Top 5 Bogeymen Americans Dread

Adult Americans have their own bogeyman – those shadowy, poorly-understood, but powerful things that are out to get them.

There is no national bogeyman; it all depends on who you are. For example, liberals may think a conservative figure is the bogeyman while conservatives may think a liberal is the bogeyman.

Below are five bogeymen that instill the most fear on large segments of the American population.

1. George Soros

The billionaire trader inspires fear in American conservatives.

Conservative media personality Glenn Beck has specifically accused him of two things: financing the progressive movement in America and the globalization agenda on the international stage.

Soros has also been accused of funding insurrections around the world, particularly in his native region of Eastern Europe in the 1990s.

Soros’ ultimate goal is to transform the world into a one-world socialist government, say the dreaders.

2. Fox News / Roger Ailes

Roger Ailes and his Fox News is the boogeyman to many liberals. This epic takedown piece from Rolling Stone further bolsters Ailes’ boogeyman status.

Fox News / Ailes is accused of destroying real journalism by employing misinformation and systemically undermining Democrat politicians and propping up Republican ones. They are credited with electing George W. Bush in 2000 and undermining the Obama administration from day one.

Their end goal is to corrupt American politics and put the average man under the yoke of big corporations, say the dreaders.

3. Goldman Sachs

Ever since the financial markets and economy imploded in 2008, almost everyone has grown suspicious of Goldman Sachs.

The fact is that Goldman Sachs is a big player in the US financial system and many of its former employees are appointed to prominent government posts, with former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson being the prime example.

What the dreaders allege is that Goldman Sachs runs the US government, sells out the country to financiers and foreigners, and takes a cut of every piece of commercial transaction in America.

4. China

China’s economy is growing at a blistering pace.

Here are the facts: it’s gobbling up land and resources all over Africa, already the second largest economy in the world, the largest foreign owner of US national debt, and projected by the World Bank and IMF to surpass the US economy in the coming decades.

Dreaders claim that China is bankrupting the US economy by running a persistent trade surplus with the US. Once they become more powerful, they’ll marginalize the US influence in the world or do worse.

5. Google

Some people are concerned that Google and other technology companies are collecting too much user information.

There are various levels of Google dread.

At the tame end, some people are just afraid of the fact that the information exists. They believe the existence raises the risk that it may one day be stolen by hackers and leaked to unscrupulous parties.

At the extreme end, dreaders believe technology companies like Google, Apple, and RIM are cooperating with the government to keep tabs on private citizens and pounce on any signs of civil dissent.