Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

Wayne LaPierre is just another fear monger capitalizing on the existential dread ignited by the attacks of September 11. In his dystopian image of America, the only thing standing between one’s death on the mean streets teeming with violent (and non-white) criminals and one’s personal safety is a firearm – preferably an assault weapon equipped with a large capacity clip.

Those that stoke the fears of anxious citizens, like LaPierre, are dangerous men. Behind their rhetoric of freedom and democracy they are consciously or unconsciously laying the groundwork for a fascist revival.

“Forerunners of fascism ...in their efforts to gain political power played on people’s fears of revolution with its subsequent chaos, anarchy, and general insecurity. They appealed to nationalist sentiments and prejudices, exploited anti-Semitism, and portrayed themselves as champions of law, order, Christian morality, and the sanctity of private property.”

Columbia University on Fascism

“Fearful people are more dependent, more easily manipulated and controlled, more susceptible to deceptively simple, strong, tough measures and hard-line postures. … They may accept and even welcome repression if it promises to relieve their insecurities."

George Gerbner, Annenberg School for Communication