OPINION: There are periods of time glued into our collective psyche.
The Chinese had their dynasties, and the Cultural Revolution, (more like the cultural annihilation). Picasso had his blue and rose periods, and England, the Elizabethan, Victorian and Edwardian eras. Never to be forgotten for those of my generation: the lingering Cold War era.
Now it appears to me that we are deeply entrenched in a time period not as clear, but just as terrifying. We seem to be chin deep in a new terrifying era. The Era of Fear.
Mankind has always had great periods of fear, generated by fear of war, pestilence and fundamental religions. Now it would seem we fear everything. As I drove through Christchurch last week I began to think about the relentless feeling of fear so many of us allow ourselves to wade in.
READ MORE:* We have become lab rats in an age of surveillance capitalism * Kirstie Alley calls Oscars' new diversity standards 'dictatorial' and a 'disgrace'* I'm still carrying the trauma of war - please let's spare others that
Will this time on Earth be just regarded like the bland early 2000s, which certainly endured the fear of terrorism? Or, is our legacy going to be the entire human race afraid of everything? I began to disassemble the fear structure. I looked at the layers, and concluded that many of us here in New Zealand, and possibly the world, are ruled by fear.
The fear of Covid-19 will quite possibly have a new name. Just like WW1, which until 1939 was referred to as The Great War, Covid-19 may be known as 'The First Wave'.
Fear of poverty. Houses are too expensive to buy, unless by miracle or through generational wealth. Food, doubled in price. Travel, too expensive for the average person to consider. Vile drugs like meth seeping into every level of society. Streets we could once walk, now more dangerous than the streets of Manhattan in the 1970s or the East End of London in the 1880s. Home invasions on people who could little afford to lose anything, perpetrated by people too cooked to care. Prisons full to bursting with people caught up in the poverty cycle.
Fear of losing money. People already exceptionally wealthy, frightened to let go of their wealth for fear they might lose it all, and therefore hoarding it or buying up everything in sight, only to sit like Smaug on their piles of gold and treasure.
LAWRENCE SMTH/Stuff
Northland Regional Council's new coastal hazard maps show flooding and erosion risks in Mangawhai, including for Alamar Cres where Bruce Rogan lives.
Fear of saying the wrong thing. We need to live our lives not causing harm, but this political correctness that has been sucked up by nearly everyone, bar the bubble-protected white male talk show hosts, who appear to be able to say outrageously offensive things, with little regard or kick back. Most of us must carefully regard everything we say on social media, on the radio, and in print. If there is offence, there are mobs of keyboard warriors ready with burning crosses, and vile vitriol ready. Thus, we have a healthy fear of saying or writing anything before passing it by HR.
Fear of HR. Who are they? I have had my opinion that has caused both offence and applause. They are the 'secret police.' Ally of the worker of the corporation? No idea. They incite fear nonetheless.
Fear of not working hard enough. Fear of losing our jobs. Fear of not making a budget, not getting the ratings, not being seen as not toeing the company line. Many of us have spent decades succeeding through the fear of not succeeding. The enjoyment of the career is eclipsed by the fear of not meeting floating expectations.
The fear of love and lust. Dating apps have made us wonder if romance has been beaten down, and now our only chance of physical love is through a fast fornication app. Fear that love and a growing relationship is no longer a commodity, and the willingness to get your clothes off quickly and move on, has become the number one way to get a bit of 'love.'
Fear that if the secret police find out we're not perfectly recycling, eating organically, ingesting gluten, carbs and meat, we'll be outed, ostracised, and put in the stocks in the middle of Civic Square. Fear of wearing anything not made of homegrown organically farmed bamboo, hemp, or hand raised alpaca fibres. Fear of cyclists arming themselves against the evil drivers. Fear of a vegan revolution. Fear of meat and its ugly sister, sugar.
Robbie Jack/Corbis/Getty Images
Did Goerge Orwell have it right all along? Pictured: Artists in an adaptation of George Orwell's 1984, directed by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan at the Playhouse Theatre in London.
Fear our children will either grow up to be smart kids with good degrees but no jobs. A fear our children will drop out of society and spend their time marching for the climate. Fear the earth will suddenly become covered in ice, or a global desert. A fear of saying anything out loud that isn't scripted, edited, and had several meetings concerning the content. Fear of doing anything 'live'.
