Issues of global governance are usually analysed at the sociological level. This is indeed appropriate. Those are large issues and they must be seen within the large framework. However, this sociological analysis can be supplemented by psychological analysis. After all, institutions are composed of individuals. The issue of the industry of fear lends itself to this supplementary analysis. After all, it is individuals not institutions who experience fear.

      Consider a child clutching his mother's apron strings. He ventures out to explore the world, gets frightened, and runs back to the apron strings. As we get older and older, we can go out further and further and stay out longer and longer. Neil Armstrong got all the way to the moon without his mother. This balance between the contentment of familiar things and the excitement of unfamiliar things continues throughout our lives. When I described my life as a balance of contentment and excitement to a friend, he said his life is walking a tightrope between boredom and fear. We immediately realised that he was saying the same thing. He was just phrasing it negatively (that was the kind of person he was!). Boredom is the negative side of contentment and fear is the negative side of excitement.