From fear to freedom

In an energizing first session on Monday, Ken Paulson reviewed the ways in which fear drove the government and media to bend the "rules" by which they normally abide. He also revealed the falsehoods that I, and probably many other Americans, took to be absolute truths. It made me wonder, what else do we take for granted or assume in our daily lives? It forced me to rethink those simple ideas and values that I base my perceptions off of and it encouraged me to question and seek answers so more diligently than I do now.

For it is because of fear I think that we latch onto these comforting "truths". The Pledge of Allegiance was always a part of school and it stood as it did. It also was created long ago for purely patriotic purposes. WRONG. It was a money making scheme.

"In God We Trust" has been on our money, paper and coin forever. It has been our motto forever, thought up by the fathers of our country. WRONG. It was a response to fear of being "smited" by God for being godless and later a statement that we weren't "godless Commies".
What other half truths or total falsehoods are we basing our most cherished values on? What else do we grasp onto so tightly because of fear of the new, the unknown, or the uncomfortable?

Dylan Smith told us that print journalism is dead. Print journalism died because the corporations took over too much and then became so big that they fell apart from the top down and inside out. At the core of it was a fear of change.

Fear is an incredibly driving force. Our own Steve Elliott spoke about reading and keeping up on the news of the day because of fear.

Finally, today in the lab, I heard only the clicking of keyboards as fear of a deadline (and "shame and humiliation" I suppose) drove my fellow writers and me to write and process as fast as we could.

Fear has its place. It is necessary sometimes, but in the past two days I have been reminded more than I have been in a long time that fear is necessary in its place and must be combated with willingness to accept change, to jump headlong into it, and to embrace whatever lies in that spooky unknown.

Hannah Sagaser
Mandan High School
Mandan, ND