The most famous words of Franklin Roosevelt, America’s longest-serving president, were, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
One wonders if any world leader would or could say that today. We live in the Age of Fear.
All of my life, I thought love and hate were the two most powerful human emotions.
But owing to recent events, I have changed my mind.
I now understand that for most people, fear is the strongest emotion.
In fact, I’ve come to realize that it is possible to get people to do anything if you instill enough fear in them. Specifically, irrational fear.
Fear of COVID-19, for example, is rational. But media and governments induced irrational fears. That’s why millions of healthy people stayed indoors for a year or more, why a vast number of people wore masks while walking or sitting alone outdoors, and why so many parents did not allow their young children to play with other children for a year or more, even though the COVID-19 mortality rate among children was considerably less than the flu’s mortality rate among children.
All of this was caused by irrational fear. It turns out that fear is not only more powerful than love and hate; in most people it is more powerful than reason. And when it is, it is far more destructive — to the individual and to society — than rational fear.
What is rational fear? When a soldier fears going into battle, that is rational. Soldiers cannot allow fear to control their behavior, but their fear is not irrational. If a mugger points a gun at you, it is rational to feel fear. If you are diagnosed with cancer, it is rational to experience fear.
Rational fear is not necessarily a bad thing. It is irrational fear that does the most harm — to yourself, to others and to all of society. more
We can’t let the cure be worse than the disease ~ President Donald Trump
I have started to notice the people that are embracing irrational fear are evolving and not for the better. They are starting to have that crazy big eye phenomena where you can see their whites. They look on bitter and angry at anyone not participating in the mask compliance. They are jumping and agitated and you can feel their ranger anger and primal rage. And some kids growing up in this environment are going to have irrational fear forever. .
Stupidity is deadliest
I hate to quote democrats,
FDR said in a speech “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”
Be strong, be resolute, believe in your Creator.
We all have to die sooner or later, there is no point in worrying about what you can’t prevent.
FDR was right in the sense that ‘fearing fear’ is an unstable, mental feedback loop, but wrong in the sense that you should fear fear as that very act puts you in the endless loop!
Instead, he could have explained the difference between rational versus irrational fear – but I don’t think he was rational enough to do that!
Oh, well. He’s in Hell anyway. 🙂
What say you FDR in Hell? You’ve been quoted frequently on this thread, let’s hear it from the horse’s ass’s mouth.
Fear of covid, globull warming, climate change, white supremacists, Trump, all irrational fears cooked up by people that probably can’t tie their own shoe and pushed relentlessly by their propaganda machine. Meanwhile we’re partners with China, inflation is transitory and Granholm, who knows less about energy than a chunk of firewood does, will solve our energy problems.
This seems like a real life episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE!
“For we all know security,
is mortal’s greatest enemy.”
(Shakespeare – yeah, I’m plagiarizing again)
mortem tyrannis
izlamo delenda est …
Man, I am old. I can tell the thumbnail of the terrified woman is from one of the Lon Chaney Jr monster movies, possibly The Mummy’s Ghost. Whatta I win?
What was the topic?
“I now understand that for most people, fear is the strongest emotion.”
You now understand how communism works.