Sir, – Dylan Fox-Arnold’s excellent letter regarding America approaching a tipping point (Letters, November 24th) is both brave and timely. It is perhaps part of the human condition that we have the ability to get used to anything or to normalise anything.
Mr Fox-Arnold highlights recent abuses and overreaches by the authorities in America which would have been unthinkable under any other president – Republican or Democrat – and points to the apathy of ordinary people as posing the greatest risk to the future of American democracy – all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men and women to do nothing.
Those of us who still enjoy democracy, and the freedoms it delivers, need to raise our voices. There are things we should never allow to become normalised and things which we must stand up to and call out.
We must call out lies and misinformation coming from high offices for political ends. We must call out the hatred of the other.
RM Block
We must stand up to the bully and not lie down fearing his wrath. We must call out persecution of our political and ideological opponents, the treatment of them as enemies, and their vilification through terms such as losers, sick people and low IQ individuals.
We must declare war on poverty, not on poor people. We must call out the indiscriminate bombing and starving of fellow human beings.
We must call out the undermining of the United Nations which, while far from perfect, promotes standards for all of humanity.
We must defend democracy in the face of growing attacks on it and the stability it brings. We must call out the denial of science, climate science and medical science.
We must call out attacks on the judges of the International Criminal Court, the global arbiter of crimes against humanity, and we must call out the lack of accountability, honesty, decency and empathy from the most powerful office on the planet.
Standing up to the bully will no doubt come at a cost, but we need to consider the unthinkable cost of continuing the global practice of not standing up to him. – Yours, etc,
GARY DOYLE,
Straffan,
Co Kildare.
