Question #1
Moral Panics in 2020 is a blog post written by Jessica Poling. She attempts to explain the public unrest being experienced this year, 2020, and she uses Stanley Cohen’s theory of ‘’moral panic’’ to do so. It is clearly evident that America has mounting outcries on issues of gender inequality, police brutality, and the manner in which climate change and COVID-19 are being handled by the Trump administration. Therefore, using the theory, Polling tries to explain why conspiracy theories are gaining public attention and the impacts they have on the nation. The theory was created to explain the collective levels of anxiety and panic among members of a society as triggered by an event. There are five stages to the theory; an event occurs that that triggers the public attention, the threat is then amplified by media, collective concern grows, higher powers recognize the need for the threat to be handled, and finally, changes are introduced by the higher powers. To provide an in-depth understanding of this issue, Polling analyzes some past examples such as the Salem Witch Trials, the 2017 ”deep state” narrative, the Mayfair children trafficking allegations, QAnon’s theory, War on drugs, and the 1980s ”Satanic Panic”. Polling further points out that the conspiracy theory supports most beliefs of the Republicans. Therefore, it offers an important language for analyzing situations and events; despite the threats not being a true danger, they are today’s world’s moral panic in a turbulent society.
Question #2
The most interesting aspect of the blog post is that human beings very vulnerable to conspiracy theories. In favor of simple truths, people will choose to believe and be drawn into dark conspiracy theories. Even with evidence to prove the truth, these theories will have a higher chance of being believed in. In my own experience, I find conspiracy theories dangerous because they are highly speculative and have no evidence base. For example, even with film documentations of astronauts landing on the moon, millions of people still believe that it was a conspiracy theory by the government. In today’s world, conspiracy theories are used as ”weapons” and a form of political propaganda. It is more surprising that many significant and sensitive issues have conspiracy theories connected to them. For example, the opposition to gun control, the 9/11 terrorist bombing, the moon landing, and several others. Simply, conspiracy theories are misleading and dangerous.
Question #3
The concept of the blog post, the moral panic theory, conflicts with my worldview. Cohen’s theory tries to explain how some powerful members of society gain more status and power, leading to the introduction of control legislation to address the panic. This goes against my viewpoint of how the world is. The theory suggests that the consumers of media are just a passive audience. This is not the truth because people who use media, particularly the social media platform, are very active and critique the media contents, meaning that social panic is less likely. Simply, it is suggested by the theory that people are easily manipulated by media, and people are easy to believe everything media is saying. In today’s world, there is increased skepticism about journalists. More so, people are more aware of the ”tabloid’ ‘newspapers that filter the media people consume. Despite media being a significant influence on people’s choices and decisions, people are now more aware of what is right or wrong. What moral panic suggests is that there is uniformity in how people respond to certain events and situations. Public reaction to media is never uniform. Despite the moral panic theory not representing my point of view, it, however, it cannot be dismissed completely because, just like any other sociological model, it tries to explain the views and concerns of a particular society at a given time. It also plays a role in the media’s role in the construction of deviance. Therefore, the moral panic, particularly the conspiracy theory, is a concept that I do not support.
Question #4
In the post, there is a power among certain people in society as described in the moral panic theory. There are five stages of the theory, and the fifth stage is when the powerful member in the society, or the particular jurisdiction, introduces control legislations. Therefore, the people who have power are those who have the ability to make legislative changes. The people who are left out are the people who consume the media content and are vulnerable to conspiracy theories. The main assumption of the theory is that there is uniformity in how people react to media content.
Question #5
The moral panic theory described in the blog has a correlation with inequality in the society where the people in the society with power and status exercise their legislative powers on the other members of the society. The legislative changes made are done based on the media content being spread. Therefore, there is a clear line of inequality between the powerful members of society and the rest of the people. People who lack status and power are segregated where their views and opinions are not heard. Simply, they are a subject that legislations are imposed on.