When did we as people allow ourselves to be abused and manipulated by fear stirred up our own government? And when did the thought of something imagined vs. a tangible thing or real event move us to do things that would hurt vs. benefit us as a whole?

The fear of someone from another country taking our job away from us is an imagined fear. So is the fear of a person of another color harming a member of our family, and the fear of paying taxes that support “entitlement” programs. And when our heads are filled with these fears, we do not pay attention to the real threats that are far more likely to happen. The loss of our job from a trade war within our global economy. A child within our extended family being killed in a school shooting, or a family member taking their life with a gun or losing it from drug abuse. The loss of Social Security income and health care support as we age, or the loss of our home because of hospital bills from a serious illness.

Allowing ourselves to be controlled by fear is a very big part of the problem. Franklin D. Roosevelt was right when he said the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

We’re blinded by fear. We see things in our minds that aren’t there. It’s a form of madness that supersedes reality, and we are allowing it to happen. We are allowing ourselves as a country to be manipulated by fear, instilled by the very people who are supposed to be supporting us. Our fear will harm us in the end, as it often does.

Kim Filippone

Falmouth