Fear can do much damage to a person, and to a society. It stifles the spirit of human being, and that suppresses creativity. China was a vast forced sameness in Mao’s time. No one even dared to wear any color other than in navy blue or gray. We were cut off from the world, our brains washed so no one would challenge the daily ideology that was fed to us. The resulting fear was China descended into extreme poverty and ignorance.