[HoE] FEAR

[John Higginbotham <jahiggin@orion.starlink.com>]

	Bear with me here, folks. The discussion of fear levels and why
they didn't go down after 200 years sparked some ideas. Frankly, I wrote
an essay, but I suspect you'll find it interesting.  

	Consider the town of Twin Falls, Idaho. The year is 1996. Few
citizens lock their doors at night, yet they sleep soundly in their beds.
Parents watch their children playing from kitchen windows with fond
memories of their own days. And young women stroll home from the store at
dusk without a concern. Now, leap forward two years to September 17, 1998.
Every door and window is locked and double checked before turning in for
the night. While the children frolic, parents steal furitive glances at
the cars passing by on the streets, wondering if someone is going to try
stealing their son or daughter. Returning from the store as the sun goes
down, everyone keeps one hand on their pepper spray and glances behind
them frequently. What happened to this idyllic little town? According to
the Associated Press article that appeared in the Arizona Republic today,
Twin Falls has become the homicide capital of the Gem State with nine
murders already this year. In Deadlands lingo, the Fear level went up. So,
let's examine what the practical effects of fear are, why Fear levels
don't drop over time, and how those levels can be reduced.
	So, what are the practical effects of fear? What clues do the
local inhabitant's actions provide us? For the most part, the clues are
very subtle, often pragmatic, safeguards. We lock our doors at night,
because someone might try to break in. We tell our children to beware of
strangers. And, we glance behind us from time to time while walking down a
darkened street, just in case. All of these things are tell tale clues
that we are afraid. Not in a visceral, heart pounding way, but afraid none
the less. As the fear level climbs higher, everyone exhibits more and more
of these hints. We begin to see threatening shapes in the shadows and even
those we call friends by the light of day, become suspicious figures in
the night. The fear doesn't overwhelm, as that would provide an
opportunity for courage to jump to the fore, but it plays incessantly at
the fringes of our minds. 
	After several months of this fear filled life, you might supposed
that the fear would fade and go away. But it doesn't. After the first few
months of bolting the door behind us, we tell ourselves that it's a simple
safety precaution. After all, history does repeat itself, and we'd all
prefer not to be it's next victim. Our acts of fear get handed down to our
children, who in turn, learn to fear the things we do. And so, we begin a
self-perpetuating cycle. Perhaps, after a decade or two, we let the safety
precautions slide. In a way, we're being daring, returning to the days of
fewer cares. But all it takes is one near miss, and we jump right back to
those fear born habits with the fervor of a new religious convert. Once
the Fear level is raised, maintaining it doesn't take quite as much work.
Something greater has to happen for the Fear level to drop.
	Over the past few months, the local paper has carried several
stories of heroes. A couple of men recently broke the Major league record
for home runs in a season. Maybe that's not a 'triumph over evil' kind of
heroic, but it's definately inspiring in a heroic way. A month ago, the
news media showered praise on Jake, the "snake-hating" dog, because he
saved his six year old mistress from a rattlesnake, getting bitten
repeatedly himself. He survived the bites and returned home a hero. And
over the last few days, we learned the story of Ed Bernerno, a Walgreens
manager, who lost his life attempting to stop a shoplifter from stealing a
12-pack of beer. A tragedy, but also a heroic attempt at doing what was
right. Each tale, in it's own way, gives us reason to believe that there
is more good in the human race than we previously thought. The cause of
our fears must be stopped, not with sheer firepower, but with the courage
to act against them solely because it's the right thing to do. This, and
this alone, lowers our 'Fear level.'
	Today, a newspaper columnist quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson in saying
"Heroism feels and never reasons and therefore is always right." The
townspeople of Twin Falls see the changes in their behavior, and they know
what's caused the change. It's not spoken aloud, but it's in the back of
their minds at all hours. Most likely, it's something they'll pass on to
their children. However, from time to time, someone will stand up and show
them that there are heroes out there, that we can be better than we
appear, and that, maybe, just maybe, we can one day crawl into bed without
wondering if we locked the front door.

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| John Higginbotham                 |	"I want to stand                  |
| jahiggin@starlink.com             |	On my own two feet                |
| john.higginbotham@na.manpower.com |	And never                         |
|                                   |	Touch the ground"                 |
| Phoenix, Arizona, USA             |    		- Echo Brahe      |
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