George & Dick's War of the Worlds?
In 1938 Orson Wells made history when he inadvertently set off
mass panic with his War of the Worlds broadcast. An early
science fiction classic, War of the Worlds was the tale of a
hostile Martian invasion of earth that Wells adapted for his
radio audience.
What created havoc was that many listeners tuned in as the show
was already in progress and made the erroneous assumption that
the Earth was really under attack. There were many stories of
people taking drastic actions like evacuating their homes or
preparing for the grisly death they thought was inevitable.
It has often been asked why these individuals did not critically
examine what they were listening to before giving into fear.
After all, a simple flick of the radio dial would have revealed
that none of the other networks were covering what would have
been the major news story in human history. What would have been
the odds of that happening?
Social psychologists have noted that an important factor in this
story is that the public was already primed to be fearful of
invasion due to the political climate of 1938. Although the
Second World War would not begin until 1939, the news of the day
was rife with legitimate concerns about Hitler's intentions,
thus the idea of a hostile invasion was already at the forefront
of public thinking. Also under conditions of stress and fear,
the ability to think and reason critically greatly diminishes.
It is hard to resist making a comparison between the War of the
Worlds panic and the group psychology of Americans after the
September 11 terror attacks. Confronted with the smoldering
ruins in lower Manhattan, Washington D.C. and a lonely field in
Pennsylvania, we as a nation were angry and afraid. The
confusion and feelings of insecurity also left us more
suggestible and willing to follow leadership that promised to
lead us out of the wilderness of fear and uncertainty.
Yet was this priming effect possibly misused? Very few would
argue that the military operation in Afghanistan was anything
but necessary in order to topple the Taliban regime that
supported the 9/11 terrorist operation. However, a growing
number of Americans are coming to believe that the Bush
administration had and still has motives other than the
prevention of terrorism with the current campaign in Iraq.
Conspiracy theories will always abound, yet it seems doubtful
that policy makers would not have been aware of the heightened
suggestibility of the American public post 9/11. Whether they
abused the public trust remains to be seen, however it is
important for all of us to be aware of the impact that group
psychology has on our lives.
To learn more about the abuses of thought control technology,
please visit the author's Mind Control Resource page at
http://theholisticmall.com/_wsn/page12.html