Fear stokes anger, which then stokes more fear. Anger is the child of fear, the philosopher Martha Nussbaum writes in her book, “The Monarchy of Fear.” The fearful person turns asocial, rejects any compassionate response to social problems and instead lashes out. “It drives out all thoughts of others.” The fearful person doesn’t see particular individuals, just hateful shades who arouse disgust and can be blamed. For my last column I went back and read some profiles of Joe Biden written in the 1970s and 1980s. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.

Source: New York Times April 30, 2019 01:27 UTC