In March 1933, newly elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said at his inaugural, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” It is a simple phrase but says a lot. Fear can cause us to do irrational things without thinking. Fear is how lynch mobs are formed. It is important not to panic and be caught up in hysteria. When that happens, we make poor decisions as a result.
Fear is a motivational tool for politicians. All through the 1920s and 1930s, the Nazi Party in Germany gained strength by playing on people’s fears. This was a time of economic duress and hyper-inflation. Germany was reeling under the economic burden of reparations via the Versailles Treaty that concluded World War I. Germany was deemed the culprit in an unintentional war (1914-18) that resulted in more than 10 million deaths and upended the world order.