Afraid?

[Mythsaje]

"I must not fear."

I am not afraid. Not afraid of Osama Bin Laden, George Bush, or any other lunatic out there. Ann Coulter worshippers don't scare me. Neither do those who are slavishly devoted to the fat idiot Rush Limbaugh.

"Fear is the mind-killer."

Their fear is what makes THEM weak and blind. They can't see how ridiculous it is to allow their freedoms to be stripped away in order to protect them from a threat no more likely than multiple lightning strikes. They are FAR, FAR more likely to be taken out by a car accident or a heart attack than by any terrorist action.

The terrorist has become this government's boogeyman, the thing hiding in the dark corner of the closet they mention when they want us to eat our toxic brocoli.

But WE are not children. We know better than to fear the thing that lurks in the dark. Rather than leave the closet door shut, fearful of even the thought of peering inside, we stand on the threshold with a flashlight and a baseball bat, ready to confront our demons.

"Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration."

They say that they hate our freedoms, and, even if that is true to some extent, it is not the whole story. Every one of US knows it. Our freedoms are not a threat to these people. It is our government's ACTIONS that threaten them and the way of life THEY choose for themselves. Our government's actions threaten their very existence, and they know it.

"I will face my fear."

Instead of cowering in our beds, our covers tucked over our heads, terrified that the boogeyman is peering at us out of the darkness, we stand together, at the ready, set to take on whatever challenges lay ahead.

"I will allow it to pass over me and through me."

We cannot trust THEM, or anyone, to defend us from the boogeyman, even assuming it exists. We must face it ourselves... We must identify the threat with which we are faced and seek to understand it. It cannot be allowed to lurk in the darkness.

"And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. It will be gone, only I will remain."

There may be frightening things coming at us from the future like a runaway freight train. Economic instability, peak oil, global warming, (WWIII, perhaps)...

But the simple truth is that fear will not serve us. We can use the adrenaline surge fear can provide should the heavy shit come down, but anticipating that will do us no good.

We cannot be ruled by fear.

It will destroy us.

And those who feed on fear KNOW it.

And I, for one, choose not to fall prey to it.

Neither should you.

(re-posted from last night, when it garnered NO attention whatsoever).

[Virginia Dare]

1. k&r....couldn't agree more....n/t

[YOY]

2. Exactly what I have been quoting for the past 6 years

From Herbert's pen to Muad'Dib's lips to your keyboard!

[KKKarl is an idiot]

3. Good one

I agree. No fear!!!!!!

[Lerkfish]

4. Are you Bene Gesserit?

nice Dune reference.

and good post.

[Mythsaje]

5. In some ways,

I WISH...

In others...not so much. I'd be a "heretic" among them. <g>

But I agree with the Wikipedia article on them though, that the existence of such a group is not outside the realm of possibility. Most of their talents are ones that humans could learn.

I'm a huge Dune fan. Have been for nearly twenty-five years.

[marmar]

6. De acuerdo...Great post

It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.

- Aung San Suu Kyi

[Mist]

7. Sometimes fear is a valid survival reaction, but it shouldn't be the

state we live in every day.

[JeffR]

8. Succinct and satisfying

Should be a standard Dem talking point going into the midterms.

[evolved Anarchopunk]

9. i knew by the second quote what this was from,

maybe most ppl who read this did the same, i dunno something about that book is so personal i feel no one else has read it. But here it is: Frank Herbert's masterpiece. How strange that i picked that book back up and read the first 100 pages again recently, recently as in maybe a week ago. Good post, recommended

[Hoping4Change]

10. Who is Frank Herbert?

:dunce:

[hootinholler]

16. Frank was a science fiction author

He wrote an amazing series of books, the first of which is titled _Dune_. Throughout he provides exceptional commentary about human nature and the nature of power and its use to govern people. So much of the alegory resonates with our current political situation as the series follows a ruling class family, Atriedes, for centuries.

The Atriedes line may have been ruthless, but, they were honorable.

I just finished re-reading the series which I started reading again after the 2004 election.

-Hoot

[Hoping4Change]

18. Thanks.

:hi:

[Turn CO Blue]

11. Yep. I probably read Dune some *cough* 25 years ago and

as you say, it is still so personal. Certain parts of the book are burned into my brain, I guess. I saw it on the shelf the other day - time to re-read it.

[Arkham House]

12. The damned litany actually works...

...I've used it myself, and it really *does* help to guard against fear. Admittedly, we've needed it these past few years more than ever...:scared:

[Sparkly]

13. K&R!!

Someone said, soon after 9/11, that we need to keep in mind the notion of being willing to "DIE IN OUR FREEDOM!"

That's stuck with me.

[Az_lefty]

14. they don't scare me either...

just really piss me off!

[bloom]

15. I'm not afraid. But I am sad.

At the state of the world. And the direction it's going.

[girl gone mad]

17. Fear is a powerful tool, which the Nazis employed...

rather effectively.

Something I learned from studying pre-WWII Germany in college is that the minute society reaches a collective sense of inevitability, all hope for a return to normalcy is lost.