"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
We have heard this statement from Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1933 inaugural address so many times it might seem like cliche. That does not stop it from being one of the most profound statements ever made. In fact I cannot think of a sentiment expressed in any political speech that has ever been more true.
Fear is by far the most complicated of emotions. We need it like we need lungs. Without it we would jump into the fire and burn ourselves up. I personally would have jumped off a tall building a long time ago just to see if the tree would catch me. Yes, logic and reason certainly play a part in these types of decisions, but fear is what stamps out that first impulse to do something really insane.
Unfortunately fear is also the thing that so frequently kills the human spirit and keeps us from doing things that might really help us. A little fear can seriously impede our progress. A lot of fear paralyzes us. It makes us do stupid things and then try to rationalize our cowardice as thoughtfulness. Being careful is a good thing. Refusing to move forward or try new ways to accomplish our goals out of fear is not only ridiculous but can be incredibly damaging to ourselves and those around us. Let me cite a couple of examples of what I mean.
Why did we elect George Bush for a second term? (When I use the term "we" I mean the American people. I never voted for him.) The first time he was not even elected by popular vote, but if he had been, it would have been at least somewhat understandable because we couldn't see into the future to observe the train wreck that would ensue. By 2004 most people knew that he was a terrible president, and anyone who did not must have been living under some kind of delusion. The awful decisions he made are too numerous to list, but we are painfully aware of the the very worst of them. He brought us into the most idiotic war in our history. The war is largely responsible for our enormous deficit and something that, in itself, serves as an example of irrational fear.
There was nothing at all wrong with John Kerry. Senator Kerry was a qualified person with a distinguished career in both the military and the senate. Maybe he wasn't all that exciting as a candidate, but if we had elected him in 2004, we would likely be in a much better place. So why in the world did we re-elect someone we already knew was doing an awful job? I don't know how it happened. Perhaps it really was the whole swift boat fiasco, but somewhere along the line, people developed an irrational fear of John Kerry. It was a crazy fear. He simply was and is not a scary person, but what do people do when they are afraid? They choose not to act, and to stay with the status quo no matter how distasteful. This must be how George Bush was elected to a second term.
Here is another example of a fear campaign that I think was a little more orchestrated. In November of 2008, California voters passed Proposition 8 which removed the right for same-sex couples to get married. I have written about this in earlier blog posts, so I will not go into great detail about it here. I will just say that it is another instance in which people feared something that was completely fabricated or imagined. Choose your fear. Jesus will hate you. Your kids will be corrupted. Roaming bands of homosexuals will take over the world. The institution of marriage will die. This was total insanity, but Prop 8 still became law.
I, of course, am not immune to the irrational fear that plagues us all. I am cringing as I write this paragraph even though I like to write. I wanted to become a writer way back in high school, but I believed that I couldn't do it. I was afraid of what? I don't know. Perhaps, it was failure. I have finally reached the point where I have realized I should try to write a book. However, I still am deathly afraid of letting anyone read what I have to say. Why? Maybe someone will hate what I write so much that they will take out a big sledge hammer and beat me over the head until I die, but that is pretty unlikely. This blog is part of my attempt to conquer that fear.
So what is all my blather about fear about? It is about my fear of......well, fear itself. I am concerned that this pervasive fear we live with will once again overcome every shred of common sense we might have had. Most of us clearly want healthcare reform AND a public option, for instance, but will fear choke the life out of it in its early days? Our president seems wishy-washy (although I haven't given up on him because I suspect that if we are a little more patient, we will find that he has his own subtle way of getting the job done.) Those Republicans of the blue dog/Lieberman variety that like to call themselves Democrats are trying to water down the bill so heavily as to prevent any real change. The "real" Democrats are, perhaps, the worst of all for allowing the bill to be railroaded. I believe in compromise up to a point, but this is too important. The system is broken, and they all know it. We tried it the other way, and now it is time to plunge in and try something different. Instead the whole debate is all centered around fear. There is the fear that the new system will not work, fear that we will somehow lose our choices, and fear of stepping on anyone's toes. I am confident we could do this if only we were not so afraid.
Here is where Larry Flynt, the producer of Hustler magazine comes in. Mr. Flynt is an irascible individual. He frequently acts inappropriately, expresses himself in a rude and shocking manner. He's not someone most people would hold up as being of the highest moral character. He is not someone with whom I would choose to be friends. Basically, he is a disgusting ass. In some ways he is reminiscent of Rush Limbaugh, but here is how he is different. He is frequently right, and he does not use fearmongering to get his point across. We can count on Larry to say what needs to be said.
Recently, he told the president and congress to "grow a pair" of gonads. It isn't the way I would have phrased it, but it needs saying. Perhaps I should put it this way. We should take to heart what FDR told us so many years ago. We should start being afraid of fear.
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