freedom from fear Flashcards
What is the importance of Hills lecture?
• Putin threat of nuclear warfare and its relationship with fear
• Fear has always been a weapon of war as well as a political commodity” (pg. 6).
• Invokes the Cold War fear of nuclear war
• Tactical political blackmail (pg. 7)
• War Russia started and is now losing.
• Can’t use the bomb bc he started the war
• A war for which there is no real justification
• Putin has no grounds to use the weapon
what is tactical political blackmail?
using political threats such as war to halt action from other nations
why did Putin threaten to use the nuclear bomb in Ukarinan war?
To strike fear in the hearts of Ukarinans and other nations. This fear will cause inaction from Global interference due to the threat of a nuclear or cold war?
How credible is Putin’s threat?
• nuclear war threats are not credible due to the complications and Risk that arise when it’s used
• Hill claims that the fear is not credible (pg. 8), but rooted in our ignorance of the context in which it was made
what does this quote mean?
And after years of studying Russian and Russia, and decades ofclosely analyzing Putin, I know he is just a man, operating in his own specific context. He has predictable patterns. He can be countered. And resorting to the use of a nuclear weapon would be an enormous gamble, even for someone who can be as reckless and ruthless as Putin.” (pg. 8)
Putin’s threat is not credible
What doe this quote mean?
• “FDR knew that people could be paralyzed by the fear of poorly understood events. They were prone to the manipulation of their fears and thus intimidation and exploitation. If people were filled with fear, they were incapable of taking the necessary individual and collective action to deal with a disaster.” (pg. 9)
this quote shows how fear affects Agency and how it stagnants action and response to a threat
what is cultural despair?
• “the sense of loss, grievance, and anxiety that occurs when people feel dislocated from their communities and broader society, as everything and everyone shifts around them.” (pg. 10)
what is the importance of this quote?
Populists today, like Putin in Russia, Donald Trump in the United States, Narendra Modi in India, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, and also Xi Jinping in China, appeal to people who fear they have lost their livelihoods along with their identities and their cultural moorings at times of rapid social change and political and economic uncertainty. They present themselves as strongmen leaders who can restore order from the chaos.” (pg. 11)
political leaders are able to exploit the concept of cultural despair by presenting themselves as the solution to the problem that is causing said fear
What does this quote mean?
“Knowledge and Reasoning are the antidote to fear”
In order to combat fear and cultural despair, education is the best method as it ceases ignorance and discontinues the manipulation Politicians use on the masses
How does fear cause breakdown within the individual?
• constant fear in Soiety can cause inaction amongst the populace
the sense of loss, grievance, and anxiety that occurs when people feel dislocated from their communities and broader society, as everything and everyone shifts around them.” (pg. 10)
