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Editorials & Other Articles

Iwillnevergiveup

(9,298 posts) Sat Oct 18, 2014, 01:11 PM Oct 2014

Downing Street Ebola Panic is a Classic Case of the Politics of Fear

Last edited Sat Oct 18, 2014, 06:35 PM - Edit history (1)

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/17/downing-street-ebola-panic-politics-of-fear-sars-bird-flu

SNIP####

"Health scares are classics of the politics of fear. After a while they lose all force, except to distort medical priorities. Hundreds died of hospital-caught infections while ministers panicked over bird flu. But what are we to do? As with fear of terrorism, crime, poverty or common illness, we have to rely on authority to advise and warn us. When authority has a vested interest in alarmism, anarchy reigns. We are at the mercy of the lobbyist, the spin doctor and the headline writer."

SNIP####

Simon Jenkins is coming around to being my favorite contemporary philosopher.