"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933.
As was the case for those who listened to FDR speak in 1933, we live in a world fraught with danger, both real and imagined. And like those to whom FDR spoke, we fear those dangers, real or imagined. Unlike the listeners in 1933, though, we are more aware of the dangers. Citizens in 1933 got their understanding of the world from two sources: radio and newspapers, which were in those days rather slow and plodding methods of delivering information. Today, the internet and advancing technology allow us to instantly perceive, in full HD splendor, all of the dangers which threaten us. It's no wonder our world is more sensitive to impending danger than the world was when FDR spoke his prophetic words 80 years ago.