Fear and Panic: The Oldest Emotions and the Biggest Factors

"Don't let fear control your life"

We've heard this saying so many times in our lives. Yet, how many of us have really been able to prevent fear from ruling our lives? Fear and panic are one of the most common emotions that our brain experiences when we are in stressful situations. In my opinion, I think fear and panic are at the core of every type of behavior that creates chaos and violence between people. From discrimination to segregation, from sexism to anti-semitism, the core that creates this kind of situation is fear. Fear of what is different from what we know. Fear of someone outdoing us because they have an advantage/disadvantage. That fear is what is created when we are raised to believe that we are superior/inferior to another person or another group.

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Racism, at its core, is the fear of accepting a different ethnicity assimilating in a new area. It's the fear that the new ethnicity may end up doing better than those who have lived in that area for a longer time. That fear causes people to discourage, humiliate, and alienate those new incomers to the point that they are the ones who begin to suffer. Ultimately, it's the fear of accepting new changes that are happening because of the new people who have arrived. Humans want to stubbornly cling to what is normal, that accepting change can become difficult. However, if we are ever going to effectively progress as a society, then we need to be able to accept the changes in our lives. Not being able to accept change, and more importantly, not being open to it, has led to such an increase in racism that is hard to believe. The biggest fact is, that change is a constant part of life. There's going to be so much change that occurs both within ourselves, and in our lives, that it's hard to accept it and move forward sometimes. When we are met with new people, especially those who we've been taught are "inferior" to us, and they do better than we do, it will cause new feelings of hate, disgust, and inferiority to the extent that we start pushing those people away, making them feel hated and alienated, and ultimately become a biased person. We recognize issues of systemic racism within our communities, but what the root of that issue is, no one really knows. My belief? It all started with the fear that if another group is given the same exact circumstances as us, they'll do far better than we ever could, and we would be unable to accept it.

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Sexism and Misogyny, at its core, is the fear that one sex will far outdo another sex, just based on the way both sexes have been stereotyped since the beginning of society. And if we want to get specific, misogyny is mainly aimed towards women, because from the dawn of time, women have been assumed to be weak at their cores, while men are strong. How much of that is actually true though? The most basic and well-known stereotype when we talk about sexism is that women are weaker than men. Why? Why is this assumed out of both sexes? Is it because men can build a better physique than women? Is it because they are always working outside the home while women work inside? Is it because men have penises and women do not? Or is it that we live in a patriarchy where men have always set the norms since the dawn of time, that we've become so accustomed to assuming that these age-old beliefs are accurate? In a sense, misogyny is sexism on steroids.

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While both the above topics are examples of discrimination itself, what is at the core of discrimination against other groups, other people, other things, even other ideas/ideologies? For me? It is the fear that the group, person, item, or idea will outdo what is commonly practiced for the common person. While fear is an emotion that occurs as a result of our brains releasing hormones, we as human beings need to understand where this fear comes from? Because while our body causes us to feel the fear, our minds decide what we should be scared of. So then why are there people afraid of those who appear different, and can cause a positive change in the world? Because of the stereotypes and prejudices that have existed since the beginning of society. What we are raised to believe, what we are taught to practice can have both positive effects and negative effects in the way we shape society. What we need to decide, as our own individuals, is whether what we believe and what we were raised to fear is going to have a positive or a negative impact.

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It is 2021, and whether we bother to accept it or not, the earth has grown tired of the way we treat it and each other. You guys might be wondering why I'm bringing this up? It's because that we are so focused on the trivial matters in our life, that we do not notice what kind of effect we are making on this world. Humans need to change. I've said it before and I'll say it again, HUMANS NEED TO CHANGE. It is the only way for us to really move forward, as a species, and as a civilization. But for any substantial change to become permanent in the world, we need to decide whether we need to make those changes within ourselves. Fear makes you alert, that's true, but too much fear, it can cause people to be alienated and isolated. That's not healthy for a progressive society. I urge each and every one of you to look within yourself and decide if you've let fear overtake your life and has caused you to develop prejudices against other people and other groups, or whether the fear you have has caused you to become aware of the world around you, making you open to decide what kind of change that you want to become in this world?