Letter: It's good to talk

With regard to Gerry Hassan's comments on the parlous state of public discourse in contemporary Scotland (Perspective, 19 February), I was disturbed to learn that he had found himself on the receiving end of abusive and threatening behaviour.

There is never an excuse for violence and I am somewhat surprised his interlocutors could become agitated by his therapeutic blend of neoliberalism; I have always found it very soothing. Indeed, he is a balm.

Nonetheless, though I do agree that a discourse characterised by anger can be unhelpful, surely the problem lies in the fact that we now experience free-floating dissatisfaction unfocused by a coherent and structured critique.

The problem is not symptomatic of the bitter disappointments of the vanquished left. The left was always ardent - and frequently polemical - even when the red star was in the ascendant.

However, my main concern lies with Mr Hassan's suggested panacea. On a basic level it's nice to be nice and we should all try to get along but there is nothing in the history of political debate that equates progress with moderation.

Hannah Arendt, when asked to come up with an example of the "authentic care of the world" in the political sphere, could only point to the marginal - and closed - example of American revolutionary town hall meetings. We have all seen the effects of the hijacking of contemporary "town hall" meetings in the US.

Thankfully, Andy Gray and Alex Salmond are not entirely comparable to Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin but part of their communicative problem is that much that we now call politics goes on behind closed doors and the opportunities for meaningful debate appear thin, despite "big conversations".

That does not mean we cannot demand that our politicians focus their attention on matters of real public concern. Let's not forget the Scots Parliament declared itself unable to debate the case for the Iraq war (in which many Scottish soldiers died) and instead addressed themselves to the vexed issue of dog fouling.

Gordon MacGregor Richmond

Grandfield

Edinburgh