President Roosevelt inspired old fashioned patriotism. See this link to "Powers of Persuasion," a 1994-1995 poster exhibit at the National Archives. I am old enough to remember Norman Rockwell's inspiring series of illustrations, "The Four Freedoms." These posters came out in 1943. Rockwell had been inspired by another of President Roosevelt's speeches, his January 6, 1941 message to Congress. FDR truly had the capacity to assist the whole United States citizenry to be brave in the face of danger. I clearly remember how much the Saturday Evening Post coming in the rural mail meant to our family. These"Four Freedoms" illustrations graced several covers in 1943.
How do people in the 21st century deal with their fears? This essay in the WaPo, written just before the 2004 election is a great read. It explores, with more insight than many of us can muster, the questions with which we still fearfully struggle. It begins,
Fear Itself
Learning to live in the age of terrorismBy Gene Weingarten
Sunday, August 22, 2004; washingtonpost.com. Page W18
"The meaning of life is that it ends." -- Franz Kafka
YOU ARE NOT AFRAID OF TERRORISM, REALLY. You have weighed the facts and have concluded, rationally, that even if terrorists strike again in this country, the chances are negligible that you or anyone you know will be killed or injured. You feel
no special tension when you place your seat tray in the upright position. You are old enough to have lived through other supposedly apocalyptic times, or you've surely heard about them -- most famously, the silly spectacle of 1950s-era schoolkids giggling under their desks in anticipation of The Big One.
The recent warnings about terrorism during the election campaign have ratcheted up your concerns a little, but so what? You are going on with your life not as an act of defiance so much as a celebration of rationality. You will be fine.
So here's a question: Would you ride a bus in Jerusalem? Right now? Here's your 5 1/2 shekels, go take a bus to market, buy some figs. Pick a bad day, after the Israelis have assassinated some terrorist leaders and everyone is waiting for the second sandal to drop. There are lots of buses in Jerusalem -- the odds are still long in your favor. Do you take that dare?
A few weeks ago, I did just that: boarded a bus on just such a day, and rode for nearly an hour. I did it because I wanted to better understand the psychology of terror. Not the psychology of the terrorist -- the psychology of the terrorized.
FEAR MONGERING is the opposite of inspiring courage: "spreading discreditable, misrepresentative information designed to induce fear and apprehension." This definition applied to the subject of childhood vaccination. But I believe it can also be applied to certain national security pronouncements coming from the current administration.
Think terrorism - Think Progress (10/06/05) provided a more specific example of how the fear talk came out in the Bush administration last year: ("When all else fails, start fear mongering. Some excerpts from President Bush’s speech today":) This article can be very helpful in understanding the process itself as it is happening right now. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, etc.
Standing in the face of Republican rhetoric - firedoglake's Christy Hardin Smith fiercely posted (8/12/06) on the antidote to fear mongering. I quote her most pungent paragraphs:
For the record, of course I’m worried about my safety and that of my family. Of course we need to take all necessary precautions, support good police investigative work, recruit more human intel capability both here in the US and abroad, take whatever steps are necessary to shore up our homeland security (really shore it up, not just put a bandaid on a huge gaping hole and declare a PR victory)…you know, get our hands dirty and do some real work on the issues at hand. All of us — every single person in this nation of ours, pulling together.Where on earth are we headed? DailyKos' Diarist, "Plutonium Page," reports on a number of recent air travel stories coming out of the current climate of fear. It opens and closes with these two paragraphs (diarist's links):
But I’ll be goddamned if I’m going to let Osama Bin Laden dictate how I live my life.
And I would appreciate it if the President of the United States would have the guts to do the same. If you need me, I’ll be living my life exactly like I did before…with a selected finger for the terrorists, and another for all those pantywaists who cower in the corner when they say boo.
Sun Aug 20, 2006 at 02:42:47 PM CDT
Dick Cheney and the rest of the fearmongers would be truly proud of the brave folks who spotted some "suspicious looking" people and diverted a flight, all by themselves! Wow! . . .
How many more such stories are we going to hear?
Oh yes, remember to vote Republican, because otherwise, the terrorists will win!!
What can we do about it - thenation "Fear Itself," by physician Dr. Marc Siegel, is an article with the psychological exploration of the problem. The author has provided some wise words, from which I quote a little sample:
We need to be re-educated as a prerequisite to healing fear. We tend to overpersonalize much of the information we receive. To correct this tendency, weI will not live my life in fear. I will not be terrorized, by terrorist actions nor the actions and rhetoric of my own government.
need a new sense of proportion. . . .
Realizing that we have been conned into being afraid is the first step toward learning a new set of skills to assess risk. Fear must be reserved for real danger. Each step away from false worry is a step toward true health.
Tags: Bush politics terrorism FDR security
My "creative post" today at Southwest Blogger is about animals.
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