Governing

Is Easier with a Fearful

Public

How and Why Societal Elites Manipulate Public Fear

Central to the moral panic concept is an argument that public concern or fear over an alleged social problem is mutually beneficial to state officials—that is, politicians and law enforcement authorities—and the news media. The relationship between state officials and the media is symbiotic in that politicians and 

law enforcement need communication channels to distribute their rhetoric; 

media needs tantalizing news content to attract a wide audience which, in turn, attracts advertisers. 

Of course, this is not something that happens spontaneously, but rather, is a result of the complex dynamics and interplay among several social actors. As originally explained by Cohen, at least five sets of social actors are involved in a moral panic. These include: 1) folk devils, 2) rule or law enforcers, 3) the media, 4) politicians, and 5) the public. 

First, in the lexicon of moral panic scholars, folk devils are those individuals who are socially defined or alleged to be responsible for creating a threat to society. Unlike some deviants, folk devils are completely negative. They are the embodiment of evil and the antagonists in a moral panic drama. 

Second, law enforcers such as the police, prosecutors or the military are vital to a moral panic as they are charged with upholding and enforcing the codes of conduct and official laws of the state. These agents of the state are expected to detect, apprehend and punish the folk devils. Law enforcers have a sworn duty and moral obligation to protect society from folk devils when they present themselves. Furthermore, law enforcers must work to justify and maintain their positions in society. A moral panic can offer law enforcers legitimacy and purpose by ridding society of folk devils that allegedly threaten its well being. 

Third, the media are a particularly powerful set of actors in the creation of a moral panic. Typically, news media coverage of certain events involving alleged folk devils is distorted or exaggerated. News coverage makes the folk devils appear to be much more threatening to society than they really are. Public concern and anxiety are heightened by journalistic hyperbole concerning the folk devils. Public concern and anxiety over the folk devils lead to moral panic.

Fake attack list; 
No one Died; No one Hurt!

• Fort Lauderdale Airport Shooting - 1/6/17 F
• Jerusalem truck attack - 1/8/17 Su
• Melbourne car attack - 1/20/17 F
• Westminster Bridge car attack - 3/22/17 W
• Saint Petersburg Metro Bombing - 4/3/17 M
• Stockholm truck attack - 4/7/17 F
• NYC Times Square car crash - 5/18/17 Th
• Manchester Arena bombing - 5/22/17 M
• London Bridge van and stabbing attack - 6/3/17 Sa
• Grenfell Tower fire - 6/14/17 W
• 2017 Congressional baseball shooting - 6/14/17 W
• SF UPS shooting - 6/14/17 W
• Shooting of Justine Damond - 7/15/17 Sa
• Ohio State Fair 'Fireball' "accident" - 7/26/17 W
• Charlottesville car and helicopter crashes - 8/12/17 Sa
• Barcelona Van Attack - 8/17/17 Th
• Rockford, Washington/Freeman High School shooting - 9/13/17 W
• Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest concert shooting - 10/1/17 Su
• NYC Truck Attack on bike path - 10/31/17 Tue
• Dreamworld incident in gold coast queensland australia
• Tucson, AZ Gabby Giffords shooting/Federal Judge Assassination - 1/8/11
• Aurora, CO Theater 'Batman' shooting- 7/20/12 F
• Sandy Hook, CT shooting - 12/14/12 F
• Boston Bombing - 4/15/13 M
• Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. shooting - 9/16/13 M
• Los Angeles International Airport shooting - 11/1/13 F
• Fort Hood shooting - 4/2/14 W
• Isla Vista shooting - 5/23/14 F
• Charlie Hebdo shooting - 1/7/15 W
• Charleston Church shooting - 6/17/15 W
• WDBJ7 "Live" shooting - Roanoke, Virginia - 8/26/15 W
• Umpqua Community College shooting, Oregon - 10/1/15 Th
• The November 2015 Paris attacks - Bataclan - 11/13/15 F
• Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood Shooting - 11/27/15 F
• Inland Regional Center, San Bernardino shooting - 12/2/15 W
• Brussels Bombing - 3/22/16 Tue
• Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting - 6/12/16 Su
• Nice, France truck attack - 7/14/16 Th
• Munich Mall Shooting - 7/22/16 F
• Goldcoast, Australia Thunder River Rapids Ride accident - 10/25/16
• Berlin, Germany Christmas Market truck attack - 12/19/16 M
• Fort Lauderdale Airport Shooting - 1/6/17 F
• Jerusalem truck attack - 1/8/17 Su
• Melbourne car attack - 1/20/17 F
• Westminster Bridge car attack - 3/22/17 W
• Saint Petersburg Metro Bombing - 4/3/17 M
• Stockholm truck attack - 4/7/17 F
• NYC Times Square car crash - 5/18/17 Th
• Manchester Arena bombing - 5/22/17 M
• London Bridge van and stabbing attack - 6/3/17 Sa
• Grenfell Tower fire - 6/14/17 W
• 2017 Congressional baseball shooting - 6/14/17 W
• SF UPS shooting - 6/14/17 W
• Shooting of Justine Damond - 7/15/17 Sa
• Ohio State Fair 'Fireball' "accident" - 7/26/17 W
• Charlottesville car and helicopter crashes - 8/12/17 Sa
• Barcelona Van Attack - 8/17/17 Th
• Rockford, Washington/Freeman High School shooting - 9/13/17 W
• Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest concert shooting - 10/1/17 Su
• NYC Truck Attack on bike path - 10/31/17 Tue

This list is not up to date as fake shootings are arriving at a rate of every 3 to 5 weeks. Obviously the latest church fake shooting at Sutherland and the current dog and pony show at Parkland Florida.

Time and again you see connections between the plutocratic class which effectively owns America’s elected government, the intelligence and defense agencies which operate behind thick veils of secrecy in the name of “national security” to advance agendas which have nothing to do with the wishes of the electorate, and the mass media machine which is used to manufacture the consent of the people to be governed by this exploitative power structure.

DYI