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Casey Anderson
Hela 10 Mr. Lundstrom
Period 3
12 January 2016
The Power of How Fear Motivates
There are some things in life that have existed in human existence that no one
can escape, and one of those things is fear. Fear is something that is within us that is
very unpleasant and absolutely no one likes to experience. It is inevitable, everyone will
experience fear sometime in their life. Throughout all of history people have feared,
some for good reasons and some for bad reasons. Dictators have become successful
due to the motivation fear can bring. Fear is such a powerful motivator and can truly be
used to control citizens, and has been used in that manner. Governmental regimes like
tyrants and dictators have used fear to drive citizens collective behavior, because fear is
powerful, extremely motivational, and controlling.
To start, governmental leadership uses fear to drive their citizens communal
behavior because fear is immensely powerful. Fear is used to bring citizens to do
whatever that tyrant governmental body will have them do, especially in the world today,
and it edits people to make them untrustworthy. Bertrand Russell a British philosopher
agrees with this idea,neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act
humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear. As just stated fear can
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deter people in a negative way, and those people cannot be trusted in any form or
fashion. Dictatorships run on this principle that they make people so fearful of them that
they dont think in an individual, and unique manner. Instead they become vegetables,
there is not any type of logical or different kind of thinking due to the fear of what will
happen to them if they think or do in a way that is not appropriate to the governments
wants.
Furthermore, government administration uses fear to dictate their citizens
because fear is the greatest motivator. Dictators today use fear to control their people,
and it is very effective. Terrorism is definitely a motivational fear, in the fact that if people
dont do the terrorists way, and think and do how the terrorists want them to do. They
will get killed, or tortured. This can destroy a persons mind and have them forget
everything they know. Fear is used so much by governments and tyrants to harshly
force people to do whatever they want them to do. It is being used today, and has
obviously used in the past. When people fear of what you might do to them, you can
surely bet that it will motivate them to do whatever that person asks of them. This is why
fear is used by government affiliations, because it is so powerful and motivational that it
can cause the strongest of people to do the tyrants or dictators biddings.
Next, fear is so powerful and motivational, and that is why its used by
governments all around the world all through time. In addition fear is used by tyrannical
bodies of government because it is controlling. Fear is so controlling that it can eliminate
all independent thoughts and actions of a human being. This can and will delete the

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possibility of thinking differently than the way the dictator or fascist would have them
think. This is exactly what these governing corporations desire. Fear can also be used
to impede logical thought and used to start false thinking, this is like with Kim Jong Un,
the North Korean leader. He has made it so that people of North Korea believe he is
amazing, this is the ill-logical thinking, but they are so fearful of him and the threat of
what could happen to them, that they dont question his leadership. On the other hand
the rest of the world knows that Un is not a wonderful man, instead he is known as a
brutal dictator. Fear changes the way people act and think, and controls the way they
act and think. Fear is the most powerful motivator, and when used effectively can
control people to where they are slaves.
On the other hand, some might say that fear is necessary to human existence.
Fear brings obedience, without fear we will not be able to function. Without fear we are
not able to take courageous steps into life. As stated by Steven L. Anderson PhD., MBA,
if you are not afraid, you are not really living. I also believe that fear is the element that
crystallizes vision. Fear is the fire that turns the clay of your life into porcelain. If you are
courageous and face the fire you take on incredible beauty. If you run from your fear
you turn to dust. If you want to actualize the hero that lies within you, welcome it like a
trusted friend. However, fear is not a trustworthy thing, it eliminates logical thought.
Anyone who has doubts because of fear cannot be trusted. Like Russell said earlier
said that no man can be trusted to act sanely under a great fear.

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Being fearful of something doesnt make you willing to do that thing. It is the
confidence and love within you that allows you face life. Rebellions havent started

because people were afraid they might lose to the harsh opposing force. They started
because they had the confidence and the trust that they could overcome the opposition.
Fear is not a good thing, that doesnt bring out the best in us. Dictators and tyrants use
fear and terror to control citizens. Fear is the opposite of the thing necessary for life,
instead it is being confident and having determination that allows us to function. This is
why fear is not necessary for human existence and is why it is used by terrible,
governing tyrants, because it stops their citizens from functioning in a logical manner,
and impedes on the courage and trust within the citizens.
Fear truly is a powerful tool especially when used in an inferior way, and in the
wrong hands can lead to disaster. As we see with World War II, and Adolf Hitler. Hitler
used concentration camps to drive all life out of the Jews. As seen in the book,
Because Of Romek Author, David Faber tells of his real life account in one of the
concentration camps, It was almost morning when I reached the front of the line. A
guard took hold of my arm and jerked me toward him. I winced and made a face as he
jabbed a pen into my wrist. The man grinned. "You don't like it?" he asked. He slapped
my face with his open hand, knocking out two front teeth. Blood spurted from my nose
and mouth. "You think this hurts? Just wait! You know where you are?" "No, sir." "You're
in Auschwitz. What did you think you came for, a vacation? This is where we'll get rid of

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you, you bastard!" He stabbed the pen deep into my flesh, yanked it out, and stuck it
back in, again and again. Every time he pulled it out, I prayed it was the end. My arm
hurt so much I forgot about my other pains. He shoved me away and reached for the
next person. I wasn't a person anymore. Just a number - 161051. I felt more lost than

ever. My body shook as I tried not to let them see me sob. This non fictional account of
a man who really experienced what it was like to be in a horrific concentration camp.
Being tortured by guards, and fearing for his life the entire time. He wasnt worried about
rebellion or thinking in a way different then Hitler would have him think. That is why
awful dictators like Hitler use fear to motivate people to do whatever they want them to
do. Because they know that if they dont do what they ask, the torture only gets worse.
Forceful and influential fear is an awful thing. It controls people because of the
fear of having pain and torture that comes along with being rebellious. If you dont fear
they will make you fear. Whether it be through a civilized manner, or something as
ghastly as shoving a pen back and forth in your arm. They, the governmental regimes
will make you fear them. That is why they use fear to drive their citizens collective
behavior, so they can make them do whatever they want them to do without question,
and stop any rebellious activity, and create lambs to the slaughter.