The politics of fear, if pursued to its logical conclusion, will individualize, rather than collectivize. If your primary motivation is concern for your personal safety, or more specifically concern for your personal safety from terrorism by Al Qaeda in the thread titled "second-wave attacks," it doesn't make sense to be patriotic and care for safety of all other Americans, much less all other US residents. (E.g., If you want to be safe from Al Qaeda terrorism at any cost, why hold onto US citizenship and live in the USA? Why not renounce it and live somewhere else? Some might begin to think that, if living in the USA really constituted mortal danger.)
Patriotism, like other collectivist thoughts, asks its believers to sacrifice their individual lives for the greater good -- especially freedom and independence -- of the nation:
***** It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace -- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
<http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/patrick.htm> *****
In _The Atomic Cafe_, there are many intriguing sequences that serve to illustrate the ironic contradiction between patriotism and individualism engendered by the American politics of fear during the era of family-shelter building. What if your neighbors who failed to build their own shelters try to break into _your_ shelter, which can barely accommodate you and your loved ones? What are you to do? Stock up guns and ammos and defend your shelter, says a priest interviewed by the film-makers. What if the majority of Americans are to die in an atomic war? There will be more space left for the surviving, says a man who just built his fallout shelter in the film.
A weak version of the politics of fear can make you look toward der Fuhrer or the Leviathan for illusory protection; a strong version of the politics of fear makes you an individual survivalist: "The enemy...is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on." -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>