Tim Kirby
Any list of potential threats to America, a corporation or an individual (etc.) will always have a top threat that could very well be a non-threat.
We could be living in a very calm world. Unlike generations past, there are no massive traditional wars, nor do we need to sew our own clothing or pray that the yield of our field will keep us alive till spring. For much if not most of the world there really is no particular fight for survival. But humanity has been fighting for its place under the sun for so long that we have become simply restless by nature and with the power of modern media we are easily convinced that we are in the same boat as our Dark Age ancestors if not worse. This is the power of image (and in today's topic wording) that can convince many of us who live quite well that a Hollywood-style apocalypse is surely on the near horizon or that we are already knee deep in it.
Screenshot: Threats are the perfect excuse to take more money from the peasantry.
One obvious Mainstream Media tactic that plays on the heartstrings of the public and viscous subconscious of lawmaking human suits is the use of the word "threat". This wording weapon really stands out when one lives in Russia, the country that is always labeled the #1 threat by quotes in major news sources. The issue is that our word of the day is very manipulative in the sense that it demands action. If your life, family or business were under threat you would do something to avert or destroy that threat, right? This is a natural human response and one that is naturally open to manipulation.
To demonstrate this "threat" dynamic we can use an example. Let's say there are three men in a room. One is six feet tall, the next is 6'3"and the other is 6'4". The Mainstream Media (especially if it were in their interests to do so) would boldly call the man who is at an even six foot - "short". All the other news organizations that share a vested interest in making this man seem small, would all parrot some quote about this person "coming up short", his "size matters" or being "half the man they thought". If you pump enough cliched garbage at something that is technically kind of true (he is definitively the shortest man in the room) then most of the public will go for it. Perhaps they don't like this gent and prefer to perceive him as a tiny manlet or they have just heard him called short so many times that this idea is comfortable and don't want the notion to be challenged. In many ways our worldview is like a series of trenches, hopping into one and taking it is easy when it is undefended, but after years of an idea being fortified into a position it takes a lot of effort to force it out. Many become comfortable with the lie they are used to.
The smarter, more aggressive, logic-based chunk of the population (like the readership of the Strategic Culture Foundation) would challenge this. After all, since only 14% of the male population is above six feet tall, that means that all of these men are tall, just one happens to have a bit less "tallness" than the others. But, sadly this call to reason and truth has little ability to stop the freight-train of quarter-truths and manipulation that is the Mainstream Media and they know that and use this sort of mechanism when discussing "threats".
Screenshot: Shouldn't the U.S. Navy by default, be focused on countering threats from other great powers? How is this "news"?
Since there are only 3 great nuclear powers that could end the world with a button press (The USA, Russia and China) of course either China or Russia is logically potential threat number #1 - they are "the shortest" of a room full of tall men but just because someone is the biggest potential problem does not make them an active imminent problem.
Of course, American Armed Forces and Intelligence should be concerned with keeping an eye on and counteracting Russia with a thousand more levels of effort than Rwanda. But the Mainstream Media makes it seem that just because Russia could do something horrible against America does not mean it will or that it is planning to. No special action needs to be taken, nor does the population need to be scared into a frenzy.
Any list of potential threats to America, a corporation or an individual (etc.) will always have a top threat that could very well be a non-threat. Your neighbor may be a healthy, strong, well-armed individual making him the most potentially dangerous person that you encounter, but that does not mean he is going to kill you just because he is "the #1 threat".
Screenshot: Considering there is only one military alliance that is working against Russia at present, this should not surprise anyone, nor does it have any newsworthy meaning.
The Mainstream Media conflates active threats with potential threats seemingly on purpose, because an active threat demands reaction and is a perfect leverage point to put some pressure onto the "evil" Russians and Chinese - who will be the #1 and #2 threats to everything Washington cares about because they are big and powerful enough to behave as independent actors on the world stage. The simple fact is that Washington will always be under some kind of threat from somewhere. This is no reason to flip out and scare the public into wasting more of America's great wealth on a #1 threat that will always be there. There are many systems and governmental bodies in place that have been dealing with these eternal dangers quite well since America became a Superpower.
Screenshot: Some threats are a matter of convenience and timing.
The next time you hear a friend or relative talking about the threat they heard about on CNN, ask them if the "shortest man in the room is actually short?" or if "your neighbor is potential threat #1 does that mean he is going to kill you?". Because these are the primitive hole-filled arguments the Mainstream Media throws at the public year-after-year The third-grade intellectual level madness of calling the nation to arms because a potential threat that exists from Russia or China needs to die out quickly because an absurd over reaction to a non-threat could get humanity into real hot water one day.