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Fear Itself [1]

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Date: 2025-04-19

Preamble — I was going to use a comma here, but I thought too many people might get distracted by the grammar.

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. FDR’s 1st Inaugural Address, early 1933

FDR’s First Inaugural address was a somewhat strange speech, but it came at a very strange and trying time in our history. As Roosevelt gave this speech, the United States was in the darkest depths of the Great Depression — people were scared and by the tone of the speech it seemed as though many were angry and ready to blame someone for the country’s ills as well. Of all of the things in that speech, it is best remembered for this one quote. It’s a remarkably powerful statement — brief, to the point and more profound each time you consider it. Here’s the wider quote...

This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. 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 not quite clear what’s being referred to by even this wider segment — the only real clue is the word “prosper.” In other words, the quote could address and refer to any number of situations where Fear becomes an element within the political landscape (not just the Great Depression which was his context). Now, the second part of the quote (which is often ignored when recounting it) is even more interesting than the first part; “Nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror.” I have never experienced that 2nd part or seen it experienced in this country until the aftermath of the 2024 Election. In fact, I tend to think that this second part of the quote describes perfectly what’s happened here (and in some places abroad) since the 2nd Inauguration of Donald Trump as President. Furthermore, I think that this state of Fear was both the intention of the Trump 2.0 Regime and perhaps the key to its eventual downfall.

The Intentional Fear

The return of Donald Trump has often been referred to as his Revenge Tour, not because of wild hyperbole on the part of his opponents, but rather due to the countless threats made by Trump himself over the past several years. The Trump 2.0 Regime has been intent on creating an atmosphere of fear in this nation — this is an image or theme that has been carefully crafted now for more than a year. It might even be considered a Psyop (Psychological Operation) of sorts. The goals of the Psyop are simple:

Discourage and short circuit political opposition (both within the GOP and by the Democratic Party).

Disrupt government operations (at all levels).

Threaten and undercut non-governmental entities (companies and schools).

Dishearten and disempower all but his supporters (if people believe that they’ve already lost, they’re more likely to accept an authoritarian regime).

At every stage of this operation, Fear is invoked (or hoped for) in various ways:

The fear of deportation

The fear of arrest

The fear of job loss

The fear of loss of wealth and / or prestige

The fear of continued chaos and potential conflict, etc.

The thing about Fear though, as FDR perhaps tried to tell us in 1933, is that Fear only has power if you let it rule you. The cover photo for this article shows a picture released by DHS showing the super-prison where Trump wants to deport migrants and even American Citizens to. The constant imagery of migrants shackled, shaved and wearing the same drab garb is meant to frighten us. The picture shown here was deliberately meant to evoke pictures of Jews in barracks in WW2 Concentration Camps. And in fact the massive expansion of the ICE Detention Center infrastructure in the US (paid for by huge increase for ICE in the supposed CR budget — $175 billion) is indeed an investment in American Concentration Camps. And Trump wants everyone to fear it.

That’s why US Citizens are now being brought into the dragnet and why the administration is asking to have the right to put US Citizens in El Salvadorian prisons (and to take away Birthright Citizenship and more). The idea is simple — no one should ever feel safe or secure in the country again unless they accept his absolute authority. As noted in a previous article, this isn’t Oligarchy — it’s definitely Tyranny — and all Tyranny is fueled by fear.

The Eventual Downfall

The places where Tyranny works best tend to be places that have never known Freedom (for any appreciable periods of time) — places like Russia, China and Hungary for example — but many others fall into that category. Fear as a governing instrument works well in those places because people are conditioned to it and have never really known anything else. Fear doesn’t work so well in places where Freedom is a tradition (like here) or where people know what its like to fight it for and what happens if they lose (Ukraine). Much of what Trump 2.0 is trying to accomplish is entirely dependent upon the proposition that he can create an atmosphere of nearly universal terror in this country — and maintain it indefinitely. While Trump has had some impressive successes out of the gate in nearly paralyzing the opposition, that paralysis is already starting wear off.

I believe that this outcome was inevitable for several reasons:

People in the USA hate a bully (and now Trump is no longer the persecuted victim he loves playing, he’s the bad guy).

The Trump team has already overplayed their hand, both coming across as desperate while simultaneously generating a massive backlash. This will only get worse as the moderate success they were having falls away.

Fear Itself — and this might be another thing that FDR was trying to tell us — that as you face a challenge or crisis, the beginning is always the worst part. It’s always worse because that’s when fear plays a predominant role (because you’re facing the unknown). As the crisis continues however, fear is soon replaced by anger and determination as the struggle becomes better defined.

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