficult to understand if we know how the politics of fear always pertains to sharing limited power. Neither is fear hard to recognize if we’re truly honest about the generational forms of slavery and segregation that are still institutionalized, or how we’ve learned to internalize fear as a result of the Cold War, Sept. 11 followed by the Global War on Terror, and income inequality. In fact, fear is what currently gives us meaning. It is moreover the ground of our public life, isolating us into polarized groups which underlies our behavior-and very existence.

Since we also know more about the politics of fear than who we are as a people and nation, it’s not that hard to see how fear prevented the protesters and counter protesters from embracing the grievances and conflicts each other faced. Consequently, the felt apprehension of some harm to their collective well being-the fear of terrorism, panic over crime, unemployment and homelessness, anxiety about moral and cultural decay-was publicly displayed through verbal threats and mob beatings. It was also symbolized through tossing urine and feces. The politics of fear, which repeatedly emanates from the pages of our history and present society, always has destructive consequences.

Politics of Hate
The politics of fear always transforms itself into the politics of hate too, even creating instruments of death. Like the driver in the vehicle that killed and injured protesters, or the soldiers who are deployed overseas to maim and destroy, we too blind ourselves to the real-world struggles of others. We also deny ourselves the tools of peace with justice that might mitigate those struggles. The only difference is that for some, the politics of hate simply leads to vile thoughts, acts of intolerance, or verbal assaults. For others, death is the only solution. Meanwhile, we remain divided by the politics of hate, either ignoring the grievances of our supposed foes or rejecting their civic engagement.

This is why the politics of hate is the greatest evil of any civilization. In effect, it is the most morally discriminate trait of society and lethal impediment to freedom and respect-let alone toleration and peaceful existence. And since the politics of hate also deals with power arrangements among people, it too has widespread repercussions. Not only does it dictate public policy, in some form or another, but it brings new groups to power and keeps others excluded. Indeed, the derangement of power just observed in Charlottesville was based on racial, political, and income inequalities, remotely reinforced by state and government policies with their institutionalized cruelty and coercive power.

Politics of Elites
From the shadows of the Central Intelligence Agency to the board rooms of corporate and military contractors, including the Pentagon and Wall Street profiteers, billions have been spent to normalize the Nazi-like politics of elites. Foreign military coups and domestic surveillance/disruption programs, low-intensity conflicts and psychological operations (PSYOPS), and major wars and economic crashes with high rates of unemployment have indeed been the raw ingredients of the elites. Their brand of politics have always branded the masses too, socially engineering and molding them. They would like nothing more than to manufacture a war with North Korea or stage a nother false-flag event.

What’s more, while the elites remain united through state, corporate and military workplace intimidation or foreign conflicts, the people remain divided. Consequently, elites maintain this repressive social order through income inequality and uneven power arrangements, always constraining the freedoms of a people-centered justice. Because of this abuse of power, which is organized vertically instead of horizontally, distributing more power, resources, and prestige to the few than to the many, political fear and hatred thrives among the people. Meanwhile, politicians and talking heads deflect the politics of elites, merely enjoining a unity that is little more than a cover of elite hierarchies.

Politics of Fear, Hate and Elites Never a Saving Agent
The politics of fear, hate and of the elites is never the saving agent of society but its destroyer. In other words, by utilizing fear and hate the politics of elites and their collaborators will always agitate, defining what is or ought to be the public’s chief object of fear. The object-or objects-they choose to dominate the media will moreover dominated the public’s perception, shaping the public’s behavior and very existence. If its not Communism, then it’s Radical Islam. If it’s not immigration, then it’s a Confederate statue. And if it’s Iraq or Afghanistan, it will be North Korea. Sadly, this distraction allows the elites to prey on what they fear the most-their fellow citizens.

And most tragically, fellow citizens then prey on each other.

Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John‘s Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.worldnews.com.