CV and the politics of fear

The politics of fear at work in Century Village?

There is a lot of fear in America today, the terrorist attacks, rising crime stats, loss of jobs and homes, all go to fuel Americans fear of the future. Politicians have used the politics of fear to garner votes as they present themselves as the savior and promise that they and they alone can protect us from the evildoers who are out to harm us. This is how fear works. It makes people want to hold on to what they have and look at the unfamiliar more warily. Everyone is subsceptible , politicos know this and use it to their advantage. Our own President is no exception. He uses it when he castigates opponents and claims they are just a group of malcontents intent on destroying the lifestyle of Century Village.A ridiculous assertion , but one that many people believe is true. By his posturing and presenting a brave countenance in the face of these purported destroyers. David israel presents himself as the one and only person standing between the village and the forces of destruction. The greatest fear in the village is that condo fees are going to rise to an unmanageable level causing many residents to sell out and go live with their children. Next in line on the fear charts is that the infrastructure is slowly eroding to a point where massive amounts of money are going to be needed to maintain it. We have already seen huge chunks of money being doled out to repair defective, failing equipment, and lets not forget the five million dollars spent on a band aid approach to renewing the roads, a project that is looking more and more like a dismal failure with estimates of some twenty million dollars to do it again and get it right. The fear of loss was used to browbeat the delegates into approving the cable contract. israel claimed that unless the deal was ratified immediately we would be at the mercy of Comcast, who would use their position to run amok with their proposal. The same tactic was used in the ratification of the paving contract. The administrators announced that unless the deal was accepted then the village would be subject to a million dollar increase in the contract due to the rising cost of oil, and a huge fee for re-mobilization. That gambit actually ended up as a misrepresentation as the price of oil fell sharply shortly thereafter. But the fear of loss worked well. It's hard to resist the urge to succumb to the politics of fear. But if one critically analyzes the issues it soon becomes apparent that though the fears may not be unfounded the people presenting themselves as the only alternative and the only real way to protect you and what's yours are nothing more than practitioners of the politics of fear