On 2010-11-08, at 7:08 AM, Wojtek S wrote:
> Fearmongering is a
> quintessentially American phenomenon - practiced with vengeance by the
> right, the middle, the center, and every salesman. Fear is what keeps
> America moving. Outside this country, fearmongering is far less prevalent.
> So please do not project warped American mind-set as a universal human
> feature. As a traveled man I can assure you that most people outside the US
> do not live in constant fear that something bad will happen to them if they
> do not act now. And most non-American religiosity is far more soporific
> than the brimstone and fire variety popular on this side of the pond.
It was not ever thus. In the postwar years, when America was booming, when incomes were rising, when the government was introducing new social programs, American optimism was legendary.
The popular mood has darkened over the past three decades of stagnating incomes, job insecurity, talk of benefit rollbacks, failed wars and declining US power and prestige abroad, culminating in the sudden financial collapse of 2007-08. Many turned during this period to revivalist religion and spiritualism to compensate for the loss of purpose and community which politics once provided.
Mass psychology is not something fixed in place or time. It has a material basis. Optimism is widely reported to be accompanying the prospect of rising living standards in China and other developing nations, the obverse of what is happening in the West.