Greg Guma, Author at Toward Freedom

Manufacturing High Anxiety

Greg Guma October 17, 2005 Greg Guma

"Are you and your family at risk?" Almost anyone who watches television has heard that teaser during the news. The answer is often no, but the question itself has the power to set off a panic reaction that leads people to rush out for the latest cure or recommended precaution.

Several years ago, Dr. Marc Siegel, a practicing internist in New York and frequent guest on TV news programs, began to notice what he calls "free-floating communicated fear" was causing his patients to personalize risks that were actually quite remote. In his new book, False Alarm: The truth about the epidemic of fear, he has assembled a convincing case that, misdirected by political opportunists and irresponsible media, we too often worry about the wrong things, and that fear itself poses a greater risk than any "bug du jour."

Anything but the Truth: The Art of Managing Perceptions

Greg Guma August 17, 2005 Greg Guma

In The Secret Man, Bob Woodward's new book about his Watergate source Deep Throat, he notes, "Washington politics and secrets are an entire world of doubt." Even though Woodward knew that the identity of his source was W. Mark Felt, then associate director of the FBI, what he could never be sure about was why Felt decided to gradually reveal the details of the Nixon administration's illegal activities. Three decades later, the Bush administration has made it immeasurably more difficult to be sure about what motivates many sources of information - both on and off the record - or trust that what we learn from the media will turn out to be true.

Fear and the Nuclear Option

Greg Guma August 8, 2005 Greg Guma

Twenty years ago, when people concerned about nuclear weapons warned about a "war without winners," they were accused of spreading fear and negativity. The counter-argument was that the U.S. nuclear arsenal was a shield protecting the west from a Soviet Union bent on world domination.

Addicted to War: The New American Militarism

Greg Guma June 30, 2005 Greg Guma

George Washington could hardly be called naïve about the use of military power. Yet, in his presidential farewell address, the general-turned-political leader issued a warning that would be wise to reconsider as the United States pursues a foreign policy based on preventive war and a crusade to spread democratic capitalism worldwide. Citizens should be wary, Washington explained, of "those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty."

Outsourcing Defense 6/04

Greg Guma June 23, 2005 Greg Guma

The Quiet Rise of National Security, Inc.

Four years ago, candidate George W. Bush promised to make government more efficient, lean, and responsive by looking at whether some federal agencies should be privatized or abolished. On the record, the plan was to start with almost one million federal positions, those said to be “commercially replaceable,” and open them up for private bidding. Shortly after taking office, he took the idea a step further, stating his preference for privatized peacekeeping operations. read more

The evolution of perception management tactics (06/04)

Greg Guma June 3, 2005 Greg Guma

In the Reagan Era, it was known as “public diplomacy.” The current Bush regime calls it “strategic influence.” What both terms describe is the US government’s desire and capacity to manage mass perceptions around the world and, when necessary, at home. If you don’t think it’s been going on for years and continues to this very moment, well, then, it’s working.

As the Iraq war began, we did get a brief peak behind the curtain. Word leaked out that a new Pentagon Office of Strategic Influence was gearing up to sway leaders and public sentiment by disseminating false stories. Horrors! Facing public censure, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld publicly denounced and supposedly disbanded it. But, a few months later, he quietly funded a private consultant to develop another version. The apparent goal was to go beyond traditional information warfare with a new “perception management” campaign designed to “win the war of ideas” – in this case, against those classified as a terrorists. read more