Fear, as the man said, can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free. So why are so many in Britain currently chained by fear?
The idea of fear as some sort of generalised and prevailing mood is not new. Post 1945, the Cold War and threat of nuclear armageddon kept civil society on edge. Into the 1970s, the fear of strangers in fawn Ford Cortinas and of high voltage electricity pylons frying children was a prevailing thought.
Into the late honeymoon period of New Labour, anxiety in the post-9/11 era and the non-specific worry about ASBO youth was dominating.
But now, post-2008 crash, post-Brexit, post-austerity, post-truth, post-global rise in populism stoking fears of the other, all that feels like golden years. In Big issue this week we consider some of the elements that drive the gnawing feelings of fear, whether it’s an on-the-street rise in protest/protection or how some politicians manipulate data to their needs. Happy Halloween indeed – please, don’t have nightmares.
What’s in this week’s Big Issue?
The school patrols dividing a Greater Manchester town
Anger and division in communities has taken hold across England over immigration this year. In Heywood, what started as an anti-immigration protest has grown into patrols outside schools. Our reporter joined them – and found a “deeply fractured” community.
Houses of horror
Would you rather live with a ghost or a dodgy landlord? The horror home is a fundamental fear which has been explored for centuries. As the housing crisis gets ugly, it’s rearing its head once again.
