Demagoguery is
a threat to minorities and a threat to democracy.[1]
The most
infamous demagogue of the 20th century was Adolph Hitler[2], of course. The United States dealt with its own
demagogues: Senator Joe McCarthy[3] of the 1950s is the most
prominent, along with Huey Long[4] and Fr. Charles Coughlin[5].
President Harry
S. Truman, one of my favorite sources of wise quotes, has said, “I want to warn
you … that sometime or another you will have experience with demagogues and
with hysteria, just as I have, and you have got to stand fast, because when
those things take place, the demagogues try to find a goat on whom they can
operate.”[6]
The central feature of the practice of demagoguery is
persuasion by means of passion, shutting down reasoned deliberation and
consideration of alternatives. Demagogues "pander to passion, prejudice,
bigotry, and ignorance, rather than reason."
Demagogues are
threats to minorities because they almost always find a scapegoat upon whom to
lay blame for the troubles of the day.
For Hitler, it was the Jews. For
McCarthy, the Reds. They don’t always lie. Sometimes, a half-truth can lead to an
unwarranted conclusion if presented in the correct way.
It’s not always
easy, but we should strive to look with skepticism on claims that a group or
minority is responsible for some ill. It
may end up being true, but it is best, in the long run, to gather the evidence
rather than jump to conclusions.
Demagoguery is
a threat not only to minorities, but to democracy itself.[7] We owe it to ourselves as people of good
faith, as well as the survival of our system of government, to resist
demagoguery whenever it is encountered.
[6] Seminar on Statecraft, Columbia
University, April 28, 1959, as quoted in When
the Buck Stops With You, Harry S. Truman on Leadership, by Alan Axelrod
(Penguin Group 2004)
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