
Originally Posted by
anticausal
Imagine it something like this. Everyone is on a bus, and everyone is warm and safe in the bus. But this bus can only head in one direction. Outside there are dangerous animals, a harsh climate and poisonous snakes. The bus driver has been in charge for a long time, and she is driving towards a cliff. As they approach the cliff, even more dangerous animals and poisonous snakes start appearing. People become more afraid of what's outside. In the orgy of fear, the Bus Driver insists the cliff is just a mirage, and some of the people are so bedazzled by her authority that they believe her. A group of men on the bus insist that she must be removed by force or we're all going over the cliff. Another group says this is too dangerous because we might be eaten by the increasingly multiplying wild animals. And after all, we're not sure there is a cliff ahead of us anyway, are we? The cliff-bound appeal to a certain fear and present safety over an uncertain fear and future danger. The fear of what they can easily see wins in the minds of most of the people on the bus, and after all "this is a democracy!" They insist that we wait until we are right on the edge of the cliff before any action is taken. These are the moderates. The radicalized, on the other hand, are simply those who believe their own eyes and accept the grim reality of the cliff on horizon, as well as the ever increasing danger outside, and--most importantly--have the balls to make the difficult but necessary decision to ignore all the crying women and children and force the bus to come to a stop.