I went to see Othello the other night, a play I haven't seen since high school. As I watched Shakespeare's plot unfold, I was forcibly struck by how the Moor's tragedy is a perfect metaphor for where Western democracies like Australia, Britain and the US now find themselves.
In the play, Othello's servant Iago drips doubt and suspicion into his master's ear about the behaviour of the Moor's new white wife Desdemona. Iago takes Othello's insecurities and stokes them until the Moor becomes convinced that his wife has played him false.
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For at least two decades a phalanx of Iagos have been dripping poison into the ears of voters. They have done it via conspiracy theories, the venomous hatred of shock jocks, pundits and commentary masquerading as news. Breitbart, Fox News, men's rights activists, even climate change deniers have sowed suspicion and doubt in the face of facts, science and even just plain old courtesy and common sense.
There have not just been Iagos on the Right, however. Post-modernism helped undermine the idea of objective truth. Apocalyptic journalists on the left like John Pilger and even Michael Moore have played their part. Julian Assange and Wikileaks have also stoked the fires of hatred and distrust, as have weak and vacillating "progressive" political parties who appear embarrassingly willing to forsake principle for expediency. Those who reject western medicine, including anti-vaxxers have added to the general atmosphere of distrust.
![No honour here ... Ray Chong Nee (Othello) and Elizabeth Nabben (Desdemona).](/web/20161112090126im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/9/8/h/5/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsf8u5.png/1478239479324.jpg)
Like Shakespeare's Iago, the times have suited those who want to undermine and destroy. Thanks to the internet, absolutely unsubstantiated rubbish can pop up in everyone's news feed with the same prominence as more reliable news and information. A spurious kind of equality has developed between what satirist Jon Stewart calls "truthiness" (lies which sound true) and – well – actual truth.
Worse, but also thanks to the internet, many traditional and respected news sources have struggled to maintain their revenues in a much more competitive world and they have also resorted to click-bait and scare-mongering in an attempt to gain readers. What was once fairly reliable is much less reliable now.
The triumph of the modern-day Iagos is that they have managed to make it almost impossible for ordinary people to discern fact from fiction. Donald Trump supporters allow their candidate to deny everything and anything despite video, audio and photographic evidence. "I didn't say that" even in the face of recordings of him saying exactly that makes no difference in a paranoid world.
The persistent idea that Hillary Clinton is corrupt is a classic example of Iagos at work. Many take her bad character as an article of faith now, despite the fact that she is the most investigated candidate ever and no solid evidence of any serious wrong-doing has been revealed. She isn't perfect, by any means, but who is? Misogyny plays a major part in this, of course, just as it does in Othello. It remains easy to convince many people of female duplicitousness even on the flimsiest of evidence.
![It is in the US presidential campaign that we see the modern day Iagos having their greatest effect.](/web/20161112090126im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/y/k/7/c/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsf8u5.png/1478239479324.jpg)
The terrifying conclusion to the Shakespearian tragedy we appear to be living through is that – like Othello – we are now at risk of killing the very thing we hold most dear; democracy itself. Brexit is an example of Iago at work, so is the relentless demonising of refugees seeking asylum, but it is in the US presidential campaign that we see the modern day Iagos having their greatest effect.
Whatever the final result of November 8 – and with a new email scandal blindsiding the Clinton campaign (complete with warring conspiracy theories) the result no longer looks certain – those of us who love democracy have our work cut out for us. How can we re-establish faith in our institutions, imperfect though many of them are? How can we re-invigorate respect for evidence, verifiable facts and honest intentions? How can we re-learn to trust our fellow citizens and the basic goodwill of even those we disagree with, in the face of the constant drip, drip, drip of hatred, fear and suspicion?
![Julian Assange and Wikileaks have stoked the fires of hatred and distrust.](/web/20161112090126im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/0/l/w/3/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsf8u5.png/1478239479324.jpg)
Yet we must, because if we strangle democracy out of mis-directed hatred and anger, like Othello, we will have murdered ourselves.
Jane Caro is a Fairfax Media columnist and author.
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