The Politics of Fear Leads To Violence

 

“The English are waking up, the English are waking up ... It's payback ... Yeah, yeah, that’s enough,” the man muttered as police officers led him away in handcuffs. The suspect, a heavyset, bespectacled man, wore a balaclava, shorts and what appeared to be a bathrobe.

 

"I've travelled across this country and what I've seen more than anything is anger. We have angry people."

 

 

You can ignore the source of any frustration for a while, but there comes a point where the penalities of doing nothing outweigh the costs of action.  Walking away - flight - is one such option.  When you remove avoidance from the table, though, there's really just one choice left - fight.

 

 

That's the emerging theme in Canadian politics from the federal level down to the municipal level.  All Parties and operators are pushing the fear and anger buttons.  The choice is no longer between opposing views of policy; it's a choice between one side or "those who would destroy our community/our future/our traditional values/our language/our culture/our education/our healthcare."  It takes strong emotions to shake the electorate from their restful complacency, after all and fear is easier to build and sustain than is hope.

 

 

The same thing is happening around the world, leading to a rise in regional friction and ethnic tensions.  In some places, violence is already the norm.  Where social strife is less prevalent, it's the already emotionally frayed that serve as canaries in the coal mine.  In somnambulant Canada, the people are stewing.  We're a pot slow to boil, but when that happens, people will get scalded.

 

 

"It gets worse before it gets better" is a truism - possibly because we need to be reminded just how bad it can get when we stand against before we remember why we started working together in the first place.