It’s been awhile, so it’s time for another stirring installment of “Ask Mikey”… It’s not as fast as a Google search, but I hope it’s maybe a tad more interesting.
Today’s question comes from a lovely and talented reader who has asked to remain anonymous.
“Mikey, if you could fix one major problem in the world today, which would it be?”
That’s a fantastic question, Anonymous… oh, and by the way, I’m a big fan of some of your proverbs. What would I fix? There some HUGE evils out there that I would love to wipe away with a wave of the hand: racism, poverty, hunger, The Bachelor, intolerance (lactose and otherwise)… but how do you choose? Of course I don’t have the ability to eradicate any of these societal cesspools, but if I did, how do I decide which is worse than the others?
I think I have one. As I’ve surveyed the vast human wasteland over the last few years, one issue has stood out as a key contributor to the status quo. One key problem crops up everywhere – and seems to be at the heart of the evils I mentioned above.
Fear.
Fear is everywhere we look. It’s the key motivation behind almost everything that happens in society. They say that love makes the world go ’round – but even a quick look around us shows that to be wishful thinking. And it’s not a new thing. It’s not a stretch to see that human history is often a tale of fear – and our reactions to it.
It hasn’t always been negative – we’ve had some brilliant moments over the years. Science, art, music, medicine, snorkeling, The Princess Bride, Comedy Central – we’ve come up with some amazing ways to deal with fear over the generations. We’re remarkably inventive.
But just a quick look at today’s headlines tells the story of a people writhing in the crushing grip of fear:
The Middle East is in chaos. Al Jazeera English is blacked out across most of America. Glee might eventually talk us out of hating folks who are different. Some congresspersons are afraid that the citizenry actually doesn’t have enough guns. Some mole people still believe our president wasn’t born in the US. NPR is the devil’s playground. Sarah Palin is either one of the horsemen of the apocalypse, or she field-dressed one of those horses after she shot it from a helicopter. People are marrying folks they shouldn’t. Super Bowl commercials might subject us to evil thoughts. Ivy League universities are anti-American. Obama is a pharaoh. Helping the rich get richer hasn’t turned our economy around. Muslims are trying to take over everything by building mosques in your kid’s schoolyard. China is using our blockbuster movies to train their military. Climate change is real and scary and made up and nothing and horrible and a farce and a myth and will be the end of us, if the Mayan prophecy doesn’t kills us first.
And that’s just the real news – that’s not counting the tsunamis of fear that issue hourly from the face-holes of the inane idiot pundits of cable news and talk radio.
Back in 1933, in his first inaugural address, FDR said something interesting: “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
It’s an intriguing thought, isn’t it? It’s kinda sobering to see just how much of our lives are ruled by fear. It’s even more maddening when we realize just how many of those fears are unjustified and irrational. Seems to me there is enough real stuff out there – we don’t need to be crippling ourselves with baseless fear.
Spoiler Alert: Sermonette coming!
I am a person of faith. Specifically, I am a Jesus freak. And I have a confession to make: I am often rendered speechless when I see how many of my fellow Christians are crippled with fear. Fear of the government (at least the parts they disagree with). Fear of Others (folks from different races, religions, ideologies, political parties, parts of the country, socioeconomic strata, educational levels, sexual orientations, etc.). Fear of change. Fear of the future. Fear of being overlooked. Fear of being found out.
On a daily basis, fear pours out of our pulpits, pundits, editorial pages, radio shows, political parties, PTA meetings, Facebook or Twitter statuses, and grandparents’ email forwards.
This is what I would fix, if I were a Robin Williams-voiced genie with “phenomenal cosmic power…and an itty-bitty living space.” And I’m not crazy… for those of you who are my fellow Jesus freaks, here are a few quotes:
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” I John 4:18
“For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will be commended.” Romans 13:3
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27
And for those who may not be Jesus folks, here are some other thoughts on the subject:
“To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.” Bertand Russell
“If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living.” Seneca
“No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” Edmund Burke
“Fear is the enemy of logic.” Frank Sinatra
“Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” Yoda
So what do we do? I don’t have the power to wipe fear away… and to be fair, I probably wouldn’t do it even if I could. After all, some types of fear are reasonable – and healthy. It keeps us from doing things that are even more stupid and dangerous than the things we currently do. So what then?
I realize that I might be offending some of the residents of Glennbeckistan, but I think the answer has to be education. It’s axiomatic that we are afraid of the things that we don’t understand… and the only way to fix that is to understand more. There have always been large segments of society who diss the need for education, people who slam the intellectually curious as being elitist, but the fact is that knowledge is a living thing. Knowledge that isn’t continually growing is useless.
Mikey’s prescription then, is to learn. Read. Study. Don’t accept what you hear or read at face value – especially if it comes from one of those moronic cable news or talk radio blowhards who haven’t studied anything ever. Afraid of changes in the government? Study it. Learn for yourself what the law and the founding documents actually say. Afraid of other races? Read something, meet someone. Afraid of other religions? Check it out. Read one of their books. Find out what’s true – and not just what’s accepted by other cowardly clueless clods. Economics, international relations, religion, technology, history, science… all of this stuff is easy to research. The information is out there. And the more you understand, the better off you’ll be – and the better off we’ll be.
Ignorance isn’t actually bliss – it’s a disease… one with a simple and universally available cure. And that cure has a wondrous side effect: it helps treat fear as well!
And one way to learn more? Take advantage of the “Ask Mikey” resource that’s right here in front of you! If you have a question, and you’ve looked everywhere to find the answer – and always come up short – give it a try. All you have to do is ask! I’ll give you my thoughts, and some ideas of where to find out more.
Remember – knowledge is power! Unless you’re into physics, in which case power = work/time… you’re welcome!