Veni, vidi… did I understand!?

When politics needs enemies

It doesn’t start with violence. It starts with words. And when those words stop making people uncomfortable, the problem is already in place.

We’ve seen this before.

Every time a political discourse begins by pointing at minorities —immigrants, sexual minorities, “the others”— a familiar mechanism sets in motion. First comes the language of order. Then security. And soon after, almost without transition, the idea that “they” are the problem.

It doesn’t happen overnight. It doesn’t announce itself. It unfolds gradually. And precisely because of that, it works.

What once provoked rejection becomes tolerated. What seemed unthinkable starts entering everyday language.

Today, this dynamic is particularly visible in the United States.........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)