There is an entire cottage industry centered around fear-mongering and carefully cultivating, farming, fear, hysteria, outrage, and hate. Hard to make clear headed and rational decisions when a good part of the citizenry is perpetually punch drunk, and addicted to being punch drunk, from an endless series of stories, carefully crafted to cause maximum alarm, that come down to 'the sky is falling' without a whole lot of facts, backing, or context.