The world, we are told repeatedly, is a
dangerous place. And though everyone desires a degree of
privacy and personal safety, a new climate of uncertainty has
made a fetish of security bordering on paranoia. So the
question remains: Which fears are rational? And which are
irrational?
We have become a culture awash in fear. We
are afraid of our food, our water, our air and our soil. We are
afraid of sex, pandemics and genetic engineering. We are afraid
of computer viruses, foreigners and faiths that are not our
own. We are afraid of business. We are afraid of government.
Fear has become an organizing principle in
our society and our lives. We build barricades, firewalls and
fences in search of safe zones. We collect personal data and
monitor the activities of individuals. In turn, we fear for our
privacy as the search for public security makes us feel more
exposed, more vulnerable, and even less secure.
In his fifth inaugural address, during the
height of combat in WWII, Franklin D. Roosevelt asserted,
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Roosevelt's public fortitude stands in stark contrast to the
fear-mongering of the current administration, immersed in a
conflict of its own choosing while besieging the American
public with vague terrorist warnings and color-coded threat
levels to keep us on our guard. No matter — in
contemporary America, there are policies to be promoted and
products to be sold. Fear is just
another marketing tool.
In the end, what are we afraid of most? We
are afraid of each other.