Francesc-Marc Álvaro, November 7, 2021
2019 independence march, before the pandemic JOSEP LAGO / AFP
If someone farts in a small space, the plague ends up dominating the environment and there is a certain discomfort among those present.
The expressions of fanatics, in any public or private debate or discussion, have the same effect: they contaminate the arguments and corrupt the dialogue until it is disfigured and impossible. When fanaticism rules, it is not known exactly what we are talking about and words stop making sense and become something else. Everywhere fanaticism threatens societies and everywhere fanatics can turn a noble and respectable cause into an excuse for hatred and exclusion to be imposed as the most normal thing. It is something that we have seen many times. We have also seen it close to home.
Every day we are more Catalans who receive the qualification of traitor
Recently, an individual called me a “traitor” in a tweet. So far, nothing to comment The sender of the tweet, a supposed independentist angry with an article of mine that questioned the Consell per la República and some statements by Puigdemont, associates betrayal with all those who do not say what he believes (I write “believe” because putting “thinks” would be exaggerate). Every day we are more Catalans who receive the qualification of traitor, something that shows what kind of Republic certain people have in mind.
The tweet I comment contained a second part where the individual wrote this: “When we achieve independence we will have to clean up unpresentable people like him.” Despite being a threat, I couldn’t help but smile and laugh. A very intelligent propaganda to expand the base of the independence movement! It is not enough for the local fanatic to point out traitors as some used to seek heretics. He also feels compelled to announce a great purge (I am not sure if he advocates my physical elimination or less irreversible solutions) of elements that he considers “disaffected”, as would Franco, Hitler, Stalin or Pol Pot. The concept of “cleanliness” is not accidental, because fanatics aspire to a society where purity reigns, represented by them.
The Israeli writer Amos Oz has said and written that fanatics do not usually have sense of humor and – I add – they are solemn. The poor devil who uses Twitter to threaten thinks he’s doing something important, but he’s just making a fool of himself, like an unwitting clown.
https://www.lavanguardia.com/opinion/20211107/7844104/peste-fanatico.html
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