Fear of an unforgiving God. Fear of losing property. Fear of not enough to eat. Fear of increased taxes. Fear of an invasion by foreign enemies, a scare trumped up by politicians and the military to keep their war games going because they fear losing their lucrative profit or their control of foreign oil.
Crime is a byproduct of fear.
Supposedly decent persons will lie to an insurance company over a car accident, or falsely testify or even produce a false witness because they are afraid their rates will go up. And insurance companies are afraid that pursuing cheaters over small sums will be more expensive that just paying them off, which hurts the innocent. Fear creates a cycle of mistrust in which no one is immune from suspicion. Thousands of American citizens have come to fear doctors and hospitals which leaves medical and pharmaceutical companies running scared. So now there is a legislative bill waiting to be signed to force citizens to purchase their vitamins from pharmacies.