Fear of technology leaving us behind. I don't have a hybrid car. I'm not confident with the security of online shopping in China. Fear of being hacked. (Happened to me twice.) Fear of missing out. Fear of not knowing what I'm missing out on. Fear I'm on some spectrum. Fear of being irrelevant, although being relevant comes with a fear of being exposed to haters and trolls. Fear the police are watching. Fear the police are too busy catching meth criminals to watch. Fear Google can read our minds, or at very least our phone interactions. Fear of being alone, and fear our children will never leave home.
Are we now living in the era of mass fear?Did George Orwell foretell the future?
It is a mix of fearlessness and indifference that I choose not to read comments on my columns. I never do. But I would be lying if I didn't mention it also includes the fear that some wealthy, hemp-wearing vegan who owns a recycling spy camera won't come at me like a mad gold and diamond sword, trying to cut me to shreds.
I fear Cryptocurrency. I fear it's the world's largest practical joke. Good luck with that.
See the article here:
In a time ruled by fear, here are some of mine - Stuff.co.nz
- Jerry Seinfeld thinks political correctness is killing comedy : Code Switch - NPR - May 6th, 2024 [May 6th, 2024]
- The Other Side: Can we cancel political correctness? - Fairfield Daily Republic - May 6th, 2024 [May 6th, 2024]
- Jerry Seinfeld blames 'PC crap' for the demise of comedy - The New Daily - May 6th, 2024 [May 6th, 2024]
- Politically incorrect - - March 31st, 2024 [March 31st, 2024]
- Dileep critiques impact of political correctness on comedy films; says Movies will become dry - TOI Etimes - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Keeping Up With Spongy Political Correctness; Turbines Make a Sudden Move Offshore - The SandPaper - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Disney's Snow White Live-Action Remake Ignites Controversy - BNN Breaking - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Political correctness is strangling comedy and with it our British sense of humour - The Telegraph - January 29th, 2024 [January 29th, 2024]
- The absurdity of political correctness - Fiji Times - January 29th, 2024 [January 29th, 2024]
- Claudine Gay, Jimmy Lai, and the truth of things - Catholic World Report - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Rochdale has exposed the horrors of political correctness - Spiked - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Michel Valentin: Political correctness and swastikas - Missoulian - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- Letters to the Editor | Nov. 12, 2023 - The Philadelphia Inquirer - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- How the free world can prevail - Geopolitical Intelligence Services AG - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- The Die Hard Survival Guide To This Year's Office Holiday Party - Fisher Phillips - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- Who Won The Third Republican Debate? - FiveThirtyEight - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- Although Many Have Tried To Change Name Of Devils Tower ... - Cowboy State Daily - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- North American Birds Named After Bad People Will Get a New ... - WTTW News - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- "Imagining the Indian documentary combats Indigenous mascoting - The Michigan Daily - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- Disney's downfall attributed to cancel culture The Tide - The Tide - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- The Kremlin fuelled antisemitism at home. Then it blew up - Euronews - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- The Vibes Are Off at the 2023 Venice Film Festival - Vulture - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Democracy and the Crisis of Authority - Asharq Al-awsat - English - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- 10 Best Workplace Movies of the 2010s - MovieWeb - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- The Social Contract Between Human Rights and International ... - Harvard Political Review - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- A Requiem for Manners - The Imaginative Conservative - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Letter to the editor: Understanding God | TribLIVE.com - TribLIVE - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Karin Klossek: No More Home Office Freedom? Then I Quit! - finews.com - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Republican Attacks on Woke Ideology Falling Flat With G.O.P. Voters - The New York Times - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- Discussions on unions, politics mark librarians' conference The ... - The Militant - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- Serving the Sovereign - Magnolia Tribune - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- A Philosophers Role in the Texas A&M Debacle (updated) - Daily Nous - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- High school football: Walsh confident South is making progress ... - Salisbury Post - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- War On Niger Republic Will Be War On Northern Nigeria, By Prof ... - SaharaReporters.com - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- Introducing the Reason Crossword, a Weekly Puzzle for Libertarians - Reason - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- From Relativism to Wokism: A Path of Confusion, Fallacy and Self ... - C2C Journal - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- John Krull: Try this in a small town - Pendleton Times-Post - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- Book Review: "Rodney Kills At Night" -- Engaging Company - artsfuse.org - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- US stokes divisions on BRI, but will Italy fall into trap? - China Daily - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- Whoopi Goldberg blows up over political correctness: 'We don't know everything you're not supposed to do!' - Fox News - March 31st, 2023 [March 31st, 2023]
