Fear and Public Policy

Michelle Obama provides us with today’s quote: “You can’t make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen. We just weren’t raised that way.”

That’s what she and the President believe. It is a wise statement. If good things are to happen we need to aim high, clearly identify objectives. What would we like to see happen and by what date? That’s getting more specific, but it requires us to define our expectations and hopes.

Hitting this process from the negative position requires defensive thinking. It assumes something bad will happen and we need to prepare for that happening, and also try to avoid the problem in the first place. So one is preventive and the other is defensive, all rolled into one. All from the negative view.

The positive view helps create the desired outcome while also making the negative possibilities less likely to occur because the chance of a problem developing becomes less and less.

The positive viewpoint programs people to work on solutions to problems. They are predisposed to develop programs to advance our life together. This is how new Boy Scout or Girl Scout programs, dens and troops come about. It is also the way communities provide safe alternatives to high school prom events to avoid drunk driving, accidents and death. Sports programs for youth from the very young through high school get their genesis from community activists looking out for our youth.

In this same manner churches pull together to provide family counseling centers, alternative housing programs, emergency relief funding for families in need, tutoring programs, English as a Second Language programs, and so much more. Ministers and priests face these issues in each of their congregations; so much more can be accomplished through shared programs. Along the way the community learns a lot about itself and can address their most pressing problems.

Reverse the focus and seek protection from all you fear: war, invasion, space aliens, bad breath, ill health, bad weather, bad hair day…you see what I’m saying. Following this theme we would list all the negatives in life, maybe rank order them, and then attempt to find ways to protect ourselves from each of them.

Growing up in the 1950’s we were confronted with the thought of building a bomb shelter in our home or back yard. There were prefabricated models available; all you needed to do was dig a big hole and place the contraption into it. Of course an alternative power source would be needed; anything underground and sealed would have to be a battery rather than an internal combustion engine, else the family would be killed from carbon monoxide poisoning! And water would be needed, bottled preferred, but for how long were you expected to hibernate in the shelter? How much water would be needed, and food, and battery life, and candles. Then there was the concern for sewerage, drainage and those sorts of things. Finally, air; what was the source of uncontaminated air? How was a family to purify outside air for internal consumption; and could that even be done?

Even more finally, if the shelter achieved its objective and saved the family from certain atomic death, how long would they need to be sheltered? How would they know that it was safe to re-enter the outside world? Days, weeks, months, or even years? And exit to what sort of life?

Survival takes so much work. So much time. So many resources. Diversions from ‘regular’ life. We are losing the now in order to have a future? An uncertain one? A future with the same problems unsettled? Just more primitive due to the expected destruction? I’m sorry, what are we saving ourselves for?

You surely can see the absurdity! Preparing for the worst removes us from the present enjoyment of life. We lose sight of what is and become absorbed in the non-existent for some elusive objective. Fear does that. It pulls our focus away from things that matter. It skews our attention and judgment. We lose the very thing we thought we were protecting.

Another oxymoron of life? Maybe. But we can avoid it entirely. By focusing on the positive and working towards those things we have hopes for: world peace; abundant food; clean air and water; exploration of life and all that is possible in it.

Along the way we can hope that others will capture this spirit and help with the positive. The peace surely will follow – because it matters to everyone. That’s the way to conquer fear. Eliminate it and work for its opposite.

April 17, 2012