“What might be happening.” This phrase was used by a Republican lawmaker justifying new voting restriction laws proposed in her state (see link after the photo). People should not, she claimed, to be comforted by a lack of legal convictions for voter fraud. Such convictions, admittedly rare, did not even begin to address what might be happening.
It struck me that it is one of the most powerful phrases in our long and all-too recent history of the use of fear to justify oppression and restriction.
“What might be happening.” It gives permission for there to be no actual evidence. It does not even have to clear the hurdles of probability and plausibility. It only has to be possible.
“What might be happening.” Its vagueness allows room for our worst imaginings to come out and play, unconstrained by reality.
“What might be happening.” It’s not a specific worst-case scenario, one that can be prepared for. It can be anything.
And this is an intentional strategy. A frightened populace will often turn to more restrictive laws and more authoritarian leaders. Fear thrives where facts are left behind.
Sometimes I hear or read references to followers of the ex-president as “easily manipulated.” I do not think that is an accurate characterization. Or rather, it’s a characterization of all humans. We are all relatively easily influenced by the information we take in. Our brains have evolved to be sensitive to potential dangers, to scan the environment for “what might be happening.”
We can all cultivate our resistance - our immunity - to manipulation by fear. Because at this moment in history, such manipulation might be our biggest existential threat. If successful, it could prevent us from taking necessary action to keep one another safe from violence, discrimination, exclusion, and climate catastrophes - the real dangers that require us to work together.
Let’s be unafraid of one another, because “what might be happening” is nothing compared to what we know is already underway.
Be well, dear friends, and take good care.
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/15/1016572861/right-to-vote-in-minnesota-lawmakers-on-both-sides-seek-changes-to-voting-proces