The Economist - USA (2021-01-30)

The EconomistJanuary 30th 2021 15

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Letters

January 6th and all that

Donald Trump did not whip up

the mob that stormed the

Capitol building (“The reck-

oning”, January 16th). During

his speech near the White

House he urged his followers

to cheer on members of

Congress who were objecting

to and debating the electoral-

college count (Democrats in

the House of Representatives

also disputed the count follow-

ing the 2000 and 2004 general

elections). Never did Mr Trump

call for violence, or tell his

supporters to storm Congress.

Condemning the entire rally as

an insurrection ignores the

fact that the vast majority of

the people there were exercis-

ing their constitutional rights

to assembly and speech.

Extremists who show up to

rallies are not part of the wider

movement. Last year, while

cities across America burned

and were looted, we were

lectured about not blaming the

“peaceful” protests for the

criminal actions of the rioting

crowds. True supporters of Mr

Trump denounced the vio-

lence, just as they did in places

like Kenosha, Minneapolis,

Portland and Seattle. Many

Democrats can make no such

claim. Nancy Pelosi actually

described law enforcement

officers who were defending a

courthouse under constant

siege as “storm troopers”. Some

in her party openly called for

unrest. Did The Economist

denounce those politicians?

Have their social-media ac-

counts also been closed down?

Violence to bring about

political change is never

justified. Extremism on both

the left and right should be

condemned.

d. charles bogan

Santa Fe, New Mexico

You raised the possibility that

the Supreme Court may have to

determine whether Mr Trump’s

impeachment trial and pos-

sible conviction are valid, now

that he has left office.

Maybe. But in the early

1990s, Walter Nixon, an

impeached federal judge,

sought a judicial review of the

process by which the Senate

had convicted him. William

Rehnquist’s opinion for the

court in 1993, joined by

Clarence Thomas, noted the

absence “of a single word in the

history of the constitutional

convention or in contempo-

rary commentary that even

alludes to the possibility of

judicial review in the context

of the impeachment powers.”

The opinion included the

broad statement that “judicial

review would be inconsistent

with the Framers’ insistence

that our system be one of

checks and balances.”

Mr Trump’s lawyers could

make arguments that his case

was distinguishable. However,

they would be facing strong

headwinds.

thomas d. rowe, jr

Professor of law emeritus

Duke University

Durham, North Carolina

“Madison’s nightmare”

(January 16th) proffered Plato’s

“Republic” as a meditation on

the evils of mob rule. As an

alternative, I would suggest

Plato’s earlier “Gorgias”. It

examines the politics of

manipulation and the skills of

persuasion and lying. Unlike

the “Republic” it has no

uplifting conclusions. It ends

with a bitter unresolved argu-

ment between Socrates and

Callicles, a young ambitious

Athenian aristocrat who argues

that “the strong” should rule

over the “weak masses” with

“charms and incantations”.

“Gorgias” has the virtue of

being a brilliant dissection not

of the mob but of the motiva-

tions, techniques and dangers

of people who would exploit

the “many-headed-monster”

for their own power, wealth

and ego. Dealing with that

situation would seem to be the

real challenge of this particular

moment.

m. mackenzie

Montreal

I am disappointed that a publi-

cation of your erudition feels

the need to use the informal

“mobocracy”, when a perfectly

good word, “ochlocracy”,

already exists.

colin mcallister

St Andrews, Fife

Themissingcabbages

Yourarticleonprivateart

collectorsinBritainraised

variousissues,butthecon-

cludinglineswerepeculiarly

revealingofa metropolitan

bias(“Wallpower”,January

16th).It isnotjustthatmuchof

theWilloughbydeEresbyart

collectionhasanywaybeenon

show,orthattheLincolnshire

“flatlands”arealsohometothe

paintingsatBelvoirand

Belton,andotherkindsof

“culture”besides.Butthatif

youwalkintheextensiveand

“undulating”groundsofGrim-

sthorpeCastle,younevercatch

evena glimpseofa cabbage,a

vegetablewhich,yousay,the

surroundinglandis“richin”.

penelopecurtis

London

A business backwater

You were spot-on about the

prospect of “an eternity of

negotiations” with the

European Union that awaits

Britain, as experienced here in

Switzerland (“Britain’s Swiss

role”, January 2nd). In 1990,

60% of America’s top 20

companies based their

European headquarters here

(Dow, DuPont, General Motors,

Hewlett-Packard, ibmand so

on). Then in 1992 Swiss voters

voted against joining the

extended European Communi-

ty (the Norwegian option).

Roll the clock forward and

only one of the 20 most-valu-

able American companies has

its headquarters here. Dow,

ibmand others have stuck

around, but have declined in

relevance. Others gradually left

or were absorbed. The Swiss

American Chamber of Com-

merce has become a kind of

museum.

The most vibrant compa-

nies, such as Airbnb, Amazon,

Apple, Fanuc, Samsung, Stripe,

Snowflake and Uniqlo, chose

not to come here. Instead they

went to Amsterdam, Dublin,

and London. They will not

return to Switzerland without

unequivocal access to the

second-most important mar-

ket in the world. Though the

decline has been impercep-

tible, it has left a void in the

Swiss economy more measur-

able in loss of potential than

productivity. The next big

thing in artificial intelligence,

payments, or internet sharing

will not be spawned in Swit-

zerland because there is no

mothership to spin it off.

I suspect the case will be

similar for Britain. The grass

grows more quickly and quiet-

ly than we think. If a country is

unable to attract promising

technologies and competitive

companies, if it cannot provide

them with free access to mar-

kets and talent, how can it

remain vibrant and prosper-

ous? Museums don’t produce

many high-paying jobs.

r. james breiding

Zurich

A man for all seasons

Your appreciation of Deside-

rius Erasmus was timely (“Citi-

zen of the world”, December

19th). Described by Diarmaid

MacCulloch as “the patron

saint of networkers, as well as

of freelance writers”, a time-

travelling Erasmus might

easily find his bearings in

today’s Europe. The covid crisis

would be eerily familiar to

him, having lost his parents to

the plague. So would the anti-

vaxxers and conspiracy theo-

rists in their resemblance to

medieval quacks. But observ-

ing scientific efforts to tackle

humanity’s pressing problems,

he’d find himself vindicated in

his belief in the reasoning

faculties of the human mind.

christopher stehberger

Traunstein, Germany

Erasmus would have loved the

fabled moderate chant of

English protesters: “What do

we want?” “Gradual change!”

“When do we want it?” “In due

course!”

richard waugaman

Clinical professor of psychiatry

Georgetown University

Washington, dc