Why would people react to a program like the great society with fear?

People would react with fear to a program like the Great Society because these programs might raise taxes.

Explanation:

The Great Society was a large-scale social policy reform program run by the federal government under President Lyndon B. Johnson, who served from 1963 to 1969. The program was proclaimed in early 1964, a few months after Johnson took over the presidency after the murder of his predecessor John F. Kennedy, and continued until the end of his term in the White House in January 1969. The main objectives of the reform program were to fight poverty, strengthen the rights of African Americans and other minorities, and to implement comprehensive reforms in the areas of education and health. Environmental and consumer protection and the expansion of the infrastructure were further considerations.

The truth is that all these programs implied a considerable increase in public spending, with huge budget items that would be destined to cover these social expenses. Therefore, a large part of American society (especially Republicans and conservatives in general) feared that these programs could significantly raise taxes. For this reason, many of the representatives of these groups opposed the implementation of the Great Society.