Terrorized by terror -- Space closes

Fri Mar 30 08:16:42 PDT 2007

Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Advisor to Jimmy Carter, is usually
over shadowed by Henry Kissinger, which is a shame, because the clarity and
insight of Zbigniew is remarkable, I think. Case in point is his recent
article, "Terrorized by the War on Terror." I bring all this up here because
I think it has a lot to do with a conversation we have been having about
fear, and the reaction to fear. For the whole article go
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032301
613.html?referrer=emailarticle)

 Z says many things but the following cuts to the core -

	"The culture of fear is like a genie that has been let out of its
bottle. It acquires a life of its own -- and can become demoralizing.
America today is not the self-confident and determined nation that responded
to Pearl Harbor; nor is it the America that heard from its leader, at
another moment of crisis, the powerful words "the only thing we have to fear
is fear itself"; nor is it the calm America that waged the Cold War with
quiet persistence despite the knowledge that a real war could be initiated
abruptly within minutes and prompt the death of 100 million Americans within
just a few hours. We are now divided, uncertain and potentially very
susceptible to panic in the event of another terrorist act in the United
States itself.

	That is the result of five years of almost continuous national
brainwashing on the subject of terror, quite unlike the more muted reactions
of several other nations (Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany, Japan, to mention
just a few) that also have suffered painful terrorist acts. In his latest
justification for his war in Iraq, President Bush even claims absurdly that
he has to continue waging it lest al-Qaeda cross the Atlantic to launch a
war of terror here in the United States.

Such fear-mongering, reinforced by security entrepreneurs, the mass media
and the entertainment industry, generates its own momentum. The terror
entrepreneurs, usually described as experts on terrorism, are necessarily
engaged in competition to justify their existence. Hence their task is to
convince the public that it faces new threats. That puts a premium on the
presentation of credible scenarios of ever-more-horrifying acts of violence,
sometimes even with blueprints for their implementation.

	That America has become insecure and more paranoid is hardly
debatable. A recent study reported that in 2003, Congress identified 160
sites as potentially important national targets for would-be terrorists.
With lobbyists weighing in, by the end of that year the list had grown to
1,849; by the end of 2004, to 28,360; by 2005, to 77,769. The national
database of possible targets now has some 300,000 items in it, including the
Sears Tower in Chicago and an Illinois Apple and Pork Festival." 

Another way of talking about all of this is that when the Genie of fear is
let out of the bottle, space closes. People burrow in and seek the lowest
common denominator of our humanity. This is not to suggest that no dangers
exist, but the words of Franklin Roosevelt ring very clear here, "We have
nothing to fear but fear itself." And fear does a fantastic job of shutting
down our life space. The reactions that follow are fairly predictable.
Simple tasks become monumental chores, and small irritations send people off
the deep end. And our life space becomes smaller and smaller - until there
is scarcely room to breath.

I am not suggesting that we have reached the end of the line on this one,
but I feel quite strongly that we (in the US and elsewhere) have moved well
down the road. And going the way we are going will not bring us to any
destination I care to visit.

Doubtless lots of things can and must be done - but in this community I
think we have a special role, opportunity, and I would guess, responsibility
to do what we know how to do - Open Space. It is tempting to think of
massive open spaces for the "powers" of this world. But I don't think that
is likely to happen, and even if it did I am not sure that the effect would
be all that positive. The reason is simple, fear hangs out in the small dark
corners of our lives, and while the massive stroke for freedom (THE BIG OPEN
SPACE) might be gratifying, to say nothing of looking good in the morning
news paper, I think the effect would be minimal. But we don't have to go
there. Everytime we open space, and especially when we do that around some
common, mundane, everyday issue for even a few people - those people have an
opportunity to take a deep breath, to push back the crowding walls of fear,
to open up their life space. I am reminded of a very small Open Space I did
in The Middle East. At the end a young Palestinian woman came up to me with
tears in her eyes, and said, "You have reborned my hope." The English may
have been a little fractured, but the moment was profound.

Maybe we could talk about all this?

Harrison 

Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland   20854
Phone 301-365-2093
Skype hhowen
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/>

Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website www.ho-image.com 
OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives
Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
<http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html> 

*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist