It’s easy to answer the commentary comparing the Jan. 6 investigation to a similar prosecution in ancient Rome (“Where Rome failed can we succeed?” The Herald, June 22) According to George Santayana: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Unfortunately, Americans don’t know a lot of history.
Mr. Osgood asks “why American citizens have increasingly been turning to political violence.” The fundamental reason is a lack of trust. No one is listening. No one gives people the benefit of the doubt, if they disagree. Instead we conclude they are evil and disregard everything they say. The fact is we are all crazy. We can immediately see it in others, but can not see it in ourselves.
Thanks to the internet and the destruction of old media, the new business model is to sing to the choir. The biases that each of us have, keep getting exaggerated by the media we choose to consume. I read Newsweek for decades. Until 10 years ago I thought of it as fair and balanced. After its revenue was starved by the internet it has become nothing more than partisan propaganda. Most media, of all persuasions, is like that now. So people keep thickening the bubble around their own thinking. The best hope is if we try: Interact with people in the real world, ask interesting questions, and, most importantly, listen.
Mr. Osgood asks how could the events of Jan. 6, 2021, happen? He hasn’t been listening. I really don’t want to die in civil war. Anyone with me?
John Hyman
Snohomish
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