[caption id="attachment_4112" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, 1933"]
[/caption]Anti-government zeal is rampant in the Middle East, as one by one people question their lives and the problems they face with poverty and social problems. This same sentiment, however, is part of European unrest, from Italy to Great Britain. In the United States it takes the form of disbelief in Barack Obama's birth in Hawaii or even the killing of Osama bin Laden, that some people now claim was staged.
This is the fear FDR spoke of then. He warned the people as they faced an unknown future what dangers come from over-reaction to events. He reminded people trust is important and that there are things that guide men in satisfactory ways. He did not say that trust is blind or that folks should not question things. He simply said to ask and doubt in fear, and let that fear then guide beliefs, was a dangerous, awful thing.
In the aftermath of the killing of bin Laden, experts remind us of the risks from extremist views, right or left, as wrong. These security folks, like those in Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, remind us of how those living on the edge can easily be swayed in ways that are unhealthy for us all.
"Nothing to fear but fear itself" is the mantra FDR used to rally a nation in a war against poverty and eventually a World War against a terrible enemy, from Germany's extreme views then. Perhaps it should be heard or read again, in the aftermath of the killing of bin Laden, so the real work can get done on combating the serious problems of food shortages, water pollution and potential environmental dangers that can impact the entire world.
