Hyer 1

Gretchen Hyer
Lundstrom HELA per. 3
January 10, 2016
The Great Tool of Fear
Imagine an army of giants. Towering people that inspire dread everywhere they march.
That is exactly what the Potsdam Giants of Prussia were. People at least six feet and six inches
tall, used to inspire fear in all of Frederick William Is enemies. This is just one example of how
fear is used everywhere. It is used as entertainment in haunted houses and horror shows, it is
celebrated with Halloween, and is also paralyzing to many people. However when fear is used
correctly it can be much more compelling than paralyzing. It can become a motivator. Therefore
ruling a government with the tool of fear in hand can make for a very effective reign. To do so
fear must be used to control the country as well as instill national pride.
Using fear to control a country is more like using it subtly to retain order. The majority of
citizens in an average country do not realize that fear is what helps keep them in line, usually it is
the law that they think does the job. That is not necessarily true because a law is just a bunch of
words on paper that have been voted to become a rule. What a person associates with that law or
more importantly with breaking that law is the real enforcer. Associating unpleasant, cruel,
painful, difficult things with jail makes that consequence for breaking the law more unnerving
for people so they will be more hesitant to break the law. Concerning fear Tom Pyszczynski said,
...when people are terrified, they are typically willing to give up their freedom (qtd in Bever
10). Though this is true that is not exactly the goal for using fear as a tool for order. People do
not generally like to feel terrified so that extreme is best avoided, but slowly gaining power by
giving solutions that may take a little freedom away while making the population feel safer is

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very important. By seemingly solving the citizens fears they may start to show gratitude and
love toward their ruler, but it is better to be feared rather than loved. Niccol Machiavelli wrote
on this subject saying, For love is sustained by a bond of gratitude which, because men are
excessively self-interested is broken whenever they see a chance to benefit themselves. But fear
is sustained by a dread of punishment that is always effective. (pg. 59) Since love can be wishy
washy, an effective leader must be able to hold onto something that every human has felt and can
feel.
Another emotion that is common in people is pride. National pride is a very large necessity in
running a country and fear can help with that. Because citizens who believe that their country is
powerful often have a strong sense of nationalism, an intelligent ruler will make it at least seem
that their country is powerful. Now one of the many ways in making a country seem powerful is
by portraying its ability to make other nations tremble in fear. The day after nuclear scientists in
North Korea said they successfully tested a hydrogen bomb there was incredible rejoicing
throughout the entire country. There is no confusion in North Korea about the purpose of the
rockets: They are very clearly portrayed to children as ballistic missiles. Those ballistic missiles
are seen as a way to continually make North Korea strong and terrifying to other nations. From
birth North Koreans have been trained time and time again to believe that bombs are a sign of
power in their country. These are people who are starving but they still rejoicing in their
scientific advances. Journalist Jean Lee said:
Enough of the population is buoyed by this singular sense of national pride
and a Korean sense of conformity to keep the regime afloat.
The North Koreans know they dont have much. But they know they have
bombs that they believe can bring the worlds biggest nations, including their

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chief enemy, the United States, to their knees. At least we have Nuclear weapons,
and that makes us untouchable, North Koreans would often tell me when I was
reporting in the country. (par. 9-10)
Those untouchable citizens are in the frame of mind to only serve their country. The most
powerful loyalties are built on that pride in one's country. A nation must have people who will
die for it in order for that state to survive any wars. Now to get people to die for their home they
must love it. The population must love that countrys ideals, power, culture, and much more.
They must wholeheartedly adore their home and believe that it is, if not absolutely perfect,
nearly perfect. There are many citizens of the United States of America that are convinced that
the more perfect union is not simply more but that it is perfect. Those people that believe in the
flawlessness of the U.S. are just the kind of citizens that can keep a nation alive no matter the
situation. Lindsey Bever said, ...when terror strikes and fear takes hold, emotions can lead
people to cling to their cultures, beliefs, and values to protect themselves Humans naturally
need to protect what they believe and their way of life so once citizens believe in their country so
deeply it become a major part of their way of life, that country will always be protected by the
very people who live in it. Fear of losing the very nation people rally around adds even more
protection to make that kingdom last even longer. So building pride by the ability to inspire fear
in enemies and the opposite, fearing that enemies will take away pride of that society, embody
two ways that fear can be used to make a country strong.
As with any idea there will be naysayers. Some may argue that using fear to keep order will
only inspire rallies and riots because people do not enjoy feeling afraid but the majority of people
would do nothing against what they fear. Also when using fear correctly the population should
not even realize that they are scared of something. This is done by introducing something scary

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as unpleasant, intimidating, or nerve wracking not flat out terrifying. Subtle hints at discomfort
in a situation will direct a person's thoughts away from that subject simply because people do not
like discomfort. And the vast majority of people will not go against someone that seems
intimidating. Rulers who are not terrifying but not extremely approachable are more efficient
because less people will bother them about petty trifles. Another point where there may be
disagreement is how unethical this system of government actually is. There are some individuals
who may say that using fear to manage a country is completely unethical but all governments
must use fear in some form or fashion or they would have absolutely no order. Rules work
because of the element of fear of punishment that takes place. It would be untrue to say that rules
are unethical. An argument against the usefulness of national pride, inspired by fear or not, is
that it can blind people to the conditions of their country. However, no matter how hard a
situation can get, if the citizens believe they have a powerful and strong country that can
overcome their hardship they will be more positively minded which is proven to boost a person's
strength. That way they have the capacity to deal with any problems that come their way.
Out of the many uses of fear, from being an intangible law enforcer, to medium of inspiration
and motivation, to embedder of societal safety and pride, its ability to be a very effective tool in
the practice of ruling a government trumps them all. Machiavelli understood the immortal power
that fear holds in the hearts of all mankind and he wrote on those ideas and implanted them into
the mind of society helping the beginnings of a revolution in the organization of government. To
further that revolution, leaders can learn to master the manipulation of emotions, especially one
of the most powerful emotions, in the mass of civilization. These methods have the capability to
create an incredibly efficient country as well as an absolute reign. That capability crowns fear as
one of the most effective tools in ruling a nation.

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Works Cited
Bever, Lindsy Why Obama may be wrong about freedom being more powerful than fear
The Washington Post. N.p. December 15, 2015 Web. January 9, 2016
Lee, Jean H. Kim Jong-uns Generational Ambitions The New York Times Magazine.
January 7, 2016 Web. January 9, 2016
Machiavelli, Niccol. "Cruelty and Mercifulness; and Whether It Is Better to Be Loved or
Feared." The Prince. Ed. Quentin Skinner and Russell Price. 1513. 59. Print.