The Only Thing we have to Fear is Fear Itself...and the Federal Government!

In FDR’s first inaugural address.03/04/1933, he said this: “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…” Now, nearly 76 years later, we face the same demon again; fear. We fear recession, we fear depression, we fear loss of our assets, we fear being unemployed, we fear losing our houses, our jobs, and all the material possessions that we have acquired. That fear causes us to withdraw from society with regard to buying anything but absolute necessities. We sock away as much as we can in savings for that “rainy day” we fear might come at any time.

FDR also said in that same inaugural address as he spoke of the evil behavior of the financial industry giants that had failed America then: “…Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.

Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live.”

I can’t say it any better: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Now is not the time to cower down to the political gods of gloom and doom. Now is not the time to shrink away from challenge or put off your dreams Vince Lombardi once said “…It's easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you're a winner, when you're number one. What you got to have is faith and discipline when you're not a winner.”

America has lost the discipline, the courage, the patience, and the determination that brought us out of the Great Depression and into a nearly sixty year period of unprecedented growth, prosperity, and improvement of quality of life. As FDR said so eloquently years ago, it is time for courage, for faith, for discipline, and for boldness.

Jesus said it nearly 2,000 years ago. “But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.” It is time to get our priorities straight, put on our big boy (and girl) britches, and take our country back from the pundants of fear, dependency, and big government, and to be all that God intended us to be. Big government is NOT your friend; it is the worst enemy a free person ever had. Once we get that though our thick skulls, maybe America can get on the road back to being the greatest nation on the planet.