“There is Nothing to Fear But Politicians”

“ “There is nothing to fear but fear itself,” no truer words were ever spoken and it is telling that this is a quote from a politician: Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Politicians are in the business of using fear to divide people in order to gain power and influence for themselves.
No matter what their affiliation politicians try to make us afraid of each other with their rhetoric. Liberal politicians tell us to be afraid of businessmen, the military, gun owners, people of faith and rich people. Conservative politicians tell us to be afraid of immigrants, foreigners, bureaucrats, college professors, gays and liberals.
Politicians love racism because it generates fear and barriers between people, blacks and whites. Or Hispanics and whites and so on. Religion plays a similar role, liberals try to generate fear of the Religious Right while conservatives try to create fear of secularists. Class divisions are even better if you can make people afraid of the rich or the poor you can generate a lot of votes. When Democrats talk about the inheritance tax they are playing on fear of the rich, and when Republicans talk about welfare they are promoting fear of the poor.
Such divisions appeal to politicians because they create ready made constituencies. They bring in votes without having to make promises or deliver on those promises.
Politicians also like to make hysterical claims, gun rights activists tell us we’ll be enslaved by the government if gun control is implemented and social conservatives tell us that allowing gays into the military will undermine our national security. On the issue of gay rights liberals tell us that not allowing gays to marry threatens our freedom while conservatives tell us that allowing gays to marry will lead to the collapse of civilization as we know it.
Then there is the hysteria about various issues, self proclaimed champions of civil rights predicted that passage of the Patriot Act would create a fascist police state. Has there been a single case of major civil rights violations thanks to that law? I haven’t seen a single report of such an occurrence in the media since it was passed.
Some politicians have even made a career of hysteria, Al Gore has made or remade a career on the issue of global warming. Sen. McCarthy became a national figure on the issue of fear of Communists, real and imagined.
Interestingly enough fear mongering politicians rarely harp on real issues or real threats. Almost no politico mentioned terrorism in the days before Sept. 11, and when it concerns global warming only Al Gore (to his credit) talks about it. Politicians prefer imaginary bogeymen because they can easily be put back in the closet to real life monsters.
So in the end I suppose that FDR was right in the end there is nothing to fear but fear itself. Except of course, fear-mongering politicians.