The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things
Glassner, Barry. 1999. The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things. 1st ed. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Rating:
10
Summary:
Excellent introduction to the benefits of sociological thinking and skepticism
The book is primarily made up of discussions of unfounded fears and information that refutes those fears. For instance, the author presents the following information about people being killed at work, “About 90 percent of murders at workplaces are committed by outsiders who come to rob. The odds of being killed by someone you work with or employ are less than 1 in 2 million; you are several times more likely to be hit by lightning” (pp. 27-28). Other fears that are addressed include: flying, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, and youth violence.
But the bigger message of the book, which is primarily addressed only in the introduction, first, and last chapters, is that there are several clear reasons why fear is so prevalent in U.S. culture. Glassner lays the blame primarily on three groups: The first culprit, according to Glassner, is the media (see pp. xx-xxi), who have an interest in reporting sensational stories to boost ratings. The second culprit is government officials, who emphasize fears in their efforts to convince constituents to vote for them. The third, and perhaps biggest culprit (especially in the sense that this group underlies the previous two) is the capitalists who stand to gain from selling products to “alleviate” people’s fears (p. xxviii).
One final point I think is worthy of mention in the summary is one made by the author concerning the perpetrators of fear. Glassner points out that a certain group of people tend to be closely involved in such scares, ‘secondary scholars’. By secondary scholars, Glassner is referring to false experts who present themselves as actually having legitimate credentials when they don’t. In order for people to lend credence to the unfounded fears, someone official-like seems to be required. There are plenty of people willing to play that role.
Review:
The only problem I had with this book is that it didn’t seem to have a clear structure. The author obviously had data on a number of cultural fears, but didn’t appear to have a format for presenting those fears other than to randomly put them all together into one volume. Coupled with the lack of format is the minor problem I noted above that the author does very little to actually incorporate his questions about the origins of these fears into the chapters on the fears themselves. Strangely, I found the lack of structure led me to lose focus, which, in turn, made the book more boring than it necessarily would have been if the questions driving the book were better incorporated into the body of the text.
Other than this one problem, the book is excellent. It is clearly written, timely, and poignant. I also found the arguments the author presents concerning the origins of fears in society – even though they are seldom mentioned – as convincing.
Another element of the book that could potentially be seen as a problem but I found refreshing was the author’s explicit skewering of conservative politicians. Glassner points out that conservative politicians spend millions of dollars encouraging a fear of liberals (p. 15). Glassner also skewers Bob Dole several times; in one instance (p. 124) pointing out Dole’s hypocrisy in condemning rappers but condoning the movie ‘True Lies’, which has the denigration of women as a primary theme (see also the quotes from pp. 72-73). Glassner also highlights George Bush Sr.’ s abuse of people’s fear of drug trafficking when he patently lied about a drug bust in a park near the White House (see pp. 133-136). Finally, Glassner illustrates that outright deceit leading up to war runs in the Bush family. George Bush Sr. had connections to a public relations firm that fed propaganda to the U.S. media leading up to his Gulf War (pp. 154-155). I can’t say I enjoy reading such stuff, but it certainly is informative and information that everyone should have.
I don’t want to start a myth, so don’t take this as fact, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this book was, at least in part, the motivation for Michael Moore’s movie, Bowling for Columbine. Moore’s arguments in that movie follow closely the arguments in this book. If anyone happens to know if this was influential on Moore’s movie, I’d be interested in knowing the truth.
Overall, I think this is an excellent introduction to the utility of sociological thinking. The author employs scientific methods and sociological data to illustrate that many of the most prevalent fears in our society are ill-founded and worse, designed to give people power (politicians) and money (corporations). I highly recommend this text for everyone, particularly those people who are easily swayed by appeals to emotion.