A meme that has been repeated over and over in the Spanish press, ever since September 11, is that of Panic in the United States. Every couple of months some story about how the Americans are quaking in craven fear hits the papers. Yesterday it was La Vanguardia's turn. They print a health-care question every day and some kind of doctor answers it. It's usually a fairly solid and informative response and is a popular section of the paper. Yesterday's question was, "Is there a pre-war collective psychosis?" The author is one Narcís Mir, who is billed as the Director of Risk Observation, Institute of Security Studies. Whatever that is.

Can we say that these days we are in a situation of pre-war collective psychosis? In my opinion, Europe is not in that situation. Neither the "new" Europe of Blair, Berlusconi, or Aznar nor the "old" Europe of Chirac and Schröder. And this is despite the fact that some governments of this "new" Europe have made aneffort to create this climate, such as the purchase of a large supply of smallpox vaccine to protect us about the consequences of a possible attack in the war.

First, I thought we were talking about health care here, not politics. Second, the writer did not provide a lick of evidence except his own judgment in support of his opinion.

However, I believe the situation of the United States is different. It has been said many times that the attack on the Twin Towers constitutes an attack on the real and symbolic nucleus of their system of power. It was, for the Americans, the abrupt introduction of the consciousness of vulnerability. In these conditions, it is much easier to manipulate the citizens and submerge the population into a pre-war psychosis. We have seen these days some episodes of this, like the compulsive hoarding of food, batteries, or candles to confront a situation of war. Or the purchase of electrical tape to impede the entrance of lethal gases produced by a potential enemy bombardment, or even the panic set off in a Chicago discotheque, which produced a fatal avalanche.

1) Jesus Christ, any time something unfortunate like the Chicago disco panic happens in the United States the Europeans have to somehow chalk it up as America's fault. I vote next time a bunch of football hooligans causes a catastrophe in a European stadium we write a whole bunch of articles blaming the European social system for producing these unemployed no-hopers and making them frustrated and violent. 2) Again, he provides not a lick of legitimate evidence but his opinion. He certainly doesn't mention, say, having actually gone there. 3) People in Kansas normally keep a stock of canned food, bottled water, candles, and a battery radio. This is because we have TORNADOES. Here in Barcelona I keep a similar stock. This is because THE FRIGGIN' ELECTRICITY CUTS OUT ALL THE TIME AND YOU NEVER KNOW HOW LONG IT'LL BE. 4) These same European analysts of American life have been saying for years that we have some kind of mass psychosis of fear because of crime and violence and school shootings, but now they're saying that we felt invulnerable before the September 11 attacks. Which is it, guys?

But in order for this psychosis to emerge and maintain itself it is necessary that the system of government propaganda be used to the fullest, above all when a movement against Bush's warlike policy is beginning to take shape. And those who govern the United States are intensely concentrated upon this labor of propaganda these days.

Jesus Christ. There's a government-media conspiracy to propagandize the American people into collective psychosis so those who govern, whoever they are, can carry out their nefarious plots. Can anyone in his right mind possibly believe this?

Well, to top everything off, the Vangua publishes an extremely pretentious supplement on Wednesday called Culturas. The first four pages this week are all about panic, fear, and anxiety in America. Now, I was actually in Kansas last August. I did not notice a lot of panic, fear, or anxiety. If any readers are currently in America, would you mind doing a little report on panic, fear, and anxiety in your area down in the Comments section?

Andy Robinson says, "Other fears--Ebola or the imminent arrival of the African killer bee--seem like the projection of an anguish even more profound in the country of slavery, as filmmaker Michael Moore warns in his movie about the culture of fear Bowling in Columbine." He then explains how the culture of fear has made America a bunch of warmongers and how the big companies are manipulating us so we'll buy more stuff. He quotes Noam Chomsky, Clotaire Rapaille, Barry Glassner, and--get this--Marilyn Manson. I've had it with Robinson. He is the worst reporter I have ever read. Nothing he writes is neutral, yet it is printed as news rather than opinion. Every single one of his stories makes the same point: the United States is despicable and so are its citizens. The fact that the Vanguardia has hired him shows that their editorial staff doesn't recognize how inaccurate and one-sided Robinson's crap is. I do not think the Vanguardia is intentionally dishonest most of the time, which is pretty good for a Spanish newspaper. I just think they're not very smart.

There are three more articles. I'll just sort of summarize them here: "supermarket...freeway...fear...sniper...TV show...mirage...Third World...homeless...cannon fodder...fast food...dollars...terror...threat...danger...evil...death...panic...heretics...Satan...eradicate...French Revolution...collective values...Pearl Harbor...imperialism...ignorance...Yankee interests...obedience...Jack London...Nuremberg...McCarthyism...Hollywood...paranoia...Hiroshima...repression...brainwash." That ought to be enough for you to get the general idea.

Question: What motivates the Old Europeans to state so insistently that the Americans are panicking in terror?
Answer: Because if the Americans are terrorized, the terrorists have won, and that's precisely what the Old Europeans would really like to see in their heart of hearts. Maybe they aren't too big on a terrorist victory, but they would just love to see an American defeat. They need an American defeat so badly that they'll make one up if they have to. It all goes back to nationalism and comparative prestige in the end.