In his first inaugural address in 1932, President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” These words were designed as encourage a nation that had been deeply shaken to its roots as a result of the Great Depression. It was an event that was experienced across the globe and, among other things, gave rise to great men like Roosevelt and Great Britain’s Winston Churchill, as well as tyrants like Germany’s Adolph Hitler, Italy’s Benito Mussolini, and Japan’s Hideki Tojo.
Like Roosevelt, Churchill was an inspirational figure, rallying the British people to resist fear and stand up to Nazi Germany whatever the cost. He was simply eloquent. Before the House of Commons on 13 May 1940 when that British war cabinet was divided on the issue of whether to appease Nazi Germany or to continue hostilities, he said this:
Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
The British feared another war, having paid bitterly in blood and treasure 22 years earlier during World War I. No one wanted to go through that ordeal again. But Churchill met their fear head on and speaking pellucidly about the cost of appeasement, namely the very likely prospect that the British nation would not survive unless it fought with all its might.
FDR and Churchill understood fear and knew it was something to defeat, not encourage. When I went to war in 1991 in Iraq, I had occasion to share with my troops a simple truth about fear. I knew many of them had not been in combat to that point, nor had I. But we had trained for it and we were ready. Nevertheless, it was natural then, as it is with all soldiers, to consider the worst that could happen, to you and your friends, and what your family would have to deal with if you didn’t return. I recall saying to my troops, “It’s fine to be scared at times like these. Being scared is a natural response to facing danger. But you must not be fearful, because unlike being scared, fear will crush your heart.” This was true for me the first time I parachuted from a C-130 aircraft in Airborne School. If there was one first-time jumper on that aircraft that day who wasn’t a bit scared, he was probably a complete liar. Being scared was normal. Being fearful could result in unwillingness to exit the aircraft. Fear didn’t overcome me or anyone else on that aircraft that day because we didn’t permit it to master us.
Which brings me to this. If there is one thing that I truly despise in American politics today it’s the resort to fear that so many of our leaders use to advance their political agenda. You see it in practically every policy discussion that enlivens elections. Political consultants press their candidates to speak about this or that issue in the most fearful manner. We hear that we will lose this particular freedom or this government program or this benefit and when we do, our lives will be forever destroyed. The fear that evokes in some is palpable. It is also despicable.
There is nothing to fear in America today that is remotely like that experienced in the World Wars. Nothing. We are a blessed land with wonderful opportunities, despite those who would tell you otherwise. We are also a people who have thrived on our ability to surmount tough odds and in the process, eschew fear to pursue success.
Nowhere is the use of fear in today’s America more unjustified and deceitful than that invoked by the hucksters of doom surrounding COVID-19. Yes it is a serious illness. Yes we should use common sense in battling it. And yes, we will meet that challenge by overcoming the virus by creating cures and vaccines. Why will we do this? Because we must. Because it’s who we are. Because we have always overcome that which others shy from. The politicians of our age who traffic in fear—particularly that associated with COVID-19—are truly the vilest among us. They seek political gain by crushing our spirits and causing us to think that we are doomed unless we put them in power to take care of us and dispel the fear they are inducing. When they do this, they are not showing leadership. They areshowing a charlatanic lust for power to have their way in other matters. They are the modern equivalent to the frontier snake oil salesman selling an elixir for a problem it will not cure.
It’s time we reject the purveyors of fear and seek out leaders determined to conquer it. We far deserve better.
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