fear

Of course, the Nazis were wrong to hate the Jews.
But their hating the Jews was not without a cause.
It's just that the cause wasn't real.
The cause was imagined.
The cause was fear.
Let's leave the Jews out of this just for a moment.
Let's think of another minority.
One that...
One that can go unnoticed if it needs to.
There are all sorts of minorities, blondes for example or people with freckles.
But a minority is only thought of as one when it constitutes some kind of threat to the majority.
A real threat or an imagined one.
And therein lies the fear.
If the minority is somehow invisible then the fear is much greater.
That fear is why the minority is persecuted.
So, you see there always is a cause.
The cause is fear.
Minorities are just people.
People like us.
I can see that I've lost you a bit.
So tell you what? We're gonna forget about Mr. Huxley today and we're gonna talk about fear.
Fear, after all, is our real enemy.
Fear is taking over our world.
Fear is being used as a tool of manipulation in our society.
It's how politicians peddle policy.
It's how Madison Avenue sells us things that we don't need.
Think about it.
Fear of being attacked.
Fear of that there are communists lurking around every corner.
Fear of that some little Caribbean country that doesn't believe in our way of life poses a threat to us.
Fear that black culture may take over the world.
Fear of Elvis Presley's hips.
Actually, maybe that one is a real fear.
Fear that our bad breath might ruin our friendships.
Fear of growing old and being alone.
The fear of that we're useless and that no one cares what we have to say.

Have a good week...

a single man (2009)