During a vacation last week I spent a day in Salem, MA. It's a very interesting place, especially as Halloween approaches. Two exhibits were especially thought-provoking - a dramatization of the witch trials of 1692 (at the House of the Seven Gables) and the Witch Museum.
Both told the story of the Salem witch trials and showed how horrible they were. Events were driven by fear and hysteria and supported by false testimony and any lack of fairness in the court proceedings. Some 150 false accusations were made, lives and families ruined and 20 innocent people put to death.
The final exhibit at the museam was a wall titled "Fear + Trigger = Scapegoat". It showed how the witch trials were not unique in American history, with 4 examples:
Fear of God/Satan + Dr. Griggs' "diagnoses" of withcraft -> Salem witch trials and the accused witches as the scapegoats
Fear of war + Pearl Harbor -> Internment of Japanese Americans in WWII
Fear of communism + Joseph McCarthy -> HUAC and accused communist sympathizers as the scapegoats
Fear of infection + AIDS -> homophobia and gay men as the scapegoats
_____
So to me, there are two obvious examples today. First, going on now, is
Fear of economic insecurity + Tea Party -> the poor and elderly as scapegoats, and attacks on entitlements and pensions. After visiting Salem, I understand better how current politics are so driven by fear and hysteria - and not by any logic or common sense. It was ugly in 1692 and it's ugly today. There's also a common theme of so-called religious purpose behind the persecutions (which, as a Christian, is both troubling and embarrasing). The dramatization of the "hanging judge" was really scary, because I can see the same attitudes in religious zealots today.
And, unfortunately, I can easily imagine a more violent example in the not to distant future:
Fear of economic insecurity + (some new trigger like OWS, another recession or another stolen election) -> the 1% as scapegoats and a violent response.
Now I don't mean the 1% are blameless - far from it. But I can imagine a violent response to some new trigger that falsely accuses people just because they have money. And that shouldn't happen, any more than the current attacks on the poor and the elderly should be happening today.
All in all, it was a very thought-provoking day in Salem.