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Fear sells. It is among the best known motivational tools. Given the opportunity people will always act in a way that isolates them or protects them from that which they fear and this fact has never escaped the notice of those in power as they seek to exercise control over their subjects.

The activities of the current American government could have been taken straight from Hermann Goering's play-book. At the Nuremberg War Crimes trial, the infamous Nazi leader is quoted as having said, "Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for a lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

Promote enough fear in the populace and they will give up any and all freedoms in order to feel safe. To be free from fear is a primal human need, more basic than is hunger, the need for shelter, the sex drive or practically any other motivator you care to mention. Think for a moment, what would cause you to come out of your cave, bare handed, to face a hungry tiger? The fear of you being destroyed would trump almost anything else.

Modern governments are no different from governments throughout history. Any leader worth his salt has always had the ability to govern the activities of his subjects through fear. The question to be asked is not whether a government uses fear to control its citizens but, rather, does that government manufacture the fear that it uses?

Conspiracy theories abound. Going back to the very beginning, there are some who would say that Eve might have conspired with the serpent in order to get kicked out of the Garden of Eden because she was tired of being a farmer's wife.

Every major disaster brings out not only conspiracy buffs but also those who take the opposing position that no one would purposefully visit such heinous events on their fellow citizens for mere political gain. While each conspiracy theory must be judged on its own merit, Munchausen By Proxy, as a test hypothesis, can be applied to all.

MBP is a label for a pattern of behavior in which caretakers deliberately exaggerate, fabricate and/or induce physical, psychological, behavioral and/or mental health problems in others. This is done so that the perpetrator can gain an advantage by being in position to rescue or in some way come to the aid of the victim.

Munchausen, as a medical condition, is bad enough. But if it is manifested in government, as a means to remove constitutional constraints or otherwise control a populace, it becomes diabolical.

Do governments control through fear? Absolutely. Do governments manufacture fear at the cost of lives and the well being of some of its citizens in a sort of perverted Munchausen By Proxy in order to gain a greater measure of control?

That I will leave to the theorists.

Learn more about this author, Rick Fontes.
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