During the Cold war, The US and the USSR were afraid. Afraid of each other, maybe, maybe not so much. But they were both very afraid of being left behind. This spell of fear led to a lot of innovations like the Space programs, man landing on the moon, the Internet. Fear can lead to some fantastic things.

Then, after 9/11, there was fear again. Fear of experiencing another terrorist attack of such devastation. This spell of fear led to super-surveillance with the US government reading everyone's emails, listening in on everyone's conversations, irrespective of what country they belonged to. This spell of fear led to an unnecessary war in Afghanistan, and probably led to the rise of ISIS (albeit inadvertently). Fear can also lead to some not so fantastic things.

In The Dark Knight Rises:

Blind Prisoner: You do not fear death. You think this makes you strong. It makes you weak. 

Bruce Wayne: Why?

Blind Prisoner: How can you move faster than possible, fight longer than possible without the most powerful impulse of the spirit: the fear of death.

Bruce Wayne: I do fear death. I fear dying in here, while my city burns, and there's no one there to save it.

Blind Prisoner: Then make the climb.

Bruce Wayne: How?

Blind Prisoner: As the child did. Without the rope. Then fear will find you again.

Fear will find you, no doubt about it. Fear fails to exist only when you're devoid of all ambition and are in a state when you don't care about anything.

We are all trying to make the climb without the rope, so it is not about recognizing and acknowledging fear. It is simply about whether we let that fear drive us to do some fantastic things or some not so fantastic things.