Living with constant fear is exhausting and debilitating. Just ask any POW, detainee of a repressive regime, torture victim or abused spouse. Boomers grew up, as Freddie Mercury sang, "in the shadow of the mushroom cloud," so we have lived with fear for decades. Young people now live in fear of not finding good work, not finding their way to independence. And too many of us live in fear of a future that doesn't include the places of privilege we currently hold.

The current presidential race is going to be scored as a tense fugue of fear. Barack Obama, with good brains and intent, offers us hope for a better tomorrow, but has little experience to back up the offer. John McCain offers us an extension of the reign of terror, without much experience either. (Sorry, I don't think being a POW for five years equips one to be commander in chief.) You can see where my support is going.

What are Americans afraid of? Many are afraid of globalization, terrorism, equality, homosexuals, the irreligious and losing America's No. 1 spot in the world. Others are more afraid of the religious right, environmental devastation, failures of equality and fairness and Bush's third term. Many are afraid of not being able to provide a better life for our children, falling behind in the race to get ahead, looking stupid, incompetent or immoral.

Many Americans are frightened because they see that we're losing our grip - perhaps already lost it - on the world's Top Dog spot. The Bush administration has given China the opportunity to become No. 1; indeed, it seems to be actively promoting China's ascension to global dominance by borrowing more and more to finance its illegal, immoral war.

Fear of terrorism is irrationally connected to Americans' patriotic fears. Americans have been sympathetic when terrorists attacked targets in Europe, South America, Africa or elsewhere, but there has been no righteous fury and no backlash against Muslims. But in fact, most terrorists operating on American soil have been home-grown and often Christian, varying from Tim McVeigh to the Ku Klux Klan, from presidential assassins to mass murderers.

Many are afraid of immigrants; "our" way of life is threatened by "those people." We might have to learn something more than restaurant Spanish! What are we thinking? Most of us wouldn't be alive today if our ancestors hadn't immigrated and instead had been wiped out in religious or ethnic purges, famines or wars.

Some are afraid of same-sex marriage, thundering that allowing homosexuals the same legal rights as heterosexual couples will destroy the family. I've never been able to grasp exactly how this is supposed to happen, and there's absolutely no rationality to it, but the fear is surely out there.

Golda Meir, former prime minister of Israel, once remarked, "Even paranoids have enemies," and certainly Israelis and Palestinians can both vouch for the truth of that statement. There truly is much to fear.

Yet so many of the enemies we perceive are imaginary. An enemy-driven society, a society based in fear, ripe for authoritarian seizure, as Congress' continuing acquiescence to the unconstitutional Patriot Act clearly shows us.

Here's what one intelligent young person said to me recently: "The current administration has driven our country to hell. You'd think it would take longer, but with multiple loan-financed wars, a tanked economy, and tax cuts for people who don't need them, it has only taken a few years. For some reason, we cut taxes and increased spending hugely - how does that happen? We need stronger federal leadership and stronger solidarity among the Democrats. Dems need to stop bending over for the Republican warmongers - they won Congress fair and square, and now they need to take the lead and turn this country around. I'm hoping Obama can do that."

Me too, son. I'm tired of living in fear. I believe that war is rarely justified, that debts must be paid and that human rights and justice must prevail. I want to believe that tomorrow can be better. I want to believe in democracy again. I want to leave behind this tired cycle of fakery, noise, humiliation, viciousness, cynicism and babble that passes for television news and politics.

During the floods of 2008 we all saw communities pulling together, neighbors sandbagging and then mucking out together, governments and non-profits and businesses working together. Crisis does bring fear, but if it also brings determination to overcome, then all is not lost.

I want to hope. That's not too much to ask.