The state has stressed many times that it will not tolerate political violence within its borders. The citizens, for their part, have become used to zero political violence. That is why the theater of terror generates visceral fears of anarchy, making people feel as if the social order is about to collapse. After centuries of bloody struggles we have crawled out of the black hole of violence, but we sense that the black hole is still there, patiently waiting to swallow us again. A few gruesome atrocities, and we imagine that we are falling back in.
