‘Anger and radicalization’: rising number of Americans say political violence is justified

www.theguardian.com ‘Anger and radicalization’: rising number of Americans say political violence is justified

Survey shows a small but significant share of Americans believe in use of force to attain political goals – from both left and right

34 comments

I feel like it’s a lot closer to “well those fuckin’ Nazi wingnuts seem like they’re gonna start something at some point soon, so I think it’d be prudent to have some contingency plans”. That’s where my head is, at least.
- I believe we will get no necessary reforms without threat of violence. The rich will absolutely shoot us, so we just be prepared to do the same
  
  Look up the Battle of Blair Mountain
  
  You need a two hand approach, the larger peaceful movement and a smaller more aggressive movement to lead toward success. MLK & Malcolm X during the Civil Rights Movement is the example you want to set. You sway public opinion by showing violent actions committed against the unarmed peaceful protestors. You pressure by have your more aggressive wing just be themselves. Throughout American history this has been the path to change. The aggressive side doesn't even need to be violent, they just have to be intimidating and scare the MAGAs. That us enough for them to attack the peaceful protestors who they will attack because they are cowards who crave conformity.
  
  Exactly this.
  
  Non violent mass protests work because the implicit threat is, "make the changes we're demanding or we'll drag you out here and beat you to death."
  
  MLK was only effective because of the alternative of dealing with Malcolm X.
  
  I’m familiar with it, and I agree.
  
  This, but don't reform, abolish and build new. Our current oppressive systems are insidious and will rise back up through whatever crack they find. We need to create a society that would categorically stomp them out when they do.
  
  Battle of Blair Mountain
  
  Excellent timing. In a conversation I learned only yesterday that Red Neck wasn't always a pejorative term. The miners wore red neckerchiefs. They were workers standing up to the man / system. It's been completely changed in meaning deliberately, or so I was told, as part of the effort to erase them from history. Seems possible to me.
  
  Also, there's apparently no mention of this class battle in West Virginia history books. Anyone here able to verify that?
- I've seen a lot of instigating comments and posts here on Lemmy today. Protect yourselves, but don't go instigating in a violent way against people and their homes, it's a distraction and gives people a reason to go after you.
- The biggest difference is that they will face both police and National Guard if they try. It will be like the GOP response to the BLM protest with heavily armed troops, tanks, and helicopters.
  
  You… know how many problems the police and military have with white supremacy in their ranks, right?
  
  This is the legacy of the confederacy. There are a nontrivial number of people in law enforcement and the armed forces who unironically want to bring it back.
Force used to oppress, and force used to oppose and defend against those who use force to oppress, are not the same and it truly enrages me that they are treated as even in the same category or a somehow comparable threat.

It's subtle shit like this that fuels the "don't fight hate with hate" nonsense in liberals and centrists (don't be fooled by the superficial progressive takes, the Guardian is as much a part of the propaganda machine as the S*n and the Daily Hail, they just cater to different demographics) that is, in part of course, keeping us from rising up against the few that oppress us.

Don't buy in to it.
- I'm with you. Intolerance of intolerance is a different beast and is absolutely necessary to maintain freedom and liberty. When are people going to figure out that even the smallest capitulation to fascism is an automatic loss?
- Who is opressing you?
  
  The state?
I think we all saw this was the case on January 6, 2021.
Please. I kind of wish they’d just do the thing already so we can put this shit to rest once and for all.
- Really? Because it's more likely to take the form of terrorist attacks than anything else. Timothy McVeigh and the Unabomber are heroes to some.
  
  Timothy McVeigh and the Unabomber are heroes to some.
  
  Cross posting from another thread because it's in my clipboard history, making this easy:
  
  There's a lot of stellar reporting on this stuff. There was a limited-series podcast about the evolution of white supremacy in the US that did an excellent job of explaining and illustrating the shifts called Long Shadow trailer. It starts with Waco and Ruby Ridge and really helped me better understand how and why we're seeing what's happening today. (Scroll down; the white supremacist eps were preceded by a season about 9/11, which I haven't listened to).
  
  The gig-economy metaphor makes more sense with the perspective that they understand that the KKK is unpopular and they rely on small cells and individuals for acts of terror and violence. Then the leaders of the movement can "condemn" the violence, which was what they always wanted and knew their rhetoric would bring.
- Yes, usually when these situations escalate to violence it gets settled once and for all, and doesn’t deepen divisions
  
  It worked in 1860 .... oh wait
- That's exactly how every Canadian feels about the US every election cycle.
  
  Trump indictment for January 6th likely dropping today. I can’t wait.
Well... we're fucked, aren't we?

You've viewed 34 comments.