Be afraid of the "fear" that motivates the Donald Trump supporters

Fear motivates supporters of Donald Trump - an echo opinion letter published in The Fresno Bee

I just finished an article in Psychology Today that included studies on the psychology of Trump supporters. What stood out was a common denominator of fear.

The main ones were fear of losing jobs, fear of criminals, fear of minorities, fear of the federal government, fear of Muslims, fear of “bad” countries, fear of the press, fear of communism, and so on. Some right-wing demagogues are even trying to get people to fear Democrats by labeling them “enemies of America.”

Some of these fears are real, like losing jobs to outsourcing. Some are manufactured, like fearing the duly-elected government “coming to take my guns away.”

The answers are simple. Fear immigrants? Build a wall. Fear the federal government? Arm yourselves. Fear criminals? Keep a loaded pistol under your pillow.

Fear immigrants?Muslims? Iranians? North Koreans?

Then along comes a “Fearless Leader” who will save you. Silence all who oppose you, lie, pander to people’s prejudices and ignorance. 

Hitler did it in 1933. I think Trump would like to do it in 2020. Divide American and conquer. Its “Us” vs, “Them.” As one of “Them” who considers himself a good American, this scares the hell out of me.

Harold Warner, Porterville