Ten Behavioral Characteristics of Fear Brokers

1) Fear brokers speak to us of fear, dangerous people, and frightening situations

Unsurprisingly, leaders who use fear as their primary political strategy speak repeatedly of dangerous people and frightening situations. They address other topics too, and may even use humor. But somewhere within virtually every communication, there will be several references to danger, and to just how frightened people must not forget to be.

2) Fear brokers are not limited by facts; they use alarming ‘unfacts’

Fear politicians frequently offer descriptions of catastrophic events that might happen in the future, and of other such events that would have happened had the plans not been thwarted.

3) Fear brokers tend to accuse those who disagree with them of being unpatriotic and/or naive

Such leaders are prone to accuse those who disagree with them of being disloyal to the group and/or naive.

4) Fear brokers look good

Fear brokers tend to look, act, and speak like the people found in their constituencies, sometimes almost in caricature. The fear broker’s self-presentation tends to be that of an adequately educated person, but not a worldly or intellectual one. If from a region where the people speak with an accent, such a leader is likely to nurture this characteristic in himself.

5) Fear brokers behave like archetypal parents

A fear-mongering leader may imply that, though the people are his brave charges, they cannot be expected to be so courageous and strong as he, and therefore, they must always rely on him. He demands to be trusted, and promises that he will never abandon them or give up on his goals.

6) Fear brokers shame us over sex

Leaders who practice fear politics tend to admonish people over “moral” issues, and use shame to exert control. As a typical example, a sexuality-related topic (an issue around marriage, childbearing choices, homosexuality, etc.) will be introduced into a popular discussion that had nothing to do with sexuality, and then notes of shame or sin will be blended into the altered debate. These actions on the part of the leader may temporarily distract people from their original concerns.

7) In a seeming contradiction, fear brokers praise us for being moral and heroic

A scare-mongering leader tends to speak of how much more God-fearing, principled, selfless, and admirable the people of his nation are than all the other peoples of the world.

8) Fear brokers project personal infallibility

When asked the direct question, “Do you feel you made a mistake?” the answer is always no, regardless of how conspicuous the mistake.

9) Fear brokers are secretive, and are certain that other people too, are keeping dangerous secrets

Scare-tactic politicians are often obsessed with gathering information about their countrymen, though much of this information may be objectively meaningless.

10) Fear brokers use language that pulls for primitive effect

Whatever their tongue, fear leaders use language that incites primitive emotions: words and concepts (in the group’s language) such as vengeance , cowardice, and good versus evil. In addition, fear politicians are associated with a skewed pronoun usage, specifically the frequent use of the third person plural– they–as in declarations of what they are doing to us. In contrast, moral leaders tend to employ the first person plural– we–as in references to what we (the people) can do to help ourselves.

The Paranoia Switch

‘The Paranoia Switch: How Terror Rewires Our Brains and Reshapes Our Behavior– And How We Can Reclaim Our Courage’ – Martha Stout Ph.D.
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