In ways, the fear of the unknown or fedia, is a positive thing. If all people still retained a child-like conscience, how can humanity hope to survive? The media keeps us, to an extent, on the right path. Of course, many of the fedia's techniques are a tiny bit extravagant, but it keeps us on our toes.
Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. -- Aristotle
If we cannot learn from the past, then how can we ever hope to succeed in the future? The ability to proceed cautiously, wary of danger, is an asset to the human race. This lesson can be learned directly from the animal kingdom. Reckless animals soon become lost to the food chain, in one way or another.
Unfortunately, there is a fine line between discriminatory and healthy xenophobia. It is fine to be "on edge" when facing the unknown, but taking aggressive action is the real challenge to man's survival. Should we defend that which is harmful, the human race has the potential to prosper beyond it's greatest dreams.