How to Counter Fearmongering

(Intro) This article is the hardest one I’ve written so far. Conception alone took me 3 days (counting from the day I decided to write about this). The mainstream narrative of “hate” and “love” also obstructed my search for a solution to this shenanigan. The root cause is not hate, but fear.

(Background) This article describes how to counter fearmongering, a tactic some politicians use to gain power. Search the Internet for “political fearmongering” to learn more. The gist is, when the economy is bad, people feel uneasy, making them easy to fearmonger.

How to counter fearmongering

First, don’t be fear mongered yourself. If you are reading this article, chances are you aren’t. If you are, I’m sorry…

When you meet someone who has been fear mongered, do this: Instead of arguing with them (pointing out the lies), tell them earnestly about the political tactic of fearmongering. They may deny at first, but I had better chances with this method.

You argue, you lose (time). The only winning move is not to play.

If you still have time to spare, tell them to read the history of populism (could be from any time period; they look all the same).

How to change someone’s mind

So they now know that their mind has been tampered with, but they still dislike a group of people. Now what?

Exposure effect is good enough. It’s slow, but it works all the time.

If they are open to criticism, you can also talk to them about it. Be chill. Be sleepy. Don’t argue. It takes a few weeks for someone to change their mind, though.

Epilogue

I hope this article is useful for you.

The next time you see someone lie to spread fear, say this: “Stop fearmongering! You are evil!” If you are Christian, you may say that fearmongering is the Devil’s work; it brings out the worst in us.

I also made this plaque, which you may take a screenshot of and save as an image.