- 'They mad over a forehead kiss?': Fans Cry Hypocrisy as Disney - Bastion of Political Correctness - Edits Out Ayo-Aneka Kiss Scene in Black Panther:... - November 16th, 2022 [November 16th, 2022]
- The silliness of political correctness THE FIRST STREET JOURNAL. - November 8th, 2022 [November 8th, 2022]
- Why Women Are So Susceptible To Political Correctness - November 8th, 2022 [November 8th, 2022]
- Cancel Culture: Its Causes and Its Consequences - November 5th, 2022 [November 5th, 2022]
- Why Did British Police Ignore Pakistani Gangs Abusing 1,400 ... - Forbes - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Where are the liberal defenders of Kanye West's freedom to speak? - New York Daily News - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Perfecting the "art of polarization": How these '90s conservatives created today's radicalized right - Salon - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Anna May Wong is now the first Asian American on US currency - The Black Wall Street Times - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Best of times, worst of times - The Spectator Australia - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- When Rekha's beauty advice for young women was to be 'physically fit and definitely not fat': 'Fat is ugly' - The Indian Express - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Theatre Review: You should see The Doctor now - The New European - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- The Utopian Horizon of Memory Art: A Conversation with Andreas Huyssen - lareviewofbooks - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal: Marvel Star Scarlett Johansson Was Furious After Losing Trans Role Due to Insane... - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Videogames: the latest weapon in the culture wars - Spiked - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Jes Tom on Why They Love Chris Onstad's 'Achewood' Webcomic - Vulture - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Why Hungarys Jews Are the Safest in Europe - The American Conservative - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Why you should change your voter registration to Pennsylvania, Part 1: the insanity of Doug Mastriano - CMU The Tartan Online - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- TIFF 2022 Review: Stephanie Johnes' "Maya and the Wave" Hits a High Watermark - The Moveable Fest - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Longing After the Fleshpots | Luke Burgis - First Things - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Where to Watch and Stream Jimmy Carr: Telling Jokes Free Online - EpicStream - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Opinion | Leicester Violence Has Exposed the Multicultural Claims of Left-Liberals - News18 - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- America's Misguided Fascination With Royalty - The Atlantic - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- The pending collapse of the United States of Political Correctness - The Hill - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- Laurence Fox finds a role equal to his talents: the Breitbart biopic of Hunter Biden - The Guardian US - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- Moving ahead as a party of one Times News Online - tnonline.com - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- Google Bars Truth Social From App Store Over Lack of Content Moderation - Reason - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- She idolised Thatcher, now Liz Truss is on the cusp of becoming Britain's next PM - WAtoday - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- OPINION: Andrew Tate sparks a culture war: The perspective of a young man and woman The New Political - The New Political - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- "I Know What It Means To Grow Up Without Much" Pro Golfer Harold Varner III Keeps It Real About Going To LIV Golf | It's All About The Bag!... - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- The Lady Is Not For (A Populist) Turning: Thatcherian Ambiguities In Cas Mudde's Theory Analysis - Eurasia Review - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- Dear Friends and Readers, The Brooklyn Rail - Brooklyn Rail - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- 9/2 Flashback: On abortion | Fred Clark - Patheos - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- The Kingdom Exodus Review: Lars von Trier Goes Full Meta With the Return of His Creepy Hospital Drama - Yahoo Entertainment - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- Film Review: 'Explorer': The Amazing Life Story of Author and Renowned Overachiever Ranulph Fiennes - The Epoch Times - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- Bill Maher Asks A Question Even A Meathead Cant Answer On Real Time - Deadline - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Exclusive | Pa Ranjith on 10 years in cinema, pan-Indian films, Natchathiram Nagargiradhu: 'I am waiting to see the ripples it creates' - The Indian... - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Opinion: In Alberta, children's early years of education are being used in a game of political football - The Globe and Mail - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Marvel Comics Removes Masters Of Kung Fu Mentions From Its Website - Bleeding Cool News - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Jimmy Carr's 'Terribly Funny' tour to be the biggest comedy tour to ever hit Australia - Beat Magazine - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Police need to be more focused on crimes that matter to voters, say Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss - iNews - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]