In a complex world it can be tempting to boil all evil down to one villain. For Rachel Maddow and Louise Mensch it’s a traditional Bond villain by the name of Vladimir, operating from a lair within his poisonous homeland. For Tucker Carlson, Paul Joseph Watson and Katie Hopkins it's a religion. The only acts of violence and depravity worth considering are those committed by Muslims. It’s a familiar nineteenth century rendition of the swarthy outsider as rapist and child-murderer. All that’s changed is the religion.
Even such an intelligent and insightful commentator as Peter Hitchens is not immune to such absurd reduction. Marijuana, while not quite the root of all evil, appears to come pretty close. As it happens, like Hitchens, I’m not comfortable with efforts to downplay the negative mental health effects of dope smoking. I also think it can be a great way to paint yourself into a corner – a wonderful disincentive to get off your arse. But in comparison to, say, human induced global warming (a reality Hitchens himself seems to be in denial about) dope legalisation seems small beer.
Because, of course, I too have my own idea of the greatest threat we face. I believe our species is most threatened by the powerful. As throughout history, we remain most threatened by those in the strongest position to threaten us. In our own era that’s fossil fuel companies working in league with governments; arms companies working in league with governments; mass media working in league with governments. Everything else is a distraction, window dressing. Indeed it is darkly hilarious that Maddow and Mensch can blame Putin for Trump’s election rather than Murdoch. The elephantine Fox in the room, somehow obscured by the vole-sized RT. Likewise the same Fox that made so many neo-con projects possible bears far more culpability for deadly Arab reprisals than anything in the Koran.
