Robert Simpson: Domestic ‘terror’ from other threats

He aimed his words specifically at the disaster we were undergoing at the time. But FDR’s famous statement of his firm belief that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” offers a good reminder for today. As a nation, we seem to be sinking ever deeper into the depths of fear, spurred on by half-facts, demagogues, and the 24-hour news cycle. And yet, even a casual look at the facts suggests our own fear is our main enemy.

Fear is usually a component of armed conflict, formally declared or otherwise. Good leaders acknowledge the fear and then reassure the citizenry by their own apparent confidence. And by realistic plans, clear communication, and a road map to victory and freedom from the current fear. Demagogues, on the other hand, encourage fear and use it to their advantage.

World War II pitted the western democracies, most militarily weak initially and not geared for warfare, against a brutal set of adversaries. They were so much bigger, meaner, better organized, and better equipped than the current set of terrorist thugs we face that there’s hardly a basis for comparison.

And they inspired fear. Nazi emblems, Hitler’s rantings, the banshee wail of the Luftwaffe’s Stuka dive bomber — all produced fear, even terror. Perhaps more to the point, the real, if unrealistic, fear of Japanese invasion of the west coast, and the blazing of torpedoed ships seen easily at night by residents of the east coast brought fear home to America, no longer leaving it to distant battlefields. In the midst of my childhood years, German U-boats prowled the waters along the Outer Banks of North Carolina, sinking ships. Nearly 400 vessels were sunk or damaged in that area during the war. Citizens of Ocracoke and Hatteras and Manteo were shaken in their beds and listened to their windows rattle, even heard the explosions of tankers and cargo ships being blasted into oblivion just over the blackened horizon. I, and I assume other kids like me, even if well inland, dreaded bedtime and had nightmares about evil invaders coming to kill us.

National leaders in that time did not play upon fear and use it to their advantage. Ship sinkings in “Torpedo Alley” were kept quiet. School bus drivers in my area, all high school students, were quietly organized and prepared to convoy their buses to Wilmington or other coastal areas to help in evacuations in the event of an invasion, but few outsiders were even aware of those plans. We were not bombarded with constant broadcasts of terrifying news. I can only imagine the debilitating, widespread panic that today’s constant drum-beat of the enemy’s successes and demagogues’ warnings could have stirred.

It isn’t that there is no cause for concern today, but the concern seems so overblown. Analysis has shown that 45 people in this country were killed by Islamic terrorist attacks between 9/11 and this past December. That’s an average of 3.2 per year. Yet a minimum of 2,500 Americans per year die of choking. We don’t like that, but we don’t live in terror of hotdogs or sirloin.

Many years ago, I had a good friend, a rough, tough Airborne Ranger, who was afraid of almost nothing. Except cows. I laughed at him when, on a field exercise, he was nearly immobilized by his fear of a small yearling that ambled across our path. Maybe I should have been more understanding, because I learn now that cows kill an average of 20 Americans a year, compared to jihadists’ 3.2. A former roommate who went on to become a long-time Secret Service agent, protector of the President, was a rugged outdoorsman, expert pistol shot, ready to sacrifice his life for his idol in the Oval Office. But he was terrified of spiders. And maybe with good cause. They kill more than twice the Islamic terrorists’ toll on Americans per year.

I don’t deny the danger of terrorists. But stepping back and taking a deep breath can put things in perspective. The choice is yours, of course, but it helps me to realize that the big screen TV in my bedroom falling on me (176 deaths per year) is more likely than a terrorist to do me in.

This story was originally published April 9, 2016 at 2:47 PM with the headline "Robert Simpson: Domestic ‘terror’ from other threats."