In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his famous Four Freedoms speech, outlining a vision of American ideals for the world. In this speech, he identified four essential freedoms that everyone deserves: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.
While each of these freedoms faces significant challenges today, I want to focus specifically on the fourth — freedom from fear. This freedom is not just about being free from irrational fears, but also about the right to live in a world free from the fear of violence and oppression. It means living without the threat of war, without worrying if sending your children to school will result in senseless slaughter, or without fearing that, as a woman, you may not be able to access the healthcare you need.
Freedom from fear was not a new American ideal in 1941. It has been part of the American promise since the very beginning. George Washington, a founding father, often quoted a verse from the book of Micah to describe the vision he had for this country: “Everyone shall live under their own vine and fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid.”
But fear is a powerful force, and one that is easily manipulated. Fear, even when irrational, infiltrates every aspect of our lives. At the national level, we hear rhetoric designed to stir fear: “If you don’t elect me, there will be a bloodbath, World War III, or the destruction of our country.” We are told “they” are coming to rob, rape, or kill us, take our homes, jobs, and children. These fears are often without any rational basis, but fear doesn’t need facts to thrive. Once you let fear take hold, it grows.
This fear is also stoked on a local level. We are now told to fear teachers, drag queens, doctors, trans people, immigrants, and even books. The message is clear: “They are coming for your children.” Meanwhile, real dangers to our children—like school shootings, food insecurity, and lack of healthcare—are ignored.
If this manufactured fear weren’t enough, it creates real, tangible fear for those being targeted. Librarians censor shelves, doctors leave the state or stop practicing, teachers change the way they teach out of fear of retaliation. The cycle goes on and on.
As a nation, we are living in fear—fear that has been deliberately created by those seeking power. But living in fear is not living in freedom. Fear is a cycle, and to break it, we must confront it and choose understanding over fear.
This election, don’t vote for fear. Vote for freedom.
David Roth serves as a member of the Bonneville County Democratic Central Committee, Idaho’s National Committeeman, and is a member of the Democratic National Committee (DNC)