My Thoughts Close Of The Election (Part 2)




 

Extremism

There is nothing good to say about Anitfa. However, the Proud Boys are pathetic criminals too. They are not the freedom fighters that many make them out to be. Extremism is the same, regardless of the group. There is no difference between Antifa groups, Neo-Nazis, the KKK and ISIS. I don't know why people cherry-pick extremist groups. I don't know why people will single out Radical Islam or Antifa while presenting white-supremacist and worthless Klansman as symbols of freedom and Americana. If people can call out Radical Islam and Antifa by name, they can call out the KKK and Neo-Nazis as well. Trump didn't condemn the Proud Boys until he was called out.

Radical Islam is dangerous. I don't think that anybody is denying that, unless one is a sucker for sensationalist click-bait found on Facebook. However, we're dealing with an administration that thinks that Radical Muslims (and Antifa) are the only ones capable of terrorism. Extremism is an universal issues that effects anybody regardless of there religious or political affliction. Things are never as simple or black-and-white as many make it out to be. There is a lot more than what meets the eye. White-supremacy has been ignored for the longest times despite the fact that they been responsible for the vast majority of extremist crimes for the past several years. This problem actually goes back to the Obama administration. Obama dismissed white-supremacy as a plausible threat early on. By the time he realized how bad the problem was, it was too late. The newly revived white-nationalist movement became well-established politically. As such, trying to stop it was seen as an attack on Conservatives.

It was relatively simple for YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter to ban Radical Islamic content. These ideas were not prevalent within American society. However, when the social media giants tried to implement the same algorithms with white-supremacist groups, they encountered a lot of resistance. Many claimed that they were trying to suppress Conservative though. The ideas of white-supremacy and white-nationalism have become so mainstream that trying to ban such extremist groups on social media is seen as an attack on free speech. Never mind that they are a companies and not government agencies. However, many Conservative politicians drew support from such groups. The white-supremacist were free to operate. El Paso became the scene of a horrific shooting because such groups were spewing violent rhetoric while being free to operate with impunity.  

Extremist hate crimes were a thing long before Trump. However, Trump have added mainstream legitimacy to both white-supremacist groups and there ideas. He legitimized conspiracy theories and violent rhetoric. At the beginning,  Trump was much more of a symptom than a cause. However, the longer he stays in office, he is going to be the causation of violent rhetoric, if not already.


Extremism is bad regardless of the group or the affiliation. However, one of the reasons why emphasis is placed on white-supremacy though is that they have committed the vast majority of extremist crimes in the country in the last several years. Between 2008-2017, they have committed 71% of crimes. Radical-Islamic extremism accounted for 26% and left leaning crimes accounted for 3% over the same time. In 2019, they have committed virtual all the extremist crimes in this country.



Anitfa was the best thing to every happen to Trump. This was a small, insignificant, largely unknown fringe group on the far extreme left that Trump used to demonize an entire political spectrum. Engaging in Whataboutism, mainstream Democrats with standard, non-controversial views were painted as anti-American, anti-Capitalist Marxist and pseudo Communist. Moderates were painted as evil and demonic Communist simply because of a difference of opinion. The word "Radical" had been thrown around to the point of having little meaning. It morphed into an general insult word used to demonize those simply because they have that difference of opinion.

When it comes to economic policy, both parties are largely the same. Both are strong advocates of liberal economics. If people don't want to vote Democrat because of rational interpretation of party policy, that alright. However, if people don't want to vote Democrats because they think that they are secret Communist out to destroy America, then that person is a eccentric crackpot who murdered critical thinking in cold blood. When people embrace outlandish conspiracy theories, they see invisible boogeymen not there. Satan is real. He's called fear and paranoia. When fear and paranoia take over, we become our own worst enemy.

In the 1950's, people were ultra-paranoid of that Communist Revolution that never took place. Yet, because of that paranoia, many didn't see the actual violence that the KKK was committing. The Germans of the 1930's were paranoid of Communism too. There paranoia to Communism caused them to make a deal with the Devil that empowered the worst villain of the 20th Century: Hitler.

For those who very glad that Bernie Sanders didn't get the nomination because they are afraid of quote "Communist radicals", your fears wasn't based on anything that was real or genuine. There never was a real possibility of a Communist takeover. It was never in the cards in the first place. You caved into unfounded fear and paranoia that wasn't rooted in reality. The fear of a Communist takeover was only true if your definition of Communism was essentially a vague umbrella term for anything you didn't like. The word "Radical" largely assumed the same vague definition as well. When one hears Trump use the word, one needs to ask "What is your definition of Radical".

Our paranoia to boogeymen will lead us down a dark road. We will become our own worst enemy. The last thing we need is a third red scare.

Articles of Interest - Extremism
BBC - El Paso shooting: Has US neglected fight against white extremism? : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49227590
 
Business Insider - A 'Fox & Friends' host said it's 'a fact' that America is experiencing a Hispanic invasion, directly echoing the El Paso shooter's manifesto : https://www.businessinsider.com/brian-kilmeade-fox-friends-america-invasion-el-paso-shooter-2019-8

HuffPost - Tucker Carlson Claims There’s No White Supremacy Problem: ‘This Is A Hoax’ : https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tucker-carlson-white-supremacists_n_5d4a412ae4b0066eb709ac39

VICE - Why Won’t Twitter Treat White Supremacy Like ISIS? Because It Would Mean Banning Some Republican Politicians Too. : https://www.vice.com/en/article/a3xgq5/why-wont-twitter-treat-white-supremacy-like-isis-because-it-w...

Google Is Not A "Truth Engine," But People Think It Is : https://www.eyerys.com/articles/people/1367632976/opinions/google-not-truth-engine-yet-people-think-....

Business Insider - A 'Fox & Friends' host said it's 'a fact' that America is experiencing a Hispanic invasion, directly echoing the El Paso shooter's manifesto : https://www.businessinsider.com/brian-kilmeade-fox-friends-america-invasion-el-paso-shooter-2019-8

ADL - ADL Report: White Supremacist Murders More Than Doubled in 2017 : https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-report-white-supremacist-murders-more-than-doubled-in-20... 
ADL - Murder and Extremism in the United States in 2018 - https://www.adl.org/murder-and-extremism-2018
ADL - Murder and Extremism in the United States in 2019 - https://www.adl.org/murder-and-extremism-2019

Wikipedia
Wikipedia - Antifa (United States) : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifa_(United_States)
Wikipedia - Islamic terrorism : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_terrorism
Wikipedia - Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant
Wikipedia - Proud Boys : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proud_Boys
Wikipedia - The First Red Scare : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Red_Scare
Wikipedia - McCarthyism : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism 

It feels like I'm missing articles.......

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