Fear is frowned upon, but we need a measure of it.

Without fear of death, you’d jaywalk across a busy street without looking left or right.

Without fear of a seared conscience or prison time, we’ll take up a weapon and rob our rich neighbour.

Without fear of losing money and destroying our business and livelihood, we’ll invest all our money in a deal without thinking it through first.

We need fear to check up on us frequently, like a parole officer, to make sure we’re doing the right thing – the thing that doesn’t ruin our life.