It struck me as a pretty accurate description of our current political climate. The thing is - as the cartoon illustrates it - fear and ignorance are external when in reality we know that they come from within. The good news is that means they're under our control.
But the cartoon also reminded me of the Dementors in the Harry Potter series.
In case some of you aren't the Harry Potter fanatic that I am, this is truly one of the most ingenious inventions of JK Rowling. The Dementors prey especially on people with trauma (perhaps this explains some of the poutragers?) in their past. When they attack someone, they do so by bringing to memory all of the fear and sadness associated with those experiences. And finally, a Dementor's kiss sucks out your soul.
In one of the earliest encounters Harry and Ron have with a Dementor, they are taken to the infirmary at Hogwarts and given the antidote - chocolate. Its at that point that Rowling is letting us in on the symbolism in a wonderfully humorous way...the Dementors represent depression. Once again, the enemy is within.
But as Harry and the others get more sophisticated, they learn the "expecto patronum" spell which repels the Dementors.
Of course, in order to use the spell effectively, it requires one to go inside themselves and come up with the happiest memory they can summon.
Or, as FDR said so succinctly..."We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
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