Fear Hope Itself

In his first inaugural address, Franklin D. Roosevelt declared "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself...." Taking the oath in 1933, a time of desperation and darkness, a time invoked so often recently, he knew that trials, particularly sustained ones, bring terror.

He saw clearly that, in addition to pragmatic measures to try to bring some relief to the downtrodden and weary, a similar relief from the pounding fear in the face of the wolves at the door was necessary, perhaps even moreso.

I was reminded of his words yesterday as Barack Obama told the listening masses around the world that "on this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord."

Indeed.

America is a fearful nation. The wolves are once again at the door and seem to have been out there for some time. The economy is in shambles; if you haven't been laid off, you know of a couple of people (or three or four or eighteen) who have - I know I do. Stores display signs screaming of rock-bottom prices in a desperate attempt to generate revenue - and those are the lucky ones where the lights are still on.

Healthcare is broken and its cost is skyrocketing even as Americans are least able to afford it. Precious resources - both monetary and human - continue to be squandered abroad in wars nobody wants, yet the security threat level at the airport never drops below orange.

Disharmony and distrust are everywhere, with deep suspicion (or even hatred) the too-frequent reaction to anything or anyone different, be it someone different in terms of politics, religion, economic standing, sexuality, or race.

With such an outlook, where it's every man for himself, where the ship is going down and there aren't enough liferafts for everyone, is it any wonder that America declared War on Terror?

How reassuring that sounds - as though being terrified is a state about which you can do something. As though we merely need to heed the second part of FDR's declaration, in which he continues "....that nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."

How very tempting it was, then, to see post-9/11 security as a question of retreat vs. advance, and how many decided that the best defence was a holy "good" offense. How quantifiable to be able to point to x number of bodies shipped overseas to mete out justice and y number of prisoners awaiting that same justice in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and others. How decisive an advance it was to topple Saddam, assuming it was as easy as toppling a statue.

Yes indeed, America declared war on its fear. And is losing the battle, if the daily headlines are any indication.

Which is why another of Obama's lines speaks even more resoundingly to me: "As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals."

For too long, Americans have been presented with only two outcomes: kill or be killed. Opponents of this War on Terror have been denounced as unpatriotic traitors, eager to sacrifice freedom and truth for some misguided pipe dreams.

Now, finally, Americans have a leader who dismisses this binary viewpoint, one who believes that neither retreat nor advance solely for the sake of getting first blood will do much more than perpetuate the fear.

Did you hear it yesterday? It was the sound of millions of Americans exhaling with relief after holding their breath for eight years, wondering what new enemy tomorrow would bring. Do they still fear? Certainly - there is much of which to be afraid.

But, finally, there is someone who invites them to choose to advance with hope, instead of merely to advance.