Guest Op-Ed: Halloween Is Coming and Americans Are Scared

Dr. Glenn Mollette 

 Halloween is typically a relaxed day for America’s kids to fill their coffers with candy. Children and adults often don their favorite wacky attire for a day of comic relief. 

America needs a day of some kind of relief and maybe Halloween will provide some insanity or terror relief. Because nothing about Halloween is as scary as what America and the world has been experiencing. 

We have buried over 220,000 Americans from Covid-19. Over eight million have been sick. Nursing homes and Intensive Care Units have become horror wards. The projections for more sickness and death scare most Americans. We are afraid to go to church, out to eat, and to the grocery store. The airplane, hotel and restaurant industries are in peril as many have already closed or are on the verge of closing. Over 12 Million Americans are now unemployed and many in financial devastation because of Covid-19. 

 Congress continues to haggle over what and how much the government can further indebt our nation to keep us afloat for the present. With an approximate 28 trillion-dollar deficit and growing when will America file for bankruptcy? What will it take to keep Social Security and Medicare going? More taxes for a broader range of Americans and increased payroll taxes are on the near horizon, most Americans fear. It’s more than a little scary. 

On top of Covid-19, job loss, business failures and increasing poverty Americans are masked fatigued. Children are tired of being home from school. Adults miss the comaraderie and social dynamics of their workmates. Working at home first felt good and welcomed but has become old for many Americans. The thought of this going on for another six months or even a year or longer is more than scary – it’s terrifying. 

On top of all this we have a major election in front of us. Americans are terrified about the election. We are frightened about who will be elected. Trump being reelected terrifies millions while millions are terrified Joe Biden will be elected. We are horrified of what may come as the result of this election and what either of the candidates may bring to America the next four years.

We are further scared by each other. The hostility of Americans toward people with different views is out of hand. Hurting people, cursing people, destroying property are not hallmark qualities of a civilized society. We have sadly stopped being civil in America. Rude and crude are no longer shy in this nation. Pushing, shoving and outright fighting with people is becoming too normal. This is not what the average American wants and is disdained by most of us. Let’s face it, people who act this way scare most Americans.

It’s Halloween time in America and there is plenty of fright to go around. The best treat we can give our country is treating each other the way we would like to be treated. 

Glenn Mollette is the publisher of Newburgh Press, Liberty Torch and various other publishing imprints; a national columnist –  American Issues and Common Sense opinions, analysis, stories and features appear each week In over 500 newspapers, websites and blogs across the United States.