A Single Woman Retired in Costa Rica 1/4 – Fighting fear from front row seats.

We live in fearful times.

Parker Palmer, a Quaker educator says, “Fear is the air we breathe. We subscribe to religions that exploit our dread of death. We do business in an economy of fear driven by consumer worries about keeping up with the neighbors.

And we practice a politics of fear in which candidates are elected by playing on voter’s anxieties about race and class. And we continue to ‘collaborate with these structures because they promise to protect us against one of the deepest fears at the heart of being human — the fear of… a win-lose conflict in which we could lose something of ourselves.”

We fear loss.

Basically, we want things to stay the same — or at least how things used to be. Many of us still cling to images of the ‘American Dream’ which appear almost as ghostlike scenes from the 50’s or even 70’s… Things were simpler then. People could count on finding a job and buying a house. Most felt that their kids would have a better life than they had. Now we are not so sure.

In America everything has changed and there is widespread fear of more changes coming – at least for all except the top 10%.

Fear producing words seep into our daily lives. Many of us begin each day by listening to the news on radio or watching a TV morning program. Some still get their news from a newspaper over coffee. Internet users now find news headlines popping up as they log into Google or AOL.

We hear frightening news in our cars on talk radio or from friends and neighbors. Fear is also burned into our memories. Most of us remember exactly what we were doing and where we were when we heard the news of Kennedy’s assassination and the 9/11 catastrophes.

Perhaps the most insidious form of fear is that advanced purposefully for political gain. Fear mongering is a political tactic used to frighten citizens and influence their opinions. We in the United States first experienced it with McCarthyism and then with the drumbeat to war after 9/11.

The oft-repeated phrases, ‘War on Terror’ and ‘weapons of mass destruction’ worked to create fear and coalesce a predetermined mindset favoring war. And now even our respected news sources are becoming more politicized. The fires of anger and hatred are being fanned by fear mongering talk show hosts who focus blame and shame on the disenfranchised — poor, immigrants, homosexuals, Muslims, ‘others’.

Our disenfranchised numbers are growing exponentially. Middle class American workers teeter on the brink of solvency. In America today, the average time needed to find a job has risen to a record 35.2 weeks! And for the first time in U.S. history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth than all individual Americans put together. And now more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps! And this number is projected to jump to 43 million by 2011!

Does anyone even know about the back door cuts to disabled living allowances that now threaten those least able to recover? Like my son. Those of us who are struggling to keep going after losing our homes or jobs or health are left incredulous as we hear shouts to continue tax cuts for the wealthy in the same breath with efforts to cut remaining social safety nets.

Sure, we might get some relief with healthcare when the bill goes into effect in 2014 — if we can hang on ’til then. Single, older women like me are especially vulnerable. Among women over the age of 65, 11.9 percent are currently below the poverty line. Without social security benefits that percentage will rise to nearly 50%! How can any rational, feeling person not see all of this as absolute insanity?

Maybe they think it can’t happen to them. There is, after all still a pervasive cultural myth in the US known as ‘The American Success Syndrome’ that suggests if you don’t have lots of money, connections, social power and success in business or the professional world, you just aren’t working hard enough. Please get real.

I got real in early 2008.

To Be Continued …

[custom_script adID=97]

Written by VIP Member Jan Hart who is an American artist/teacher/writer living in a little Tico house above San Isidro de El General in southern Costa Rica. Jan has built a studio and two cabinas at her home and offers watercolor workshops and adventure opportunities described on her www.JanHart.com website which you can see here.




Jan’s workshops are open to all levels of experience and include opportunities to see and experience the life she lives. Her book, The Watercolor Artist’s Guide to Exceptional Color is a widespread favorite among watercolor painters and published in 5 languages. Jan’s 200+ page ebook about her first year in Costa Rica, What Do You Mean I Can’t Move to Costa Rica? Is available through WeLoveCostaRica.com here.

If you have a serious interest in buying a home, a farm or land that’s for sale in the San Isidro area, please contact our Recommended Costa Rica Realtors: Daveed Hollander, James Drews and John Wieland, by using the simple form below:

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.