Is the Pen really mightier than the Sword?

The phrase “the pen is mightier than the sword” was first written by English novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton in his 1839 play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy.

It may be true that history is full of people who have never personally held any type of weapon and have nevertheless sent millions to an early grave. It’s very unlikely that Cardinal Richelieu ever killed someone in person. Neither did Hitler (he served as a runner during WW1). They left it to others to carry out their dirty jobs.

Demagogues thrive in environments of societal frustration, economic hardship, and political polarization, where they can exploit people’s fears and anxieties to gain power. They often present themselves as champions of the common person, promising simple solutions to complex problems and appealing to emotions rather than reason: Crime and joblessness are an immigration issue, Give all your problems to God, The State will provide, …

All ideologists, be they inspired by religion, nationalism, or socio-economical themes, very soon realized that they need a group of armed men to carry out their visions. The medieval knights carried out the wishes of the (catholic) church, Nazism was enforced by the SS, and Marxism by the KGB.

In the Western world the press is often seen as the fourth pilar of democracy (next to the legislative, judiciary and executive). Lately we can see a remarkably erosion of the journalistic prerogatives caused by a shift of the opinion influencing power from the newspapers towards the social media.

Newspapers got into financially stormy waters and tycoons with direct links to the governments acquired those sinking flagships of the freedom of speech. While journalists still wield considerable influence, opinion makers that are not adhering to the official discourse, see themselves increasingly excluded from press conferences and some even face deportation.

Until recently we associated that kind of restrictions upon the freedom of speech with third world countries, where journalists a very aware of the fact that a press card doesn’t make them bullet proof or immunizes them (and their families) from arbitrary arrest and prosecution.

Opinions are now forged on the social media where fact checking is almost nonexistent. By hiding themselves behind the freedom of speech, those influencers are secretly undermining the very principle that protects them by presenting opinions and fabrications as facts. Websites that are doing fact checks against this stream of disinformation are fighting an uphill battle and the irony wants that they are on their turn get accused of being foreign spies or subversive conspirators by the same websites they’re factchecking. And the followers follow their leaders into their delusional rantings.

In the end, modern demagogues rather stick to Mao’s quote in which he claimed: Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

That’s how it ends when a civilized debate is deadlocked by extreme polarization fed with demonisation and desinformation on both sides. Modern democracies became the dictature of self-serving clans where the ones who manage to acquire the 50% + 1 of the popular vote controls the guns and, by extension, all other facets of society.