Conclusion
Our aim in this paper has been to put our fears into perspective, as well to call for closer attention to proportion—some dangers are exaggerated at the expense of others that ought to receive more attention. All of us, even the calmest and coolest among us, have been so jostled and battered by the unrelenting barrage of imminent dangers, to our bodies, to our property, to our way of life, to our countries, that it has become hard to stop and ask ourselves: Afraid? Really? Of what exactly?
The number of pathways to fear has increased in our new “wired” age. They have crept up on us so gradually that we have not noticed how many more dangers we seem to face than before. Even if you live in a leafy, quiet “nothing-much-happens-here” street, you are reminded by emails from the neighborhood crime watch of break-ins and assaults all around you. Though you personally did not see any of these, and probably would not know about them were it not for the emails, your system cannot help but absorb just one more small fear to add to the others.
In a similar sneak-up-on-you way, the 24-hour news cycle adds new fears to your system—a shooting, a “terrorist” attack on strolling pedestrians, a machete-wielding man in a museum. Sure, most of us bravely say “life must go on, they will not win, they will not stop us from walking on bridges, visiting museums, or sitting in an outdoor cafe.” And of course, they will not, but there is an inner toll nonetheless, an insidious incremental buildup of tension, anxiety and fear inside us. What we have tried to show here is that this inner toll does not have to be paid, in part because there are fewer conspiratorial “theys” out there trying to beat us than we think. Of course, we need crime prevention, of course we need to strengthen our awareness and responses to mental illness, and in general remain vigilant about many things. But, we have (or could have) much more control of our fears than we realize. If we can gain that inner control, we will be safer for it. For besides the cost to our inner selves, excessive fear takes a toll on our deepest values as a society.
Magnifying these individual fears into societal ones has bled into the political process and informed ballot box outcomes, with often surprising consequences. Insidiously, fears are now being used against us in the political process and the deep partisanship that divides the United States, Europe and other advanced economies. A politically engaged and vigilant polity are the best defense to the truly frightening prospect of an all-powerful state.
Our message is this: If we all can calm down for a bit and gain some perspective on all that we are afraid of as well as a sense of proportionality, then we will have enough clarity to be able to distinguish between those dangers that truly threaten us and those that are relatively unimportant or passing, however melodramatic they may seem. At that point, we will hopefully be in a position to take more intelligent action towards resilience.