A Time for Hope, Amidst Despair
We don’t have to accept this state of affairs. No one is happy about it. It only continues because we are afraid to do anything different.
By Jeremi Suri
“Systematic fear is the condition that makes freedom impossible.”
Judith Shklar
Almost a hundred years ago, Franklin Roosevelt spoke those words that we have all read, memorized, and occasionally summoned into our own lives: “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” They are words that resonate again today, and the same intent and sentiment is at the heart of this column, part of a new daily newsletter.
Humans have more resources and knowledge at their disposal than ever before in recorded history. Yet, we are unable to work cooperatively to
address climate change, rising inequality, the spread of warfare, and meet so many other challenges because we are afraid to work together. More than ever, we seem to trust no one except those who look and talk just like us.
Personal insecurity and selfishness encourage cynicism. Why bother to invest in change when all we can hope for is disappointment? Why not just grab what we can, while we can? Those were the attitudes encouraged by demagogues across the globe in Roosevelt’s day, and they are mimicked in our current moment, with our despair further deepened by social media algorithms.
We don’t have to accept this state of affairs. No one is happy about it. It continues only because we are afraid to do anything different. We fear that we will be penalized as politicians, teachers, businesspeople, intellectuals, and as even parents if we demand more and reject those who tell us we are deluded. We fear that we will lose our few privileges if we refuse to continue playing the game. This is how fear infects democracy; it is how fear denies freedom, as the late philosopher, Judith Shklar, explained in her books and work on the fragility of hard-won democratic values. Shklar’s questions linger today for all of us:
How do we break out of fear? How do we restore hope and confidence and progress? How can we lean into democracy and away from the cynicism that seems to be shutting it down?
Among the answers to these questions are the values Roosevelt articulated in another speech on the eve of the Second World War, when he espoused the “Four Freedoms.” Those foundational freedoms are the freedom of speech, the freedom of worship, the freedom from want, and most critical, the freedom from fear.
The Four Freedoms, by Norman Rockwell, courtesy of the New York Historical Society
As a historian, I know just how deeply the past animates the present in all that we do. Looking back shows us how much better human beings can be. Our latest This is Democracy podcast episode on D-Day, along with the many celebrations of the heroism of young soldiers in that turning-point battle, reminds us of their courage, cooperation, and self-sacri!ce. Those qualities reside in all moments and all populations. They are triggered by a commitment to problem-solving and a leadership of hope, just as they are smothered by ideological rigidity and the toxic leadership of fear. People will work to make things better, even at personal cost, when they are confident that others will join them and do the same. Real leaders must live that ethic.
A platform for the voices of hope
Franklin Roosevelt’s steadfast promise that government could make people’s lives better, and his encouragement of cooperation and sacrifice on that behalf, shook the boys who landed at D-Day – and so many other women and men – out of the fear that held them back. Roosevelt was just one of many voices but his was a powerful voice, and it was copied by others. New Deal programs gave those voices of hope a platform in the arts, education, local communities, and even business.
Franklin Roosevelt’s steadfast promise that government could make people’s lives better, and his encouragement of cooperation and sacrifice on that behalf, shook the boys who landed at D-Day out of their fear – just as his promise emboldend so many other women and men to overcome the fear that held them back amid other struggles. Roosevelt was just one of many voices, but his was a powerful voice, and it was emulated by others. New Deal programs gave those voices of hope a platform in institutions across the country, in the arts, in education, and in local communities. Business too found its hope and footing in a terrible time with the help of Roosevelt’s reforms to banking laws, programs to support agriculture, and the development of rail, road, dam, and power infrastructure that serves our commerce and economy today.
We can do this again, in our own way. And we don’t have to wait for another Roosevelt. We can all start by awakening hope in the spaces where we work and play. We can reward new ideas for change and discourage naysayers. We can build new alliances, moving beyond our standard personal and media connections. We can prioritize change with our resources, rather than protecting an unsatisfying status quo. Most of all, we can try what we so successfully tried in the past and so recently forgot.
Hope is not just a word or a prayer. It is a form of realism, an engagement with real problems and a determination to bring improvement, where possible. Ideologies and identities are abstract and they divide “us” from “them.” They encourage “us” to fear “them.” Hope is pragmatic, focused on getting through today to make tomorrow better. It encourages cooperation and it breaks down perceived differences in the pursuit of gains for many. Hope is the oxygen of democracy, which suffocates when it is absent.
For hope to increase we need more organizations – local, state, national, and international – to inspire cooperation and sacrifice for the common good. We need to show people what they can accomplish when they work together, and we need them to experience how good that feels. Robert Putnam, author of the much-cited book Bowling Alone, has lamented the decline of “social capital” for two decades. But the work to rebuild the blocks of social capital – trust, connection, and the bridging of divides – need not rely on nostalgia. All around us, dissatisfied citizens urgently want to make change. A renaissance in cooperation is possible if enough of us lead – if enough of us look back to remember that it was possible in 1933 and it is possible again in 2024.
There is so much more to say…That is why we are launching this new daily newsletter, Democracy of Hope: to showcase a renewed democracy of hope each day. We want to counteract the overwhelming negativity of our time. We want to inspire. We want to create hope.
Please join us. Please contribute. Please subscribe.
We are building this endeavor in public and much will evolve in the days and weeks ahead. We don’t know where this will lead, but we know it will only make us better if we all try. Democracy is not a destination, but an ever-evolving set of human relations. Hope is not a guaranteed outcome, but a motivating ethic. And the richness of history is the antidote to the darkness and narrowness of a fearful present. We aim to bring our readers into the sunlight of bright tomorrows, born of still colorful yesterdays.
“We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”
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Jeremi Suri - Korey Howell Photography
Jeremi Suri holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a professor in the University's Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs. Professor Suri is the author and editor of eleven books on politics and foreign policy, most recently: Civil War By Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy. His other books include: The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office; Liberty’s Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building from the Founders to Obama; Henry Kissinger and the American Century; and Power and Protest: Global Revolution and the Rise of Détente. His writings appear in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN.com, Atlantic, Newsweek, Time, Wired, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and other media. Professor Suri is a popular public lecturer and comments frequently on radio and television news. His writing and teaching have received numerous prizes, including the President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Award from the University of Texas and the Pro Bene Meritis Award for Contributions to the Liberal Arts. Professor Suri hosts a weekly podcast, “This is Democracy.”