Post by patrickha112 on Dec 5, 2012 0:04:18 GMT -5
Fight or Flight the Fiscal Fiasco
Fear has been used throughout American history and literature to control people’s behaviors and to manipulate people’s actions. The Puritans had a strong influence on the development of America and according to Sacvan Bercovitch, in Rites of Assent, “Anxiety became their chief means of establishing control”. Jonathan Edwards, a Puritan minister, preached that “The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present”. He used this language of fear to create images of the impending wrath of God to draw people to the church and cause sinners to change their evil ways. Fear of punishment can cause a person to act in ways they do not desire and fear of a distorted image can paralyze a person from acting in proper ways. It is clear from recent events in Washington that use of fear as a mechanism of control has migrated successfully from Puritan society into modern day society. Much like Jonathan Edwards used the fear of god to get his congregation to act, Ben Bernanke is using fear of a recession to get Congress to act, and fear is now a central player in the drama that surrounds the tax and budget debates over the “fiscal cliff”.
Fear, which originally brought attention to the fiscal cliff, is now causing paralysis of action in Washington. The fiscal cliff is a term used to describe the simultaneous automatic expiration of the Bush tax cuts, the increase in taxes under the Affordable Care Act, and the implementation of automatic budget cuts agreed to by Congress last year. Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, made this term popular when he testified to Congress that failing to address the impending tax increases and spending cuts “would send the economy toppling back into recession”. This manipulation of language, to create an image of driving over a fiscal cliff and into recession, focused both Congress’ and the public’s attention on the issues by causing extreme anxiety in America. President Obama hit the road and made multiple speeches, evoking this language of fear to gain attention for his views on how to address the fiscal cliff. Likewise, Speaker Boehner refers to “trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see,” to evoke fear of the President’s position. Yet, fear of recession as a method of control has not proven to be beneficial in this situation because both Republicans and Democrats also fear appearing weak to the American public if they compromise on the issues. The fear of the fiscal cliff and possible recession are not enough for either side to risk losing their external image of strength to the American public. Wall Street, businesses, and the general public fear the fiscal cliff will cause dramatic impact on the markets and cause a recession and so they are asking both sides to compromise, but at this point the fear of presenting an image of weakness is more powerful in Washington than fear of the fiscal cliff itself.
From 17th century America to present day debates about the budget deficit, fear has been used to control behavior, both through fear of the future and fear of self-image. During McCarthyism, Senator Joe McCarthy manipulated society into fearing the affects of communism. People feared not only communism but also being labeled as a communist due to the legal and societal reflections on communism. Fear is a powerful emotion that will always be present in American society. Where fear is present there is always the opportunity for manipulation and from that manipulation society can become corrupt.
Word Count (589)
Works Cited
Bercovitch, Sacvan. The Ritual of Consensus. n.d.
Bernanke, Chairman Ben S. Speech, At the New York Economic Club, New York, New York. 2012 20 November. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. 2012 2 December <http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/ speech/bernanke20121120a.htm>.
Feldman, Josh. Gingrich Slams Dem Scare Tactics On Fiscal Cliff:. 29 November 2012. mediate. 2 December 2012 <http://www.mediaite.com/tv/gingrich-slams-dem-scare-tactics-on-fiscal-cliff-it-is-an-artificial-invention-of-washington />.
Felsenthal, Mark. Fiscal Cliff Progress Suffers As Republicans, Democrats Remain Divided . 30 November 2012. 2 December 2012 <http://www.huffing tonpost.com/2012/12/01/fiscal-cliff-progress_n_2221917.html>.
Kurtz, Annalyn. Obama takes fiscal cliff fears to Twitter with #My2K. 28 November 2012. Cable News Network. 2 December 2012 <http://economy.money.cnn.com/2012/11/28/obama-fiscal-cliff-twitter-my2k/?section=money_topstories&utm_source=feedburner &utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_topstories+(Top+Stories)>.
Fear has been used throughout American history and literature to control people’s behaviors and to manipulate people’s actions. The Puritans had a strong influence on the development of America and according to Sacvan Bercovitch, in Rites of Assent, “Anxiety became their chief means of establishing control”. Jonathan Edwards, a Puritan minister, preached that “The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present”. He used this language of fear to create images of the impending wrath of God to draw people to the church and cause sinners to change their evil ways. Fear of punishment can cause a person to act in ways they do not desire and fear of a distorted image can paralyze a person from acting in proper ways. It is clear from recent events in Washington that use of fear as a mechanism of control has migrated successfully from Puritan society into modern day society. Much like Jonathan Edwards used the fear of god to get his congregation to act, Ben Bernanke is using fear of a recession to get Congress to act, and fear is now a central player in the drama that surrounds the tax and budget debates over the “fiscal cliff”.
Fear, which originally brought attention to the fiscal cliff, is now causing paralysis of action in Washington. The fiscal cliff is a term used to describe the simultaneous automatic expiration of the Bush tax cuts, the increase in taxes under the Affordable Care Act, and the implementation of automatic budget cuts agreed to by Congress last year. Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, made this term popular when he testified to Congress that failing to address the impending tax increases and spending cuts “would send the economy toppling back into recession”. This manipulation of language, to create an image of driving over a fiscal cliff and into recession, focused both Congress’ and the public’s attention on the issues by causing extreme anxiety in America. President Obama hit the road and made multiple speeches, evoking this language of fear to gain attention for his views on how to address the fiscal cliff. Likewise, Speaker Boehner refers to “trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see,” to evoke fear of the President’s position. Yet, fear of recession as a method of control has not proven to be beneficial in this situation because both Republicans and Democrats also fear appearing weak to the American public if they compromise on the issues. The fear of the fiscal cliff and possible recession are not enough for either side to risk losing their external image of strength to the American public. Wall Street, businesses, and the general public fear the fiscal cliff will cause dramatic impact on the markets and cause a recession and so they are asking both sides to compromise, but at this point the fear of presenting an image of weakness is more powerful in Washington than fear of the fiscal cliff itself.
From 17th century America to present day debates about the budget deficit, fear has been used to control behavior, both through fear of the future and fear of self-image. During McCarthyism, Senator Joe McCarthy manipulated society into fearing the affects of communism. People feared not only communism but also being labeled as a communist due to the legal and societal reflections on communism. Fear is a powerful emotion that will always be present in American society. Where fear is present there is always the opportunity for manipulation and from that manipulation society can become corrupt.
Word Count (589)
Works Cited
Bercovitch, Sacvan. The Ritual of Consensus. n.d.
Bernanke, Chairman Ben S. Speech, At the New York Economic Club, New York, New York. 2012 20 November. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. 2012 2 December <http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/ speech/bernanke20121120a.htm>.
Feldman, Josh. Gingrich Slams Dem Scare Tactics On Fiscal Cliff:. 29 November 2012. mediate. 2 December 2012 <http://www.mediaite.com/tv/gingrich-slams-dem-scare-tactics-on-fiscal-cliff-it-is-an-artificial-invention-of-washington />.
Felsenthal, Mark. Fiscal Cliff Progress Suffers As Republicans, Democrats Remain Divided . 30 November 2012. 2 December 2012 <http://www.huffing tonpost.com/2012/12/01/fiscal-cliff-progress_n_2221917.html>.
Kurtz, Annalyn. Obama takes fiscal cliff fears to Twitter with #My2K. 28 November 2012. Cable News Network. 2 December 2012 <http://economy.money.cnn.com/2012/11/28/obama-fiscal-cliff-twitter-my2k/?section=money_topstories&utm_source=feedburner &utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_topstories+(Top+Stories)>.