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Franklin D. Roosevelt warned us about it.
H.P. Lovecraft told us it’s the oldest and strongest emotion.
Martin Luther King insisted it’s the reason we don’t get along with each other.
They were all talking about fear.
If humanity ever had a “frenemy,” it’s fear. It’s a perfect example of the proverbial double-edged sword, something that is both blessing and curse.
Fear has served to protect us from danger since the time when all we had was caves, sharp sticks, and fire. But it can also override our conscious minds and cause us—as individuals and in mobs—to react without thinking and lash out when something scares us.
Our fear-based survival mechanism wasn’t as much of a problem when we needed to be genuinely afraid of being eaten by saber-toothed tigers. But today, we’re overstimulating ourselves. We’re overdosing on fear.
A big part of the problem is continuous bombardment by stimuli that makes us fearful, which saps the mind’s ability to listen, learn, and understand. Unfortunately, in this age of the 24-hour news cycle and media outlets that depend on viewership and clicks for survival, tapping into our instinctual bias towards negativity is a vital tool used to capture market share.
As the old saying goes, you can have too much of a good thing.
The Price of Ignoring Fear
Many people lament the rise of “populism” around the world, as ultraconservative candidates running on isolationism and xenophobia are voted into power.
The strict definition of populism is “support for the concerns of ordinary people.” However, I’d argue that what we’re seeing is a toxic form of populism (sometimes called hyper-populism) that goes beyond simple concern for the common folk.
Toxic populism is predicated upon fear. It’s one of the oldest tools in the demagogue’s repertoire. A populace is whipped into a panicked state by manipulators who, consciously or otherwise, seek to gain power in order to “protect” the people from those designated as “the harmful other.”
You may ask, “how do demagogues get elected?” Simple: it happens when we underestimate the ability of fear to motivate people to vote.
Let’s be clear: fear is not more powerful than what Abraham Lincoln called the “better angels of our nature.” He was referring to our ability to be empathetic and compassionate toward each other.
But where are our better angels when it comes time to vote for a new leader? If we’re not careful, their wings can be tied down by the chains of fear.
Who cripples the angels that live within the human soul? All of us.
We All Started the Fire
It’s time to take personal responsibility for the state of our nations and the world. Each and every one of us.
Be honest with yourself: could you have done more over the course of your life to listen to the fears of others? Did you ignore—or worse, belittle—the troubles of others?
You’re not alone. All of us, at some point, have dismissed the plight of others, to our detriment. We’re all responsible for enabling the spread the fear that infects our nation, whether through action or inaction.
So, the big question: what can we do to reverse the damage?
The Fight Against Fear
Now that we’ve been made painfully aware of how many scared people are out there, this is an opportunity to start spreading self-awareness, open-mindedness, and tolerance.
The crisis/opportunity before us is to move forward together. We need to make a real effort to try and understand each other, rather than see each other as fools and objects of ridicule. This is how we become nations motivated by hope, not fear.
Let me put it another way: stop just blurting out the Gandhi quote about being “the change you want to see in the world,” and actually start being the change.
This means sometimes being the bigger person, even if it’s difficult. Sometimes, you need to be the one to make the first move and reach across a deep divide. You may need to be the first to try and understand those who think, feel, and believe differently than you.
Yes, in the course of your peacemaking efforts you may come under attack or be ridiculed. But someone has to go first. Someone has to take the risk. Why not you?
Be a Strong Man, Not a Tough Guy
Right now, more than ever, let yourself be human. Let yourself be the heroic man you know you are deep down. If there was ever a time to be empathetic, it is now. The world needs you to be open-minded, open-hearted, and extend an open hand.
In other words, we don’t need you to be tough. We need you to be strong. The difference is self-confidence. The stereotypical “tough guy” is actually just someone with a fragile ego that must keep people at arm’s length, so they don’t crack under criticism. A strong man is a well-rounded human being that is confident in their abilities and allows himself to feel the full range of human emotions.
We need you to take the initiative and stop seeing people with different beliefs as automatically “bad” or even “evil.” Think about how complex and nuanced you are as a human being. Isn’t it reasonable to assume that others are just as complex as you are, and therefore just as deserving of respect? Despite what some may want you to believe, most people are more than one-dimensional caricatures with simplistic motivations.
Yes, there are people who actually do revel in evil and genuinely want to do others harm. But, despite what you might see in the media, the majority of people only want the same things you do: safety, freedom, and peace.
Heroic Men Versus Fear
People in the grip of fear need your help to rise above the grip of unthinking instinct. They need your help to overcome hate, prejudice, and judgment.
You might not change people with your words, no matter how well-written or spoken. But you might change their feelings with your actions, which can indeed speak louder, and more clearly, than words.
Mythological traditions from around the world depict heroes who overcome their own fears and inspire others to do the same. Now is your chance to be a hero and rise above the narrow-minded intolerance of our time. Use this opportunity to consciously create the better world you want, rather than waiting for someone else to do the work.
We can either keep attacking each other out of misplaced fear and be cynical about the future, or we can help our fellow human beings realize they don’t need to be so afraid. The choice is yours.
So, if you seek tolerance, be tolerant. If you seek understanding, understand. If you seek peace, give peace.
If enough of us start the chain reaction of hope and understanding, we can win some decisive victories in humanity’s long battle with unreasonable and toxic fear.
A version of this post was originally published at Live The Hero.
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