Death?
Spiders?
Snakes?
Sharks?
Chapman University came out with something a little more definitive in 2023.
Fears are ranked by the percentage of Americans surveyed who reported being ‘afraid’ or ‘very afraid.’
Top 10 Fears of 2023 % of Very Afraid or Afraid
Corrupt government officials 60.1%
Economic/financial collapse 54.7%
Russia using nuclear weapons 52.5%
The US becoming involved in another World War 52.3%
People I love becoming seriously ill 50.6%
People I love dying 50.4%
Pollution of drinking water 50.0%
Biological warfare 49.5%
Cyber-terrorism 49.3%
Not having enough money for the future 48.0%
Hmmm...You know what I don't see in these listings? Inclusion! I don't see Diversity, Equity and Accessibility for that matter. So, what's the objection to inclusiveness? Some conservatives believe DEIA lowers standards in the hiring process. Then incapable people are put in charge of critical functions. They believe the voting rights act and civil rights acts need to be rolled back, because they give an unfair advantage to women and people of color. They believe women and people of color are inherently inferior. Lifting up people, other than white men, is leading to our downfall, and they are willing to tear down democracy to prove their point.
DEI has become a talking point, at times acting as a sort of dog whistle and scapegoat, as the measures were falsely blamed for events such as the demise of Silicon Valley Bank, Boeing’s aircraft safety problems and the collapse of a bridge in Baltimore after it was struck by a cargo ship. -the guardian
Benjamin Barber defines democracy as a system of government in which the majority of the adult population participates in politics on the basis of a representative system. Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as a system of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. I looked this up in Wikipedia and found, Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age by Benjamin R. Barber published by the University of California Press in 1984 and republished in a twentieth anniversary edition in 2004. The book argues that representative or "thin" democracy is rooted in an individualistic "rights" perspective that diminishes the role of citizens in democratic governance. The work offers a theoretical critique of representative or liberal democracy and a foundation for participatory politics. The final chapter elucidates practical ways to apply the theory of strong democracy in large industrial societies. In a Strong Democracy all of us have something valuable to bring to the whole.
Is their hold on power so fragile that it cannot stand against an inclusive (strong) democracy where we all are given a voice? There is power in true unity that values the talents all of us can bring to our community. Rugged individualism serves nobody, and it makes us all more vulnerable by dealing whole groups of people out.
Inspiration
“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other, but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help.
-Ecclesiastes 4:9–10
"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country". -JFK 
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