There is a trick to handling fear and terror. A trick to facing death. A decision about spending $700B.
So far I've done a little more than 67 years on this planet. As a child I had Rheumatic Fever which caused very high temperatures. Over 60 years later I still vividly remember lying in bed at night as everything around me became a black void. Nothingness. Except for a single star I could see through the top pane of my bedroom window.
I knew without doubt of any kind that if I lost sight, lost contact, with that crisp spot of light I would become one with the void. I had to hang on. I had to concentrate on that spot of light. There was no possibility of help. It was up to me. I would only wake in the morning if I could maintain contact with that light. I was about six or seven years old.
Fear, terror and and a black void were part of my life. A very real part for several years because this nightmare recurred often. Over 60 years later the memory is still part of my core being.
Since that time I have faced the possibility of imminent death on a few occasions and the lesson of my childhood has saved me every time. It is not courage or bravery or anything special. It is something in everyone of us.
I like to distill it to my kids and grand kids as this: When you see the grim reaper coming at you watch him intently. Concentrate on him. Time will slow down. An instant takes a minute. Wait. Watch. Make him come to you. Do not run. Absolutely do not turn your back. Ignore the fear. Plan your action. Then, at the last possible instant, spit in death's left eye and duck.
Yeah, I know it is lame, but the essence is true. I've seen a soldier pass out when the President sent the entire worldwide American military to battle stations to deal with a nearby tactical nuke emergency. Others stepped up and stopped the problem. As a fireman I've seen men with years of proven courage suddenly become incoherent idiots that had to be dragged out of harms way. I've seen 60 mile-an-hour traffic turn into a 15 car pile up in an instant. Two died.
In every case I survived because I managed to avoid freezing, avoid blind action. I was able to keep my head and take reasonable actions. Yes I was scared. I was filled with fear. I was terrorized. But that did not matter.
What was really important, really critical was to keep my head. Keep thinking. Concentrate on what could be done to deal with the problem.
My parents and grandparents were inspired by a President who said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself". Today we have a President who goes on national TV and says, "The sky is falling. The sky is falling. Give me all your money. Your children's money. And even that might not be enough".
Bull Shit.
No Billionaire Bail Out. We will face your fear. We will deal with the problems. We choose to bail out people, not billionaires. We will bailout retirement funds, not banks. We will bailout the unemployed, not the mismanaged corporations. We will bail out main street, not Wall Street.
We will tax the shit out of billionaires.