Dear Editor,
I was fascinated by Sally Denton's account of the attempted coup (against FDR) in the USA in the 1930s (The Guardian, 11th Jan 2022, link below) but this sentence jumped out at me ...
"If the plotters had been held accountable in the 1930s, the forces behind the 6 January coup attempt might never have flourished into the next century."
I find this presumption extremely tenuous because, back in the thirties, that was an organised, private army funded by business moguls. Whereas those thugs in January were simply a mob.
And more importantly, FDR certainly had reasons for not bringing it to a head: In Ireland, the execution of the 1916 Rebels had provided martyrs and created indignation which led to revolution and civil war!
Indeed, today we repeatedly claim that our "touchstone" is the concept of tolerance but our relentless demonisation of "Trumpites" and "Anti-Vaxers" invariably drives them into a corner where they become even more radicalised.
And blanket condemnation is also a dangerous path to take because people's motivations and opinions are highly diverse and they may have been driven to that position due to precarious social, psychological or economic circumstances. Just think of the small-trader who has lost his livelihood due to foreign competition or Covid-rules: He/she cannot be condemned for being drawn towards radical solutions.
In my view "The Good Guys" should spend far less time trampling around on their favourite bogeymen and much more time fixing the problem!
Regards
