A last stretch of this strange, uneasy summer remains. Between now and September, there could conceivably be further outbreaks of the kind of violence that rightwing politicians and their media allies have been frantically predicting. But for now, behold a fascinating spectacle: a country quietly refusing to chaotically combust, despite being endlessly encouraged to do so.
One word in particular symbolises the gap between hyped-up rhetoric and everyday reality. “Tinderbox”, was first used in the mid-16th century to describe a crude instrument for starting fires: a container that carried a piece of flint and steel, and a pocketful of the dry, flammable material that gave the device its name. With the invention of matches, the use of such implements fell away, and the word began its passage to how it is used today: as political shorthand for any situation supposedly on the brink of explosion. And here we are: over the past few weeks, “tinderbox” has become an inescapable cliche.
