During the past several weeks almost everyone I meet has commented on the proposed health care legislation. What has surprised me is how many of these comments are fear driven. Given this I have begun to watch the media and all the movers and shakers with a great deal of interest. I find that those with special interests have discovered how to market by using our deepest fears. They know it works.

So what are we afraid of that gives such leverage? We are afraid of dying. We are afraid of losing control of our lives. We are afraid of losing our resources and rights. We are afraid that someone else will make crucial decisions for us, decisions that we want to make for ourselves. These are legitimate fears, and probably universal ones. As such they are very open to being exploited. Every good marketer knows that once you have a person’s attention you have your foot in the door. What better way is there to get our attention than to activate fear? What better way is there to take our minds off an issue and to give away our power? Fear may be one of the fastest ways to get our attention because it is linked to our primitive fight/flight response. Since running isn’t a real option in this situation, then getting angry becomes the emotion of choice.

So what do we lose when we are gripped by our deep fears? Since fear is such a strong emotion, we are most likely to lose our capacity for rational judgment. This is a huge loss for it ultimately takes away our personal power to make any kind of rational decision. We are dealing with a very important issue, one that affects us all, the health care that every single one of us needs or will need in the course of our lives. It is important to empower ourselves when we notice that any group or person is seeking to activate our deepest levels of fear and wonder why they are doing this. We need to learn to stop and ask ourselves what this group or person has to gain. Perhaps they have an agenda of their own and are seeking to fast track our loyalty by activating our fear. So, let’s not give our power away so easily, and above all, let’s not give it away to fear.