Article 6KFW4 The left is smeared as the angry mob again and again. In reality, it is the target of political violence | Andy Beckett

The left is smeared as the angry mob again and again. In reality, it is the target of political violence | Andy Beckett

by
Andy Beckett
from US news | The Guardian on (#6KFW4)

These threats don't just seek to intimidate leftwing politicians, it makes them seem a risk to voters, too

In Britain and other supposedly calm democracies, the ascent of leftwing politicians can arouse unusual fears of violence. Many conservatives and centrists associate the left with mobs, intimidation and revolutionary struggle. For some on the right, leftwing politics of any sort is a kind of violence, with the upsetting of the traditional order that it promises.

Such fears are not always groundless. But more often they are exaggerated, sometimes deliberately, in order to smear the left as fanatical and dangerous. In reality, the left always contains plenty of pacifists and other principled opponents of the use of force - life's herbivores", as the writer Michael Frayn called them in a perceptive 1963 essay.

Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Continue reading...
External Content
Source RSS or Atom Feed
Feed Location http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/rss
Feed Title US news | The Guardian
Feed Link https://www.theguardian.com/us-news
Feed Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2024
Reply 0 comments