In the Politics of Fear Frank Furedi, who has previously authored Culture of Fear, does a fairly good job of explaining why fear is such an important component in the strategy of modern politics where party and pressure group related fear drives policy. Neither the left nor the right can claim the high ground on this behaviour; as they both use the tactic in tit-for-tat campaigns over issues major or minor.
As part of this he argues that the state justifies its nannying tendencies via the use of the fear. All political entities have seemingly decided that the average citizen is either too cynical, too ignorant or too disinterested to be able to do anything for themselves without "advice" from either some government organisation or pressure group. Adults in the modern world are routinely treated like teenagers unable to make proper decisions for themselves. This nannying is a major factor in the decline of interest in politics and voting. Nannying and fear play a major part in lowering expectations and willingness to take risk.
Furedi holds that the politics of fear has a great deal to with the rise of irrationality in the general populace over that of reasoned thinking. As others are doing the thinking the citizen does not need to do it for himself. The politics of fear has done a great to kill off political rhetoric whether between politicians, organisations or individuals.
Furedi does hold hope that the West will pull itself out of its self-inflicted fear caused malaise and begin to act rational again. This is not a wholly pessimistic book but one that is a cautionary of how we got to where we are politically and what we need to do to drag us out of the morass in which we find ourselves. He makes a truly compelling case for his assertions. This is a rather interesting and tightly written book that is highly recommended for anyone interested in the current state of politics.
Rating: 5/5
CORRECTIONS TO TITLE AND EXCERPT:LM Edited: PC
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