What do people really believe? That is the fundamental question, I think.
Here’s an example of a group of professed anti-racists shooting two Black teenagers, killing one of them, in the incident that ended the CHOP occupation in Seattle’s Capitol Hill district in 2020.
While the act itself was tragic and could be considered an accident, these anti-racist “street fighters” not only never owned up to their culpability but actively tried to obfuscate it.
But wait, here’s a group of “patriots,” many wearing or flying flags with “Blue Lives Matter” on them beating the shit out of the police in DC in 2021.
Hypocrisy? Did they never actually believe in the things they say they believe in and just want to be seen as people with strong convictions? Are their beliefs simply discardable when convenient to them?
I just file it all under “people are dumb.” To me, civil rights and civil liberties for all, an effective economic safety net, and environmental stewardship are important.
But people using their beliefs to justify their bad behavior are jackasses.
I think, too often these days, debates are polarized to the point where each side sees the other as these bad extremes. While these bad extremes exist, most people don’t fall under those categories. They’re somewhere less extreme on the political spectrum.
You raise some good and interesting points. I can mostly agree with the "people are dumb" sentiment.
What I disagree with is the indirect (and maybe not intended?) notion that both extremes are comparable or similar.
For the sake of transparency: I'm obviously very biased on this matter. I'm not American; I'm Greek, but grew up and am living in Germany. I am invested in US politics due to their effect on global politics. Whether we like it or not, what happens in the US ends up directly influencing what happens in my home countries.
I am part of one of those "extremes". I'm a leftist and a socialist. I dislike the effects of late stage capitalism, both on humans (wealth disparity, exploitation of the lower class and the global south) as well as on the planet itself (anthropogenic climate change). These things could probably happen under a different economic system as well, but it's difficult seeing how hyper capitalist endeavors are directly causing destruction all around us, while pretty much all "worst case scenario" predictions by scientists are coming true, much faster than even their most alarming warnings.
I wanted to talk about how, according to the Department of Homeland Security, the largest source of domestic terrorism in the US is by the far right. I used to link to their findings quite often, but I can't find the link at the moment. Haven't looked for it since Trump became president again, but it wouldn't be the first time that useful information was withheld. I guess you'll have to take my word for the following, but you are free to look it up: Left wing extremism in the US is negligible; far right extremism abundant and responsible for most violent incidents in the last decades.
To put it in other terms: The right is championing a man and an administration that is constantly violating the Constitution. ICE got such enormous funding that overshadows most militaries of other countries. Unmarked militias are going through streets kidnapping legal US citizens to get them deported, violating their rights, because they "look foreign". Fascism is on the rise; globally and domestically. And despite all the "we need the 2nd amendment to overthrow a tyrannical government" type arguments that many who are pro-gun brought forth over the years, there's now a large chunk of Americans who are openly cheering for a dictatorship, as long as it's their side doing it.
On the other hand, what exactly are the extreme positions of the left? I won't deny that there have been instances of anti-semitism on the left as well, but support for Palestine doesn't equal support for Hamas. Criticizing the government of Israel for enacting a genocide in broad daylight (as recognized by multiple human rights groups, including Israeli ones) does not equal championing the eradication of Israel or Jewish people.
Then there's obviously all the "culture war" issues. The left wants the LGBTQ community to have the same rights as everyone else, while
anti-LGBTQ hate crimes are rising year over year. They want the trans community to have access to live-saving healthcare, as supported by the medical consensus worldwide.
Biased source? Maybe, but a good list of statements by a variety of medical organizations on the matter. They want people of colour to be able to live their lives without fear of being harassed or even attacked or murdered. We're living in a time where even the existence of characters who aren't straight, white men in movies, tv shows and video games is decried as "woke", "pushing agendas" or "shoving them down our throats", while Trump and his goons are deporting US citizens and building concentration camps.
The most frustrating thing is that none of what is happening is in any way surprising. The left has been screaming and warning about all this for years. We had someone in this thread
painting himself as an apolitical, regular guy with normal, regular problems. He was informed multiple times, in good faith, that the specific policy issues he raised were addressed much better by Harris's campaign than Trump's. He still ended up voting for Trump. He also went mask-off and shared
straight up neo nazi rhetoric. It's this disingenuousness that gets me. On one hand playing the "I'm just a normal dude, I want to grill and drink beer", on the other hand revealing deeply political and far right talking points, probably from 4chan or another similar board that radicalizes people. In other words, there was no interest in discussing or learning. There was no interest in debating policies and positions. The lines were drawn, the colours chosen and there was no interest in actually talking about any of this.
This all might seem very one-sided and convenient to you. And honestly? It probably is. But I genuinely can't see how someone could think that what is happening on the far left is in any way comparable to what is happening on the far right, at the moment. Not saying that you are saying that by the way, I just took your comment as an excuse to put my thoughts in order and context.
