Miner Queries: Are we falling for the politics of fear?

As I watched the hate explode last week, I couldn’t help wondering what kind of country we are becoming.
After yet another mass shooting, this one with a possible tie to Islamic extremism, The Donald declared all Muslims should be banned from entry to the U.S. And reminiscent of Nazi Germany, he suggested Muslims be tracked and labeled. Really? We want to hand out yellow crescents?
As if that wasn’t enough, on Thursday I learned via Talking Points Memo that our Conservative Supreme Court justices feel comfortable spouting racist garbage as they argue a case against Affirmative Action. Justice Scalia pointed to those who “contend it does not benefit African-Americans to - to get them into the University of Texas where they do not do well, as opposed to having them go to a less-advanced school, a less—a slower-track school where they do well.”
Everywhere I turn, people are cowering in fear and spitting venom to target an enemy. Liberals, Conservatives, Muslims, Evangelical Christians, Republicans, Democrats, Blacks, Whites, Immigrants, Refugees, the Poor, the Rich, the NRA, gun nuts, gun control freaks. We see the enemy behind every tree and rock.
Just calm down.
Whenever politicians and media ratchet up the fear, we should ask who will benefit if we target  each other and act rashly.
When we promote Second Amendment rights and individual gun ownership to the exclusion of public safety, obviously weapons and ammunition companies benefit with increased sales. As a Dec. 8 Guardian article notes, Smith & Wesson sales have soared 32.1 percent this year: “But Smith & Wesson’s aggressive marketing of cheap handguns appears to be enough to make up for the shortfall in rifle sales that has cut into gun industry profit margins. And the suspicion, especially with respect to Obama, that gun confiscation laws are just moments away, has kept sales robust.”
This despite the fact that Ronald Reagan was the last president to have passed any gun control legislation, and that law, the Brady Bill, was allowed to expire without reinstatement.
For those arguing for war on Islam, including presidential candidates, our congresspeople and media pundits, we should ask if they have ties to military contractors and other industries poised to profit from war. A Dec. 7 Alternet article reported about a Credit Suisse conference of defense contractors in West Palm Beach, California. “Lockheed Martin Executive Vice President Bruce Tanner gave a speech openly praising the ‘indirect’ benefits that defense contractors would see as a result of the war in Syria.”
And for those calling for the incarceration and deportation of undocumented immigrants, the private prison industry is more than ready to provide beds and meals. As The Huffington Post documented in a 2012 story: “The two largest for-profit prison companies, Corrections Corporation of America and The GEO Group, Inc., have more than doubled their revenues from the immigrant detention business since 2005, according to securities filings.”
While we’re worrying about the few paltry social benefits that might be paid to the “undeserving” poor or our immigrant neighbors, these private companies are vacuuming up fistfuls of our tax dollars.
That’s what happens each time we react to the fear and blame Muslims or black men or immigrants or liberals. While we fight among ourselves, we miss seeing the crony capitalist wizards behind the curtain pulling the strings to pad their profits.