Americas Fear Toxin

    One of the lesser known characters in the Batman universe until recently was Jonathan Crane aka The Scarecrow.  In Batman Begins Christopher Nolan introduced him to the world as Gotham was thrust into chaos due to his fear toxin.  Dr. Crane was a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum who conducted experiments on the inmates using the toxin to open their minds to the fears they dread the most.  In the film he uses the toxin to drive the citizens of Gotham mad and create utter chaos.  While we do not have a Dr. Crane in our society per say I do think we have a fear toxin that was released unto the world and that is the media.  In 2020 we have seen an escalation of violence, disregard for law enforcement and an increase in domestic violence and drug or alcohol use.  No matter which side of politics you stand on the facts could not be any clearer.

    While Covid-19 has created so many issues for people financially and emotionally it all began with a media blitz about police brutality.  We have repeatedly been told that the entire system we are governed by is systemically racist.  Every single news story highlights the police as the villains and the criminals as the heroes.  It didn't matter that suspects were high on drugs, armed with weapons, fighting police, and engaging in acts of aggression the officers were 100% wrong in defending themselves.  It has gotten to a point many senior officers were retiring early and leaving communities they had devoted their lives to defend out of fear they would be the next video victim for the media onslaught.  They would be the next person outed as a racist for defending themselves.  Major US cities removed the ability for them to defend themselves and we saw cities like Seattle have blocks of the city taken over by armed thugs. Cities were burned to the ground, stores looted, and people made to live in fear.  While there was a very small number of police brutality the majority were a media creation that fed the fear.

  While all this was going on China had an outbreak of Covid-19 and did everything they could to keep the rest of the world in the dark.  This led the media to blame the one person they have wanted to take aim on for three and a half years, the President.  Nothing he did or could do was enough or the right decision.  He shut down travel to China in January and was called Xenophobic and racist.  He followed the advice of his "scientists" and due to the ever changing nature of a virus seemed to contradict himself and that was used against him.  Nothing anyone could do would have kept the damage of the virus down any more than his actions did.  On one side you have people saying lockdowns are a must, mandate masks everywhere, testing must increase, and only then can we "stop" the virus.  The other side is saying masks don't work, business cannot fail, and the virus isn't going away.  Truth is we can wear masks where needed, practice good sanitary habits, protect the elderly and most vulnerable and still keep businesses and schools open and save our economy.  It is not all or nothing either way.  Viruses don't go away, we learn to deal with them, create vaccines, and learn to live with them.

    As the election is nearing the media is falling over themselves to prove how Trump failed.  The problem they have is he hasn't failed.  Could he have said things differently, yes.  Could he have set the example by wearing a mask 24/7 and avoiding people, sure.  No President in history has led by fear and neither did he.  Much like in the movie fear has led our nation all year.  At the end of Batman begins Jim Gordon tells says "He's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now.  So We'll hunt him.  Because he can take it.  Because he's not our hero.  He's a silent guardian, A watchful protector, a Dark Knight."  Am I saying Trump is our savior?  No but I am saying he is the only thing standing against the fear being hammered into us by the media and the corrupt politicians.  Only when we learn that the fear being spread is only there to divide us can we grow as a nation and realize we are all in the same boat.  Burning it all down and starting over is not an option.When we manage our fear we can succeed and thrive.  Hiding under a rock and keeping ourselves locked away will be the end of America as we know it.