Thoughts on Fear, Inc.

Somebody decided to trace the money behind the rising anti-Islam activities, and came up with a network of moneyed folks who seem to like funding people who specialize in trying to scare people.  The result is Fear, Inc. 


Seven foundations, including Milwaukee's own Bradley Foundation, has largely funded what the authors call "misinformation experts" to the tune of $42.6 million over the past ten years.  Those misinformation experts' work, in turn, is amplified by what is called the echo chamber, people who find it convenient to use the misinformation, which in turn is spread to the public through a larger number of sources.  Quite a bang for the buck.  See page 4 for a graphic of this in effect (and some names).

The "top seven" foundations funding Islamophobia between 2001-2009 are:

• Donors Capital Fund ($20,768,600)
• Richard Mellon Scaife foundations ($7,875,000)
• Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation ($5,370,000)
• Newton D. & Rochelle F. Becker foundations & charitable trust ($1,136,000)
• Russell Berrie Foundation ($3,109,016)
• Anchorage Charitable Foundation and William Rosenwald Family Fund ($2,818,229)
• Fairbrook foundation ($1,498,450)

Who is the Bradley Foundation?  The report describes them as (with citations removed):

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation serves as a legacy for two brothers, Lynde and Harry Bradley, co-founders of the Allen-Bradley Company, a manufacturer of factory automation equipment.  The Bradley Foundation is an established supporter of conservative causes. Its programs “support limited, competent government; a dynamic marketplace for economic, intellectual, and cultural activity; and a vigorous defense, at home and abroad, of American ideas and institutions,” according to the foundation’s website.

The Bradley Foundation has contributed millions of dollars to mainstream conservative think tanks and groups that are not Islamophobic, including the Cato Institute, the Federalist Society, the Heritage Foundation, the Hoover Institution, the Institute for American Values, and the Hudson Institute, to name a few.  Between 2000 and 2005 the foundation also contributed more than $1.2 million to the Project for the New American Century, a highly influential think tank during the George W. Bush administration that helped develop his military and foreign policy.

The Bradley Foundation’s board comprises well-known conservatives and some lesser-known names, including columnist George Will; Terry Considine, chief executive of AIMCO Apartment Homes, who serves as the foundation’s chairman; David V. Uihlein, president of Uihlein-Wilson Architects; Michael W. Grebe, the foundation’s president and chief executive officer; Princeton University Professor Robert P. George, whom The New York Times describes as “this country’s most influential conservative Christian thinker;” Marshall & Ilsley Corporation Chairman Dennis J. Kuester; Wausau-Mosinee Paper Corporation Chairman San W. Orr Jr.; attorney Thomas L. Smallwood; and the president of Milwaukee’s Messmer Catholic Schools, Brother Bob Smith.

The Bradley Foundation from 2001 to 2009 provided $5,370,000 in funding to the Islamophobia network. These funds went to the Middle East Forum ($305,000), the Center for Security Policy ($815,000), and the David Horowitz Freedom Center ($4,250,000).  The Bradley Foundation, however, also supports organizations that seek to explain mainstream Islamic thoughts and values. The foundation, for example, provides funding to the American Islamic Conference, an organization that began for the purpose of “promoting tolerance and the exchange of ideas among Muslims and

between other peoples.”

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation did not respond to requests for comment by time of publication.

Looking at the lists of their 2010 awards, they have typical conservative priorities and bias, and supports quite a number of organizations and programs. They apparently fancy themselves as policy makers with nothing going toward stuff like, you know, feeding the hungry.

But let's look at those organizations that were identified by the Center for American Progress as anti-Islam and anti-Muslim.

• The Middle East Forum
• The Center for Security Policy
• David Horowitz Freedom Center

The report documents activities that those three are engaged in that actively promote Islamophobia, even using falsehoods and manipulated data to further their cause.  Those organizations, and others, share misinformation and promote each other's work. 

So why would the Bradley Foundation fund activities designed to spread fear?  ThinkProgress' focus on Bradley Foundation's role offers an explanation, emphasis mine:

When not funding some of the key groups responsible for propagating misinformation about Muslim-Americans, the Bradley Foundation uses its financial resources to promote a militarist foreign policy, most notably through their $1.2 million in support for the Project for the New American Century, a highly influential group which helped promote a neoconservative foreign policy during the Bush administration.

And what do neoconservatives believe in?  Let's look at Wikipedia, again, emphasis mine:

Neoconservatism in the United States is a branch of  American conservatism that is most known for its advocacy of using American economic and military power to topple American enemies and promote liberal democracy in other countries.

It's hard to topple enemies without any enemies, isn't it?  But if you can prop up some unlucky bastard as an enemy, why, that'd work just as well, wouldn't it?

(As a side note, I doubt most neo-conservatives care much about promoting liberal democracies. There are better policies for this than freedom bombs.)

Look, if you truly believe that Islams are going to overrun America, fine, then do your research and document it.  Don't make up stuff, or fund people who make up stuff.  Bad information leads to bad policies.  Bad policies lead to bad results.