Summary

What is the similarity between the well-known Salem witch trials and American politics today? Wait, Will, are there any similarities? Are there really things that tie witch trials and our politics together? Yes, several, in fact.

I am sure that we all recoil in horror when we think about witch trials; trials that demonized the use of the wrong words, simple accusations treated as proof, being afraid of standing up for the truth for fear of being similarly accused, and the horrific and permanent punishments. We would never do anything like that, right? Right? Wrong. We do things like that everyday, either by being active participants or be standing by and allowing the active ones to get away with it.

For the next 10 minutes, we will talk about what American politics and witch trials have in common.

Continuing

Arthur Miller wrote the timeless play, The Crucible, in 1953. Written during the McCarthy period, the play was focused on showing how human frailties and base human drives in that period, the 50’s, the period where Joe McCarthy held sway, were just another version of the Salem witch trials. The Senator from Wisconsin tossed around unfounded accusations that certain people and classes of people were Communists. Back then, in the middle of the Cold War, being labeled as a “Commie” was as damning as being labeled a witch in the 17th Century. During the McCarthy era, as with the Salem witch trials, lives were destroyed because people and groups of people used accusations for personal and professional gain.

Are people using accusations for personal and professional gain today? Are these accusations being used as complete evidence of guilt by the people making them? Are other people afraid to protest these accusations and other actions because they will be treated in the same way? Yes, yes, and yes.

But it is far worse today than ever before. Instead of leveraging hatred and fear for personal and political gain gain by using two labels, witches or communists, and then only one at a time, we have now created dozens and scores of categories deemed worthy of vilification. Where once we focused on one group at a time, we now use multiple and intentionally damaging labels simultaneously.

“Ist” and “phobe” are popular suffixes, and can be attached to just about anything; sexist and racist, and xenophobe and islamophobe among the most popular. If using a popular accusatory suffix is somehow grammatically awkward, then we can trot out the ever-popular label; victim. For example, if the accuser is poor and wishes to make someone else responsible, accusing that enity of being a povertyist (someone who hates the poor) or succesphobe (someone who hates and crushes others’ success) creates tongue twisters, and removes much of the sting of the accusation. The solution is easy: 1. Claim that you are a victim of poverty, 2. Point out the person or group that made you poor, 3. Demand to be supported financially, and 4, Shout that anyone who disagrees with your agenda is an “ist” or “phobe” of some sort. Facts and accuracy simply get in the way of the objective here. Volume, repetition, passion and selecting the right audiences are all that’s necessary to win the day.

Challenge: What is the difference between using labels like “witch” and “communist”, or “racist” and “xenophobe” to gain personal and political advantage? While we are at it, let’s throw in terms like “socialist” and “abortionist.” When those labels are thrown out, the speaker has a certain definition in mind. Let’s examine some of those definitions.

We’ll look at different labels, why they are bad, why we think they apply to the accused. Ignoring the word witch as antiquated, let’s get started:

Communist. When used as an accusation, it is likely to mean that the accused is a Joseph Stalin or Mao lover,