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Violence in protesting, when is it right?
Feb. 6th, 2017 09:47 pmThis was a question on Quora:
Who are the masked protesters dressed in black who break windows, loot businesses, and set fires?
At the Trump Inagguration and many Black Lives Matter protests, these sorts of people show up and wreak all kinds of havoc. Some acquaintances speculate they are white anarchists. One acquaintance insists they are agent provocateurs hired by the state. Just who are they and how do they organize?
Here was my answer:
They’re undercover cops trying to give the other cops an excuse to come down hard on the protesters.
Someone's response:
Never forget how Hitler rose to power. Many sane and peaceful Germans were peacefully protesting the Nazis rise to power. Hitler recruited and sent in the Brown Shirts to instigate violence at the protests. Hitler then used the ensuing violence as a fig leaf to declare marshal law and grab complete dictatorial control of government.
So this will not be an easy black and white judgement call, seeing as the Left does have a radical wing that accepts violence as necessary. As opposed to the majority on the Left who embrace peaceful resistance and protest a la Gandhi and MLK.
And the fascist right wing corporate elite have every incentive to try and delegitimize the massive progressive protests worldwide. And can easily follow Hitler's example of success in grabbing even more power under the banner of Right Wing Authoritarianism, which has run rampant under corporate sponsorship for decades now, but especially since 9–11.
My response to that:
It’s even more complicated than that. There are anti-fascists called the Antifa who disguise themselves and punch Nazis. Now, I’m against hurting innocent people, including being against smashing the cars and other property of middle class and lower classes, and back when Obama was President I was against all destruction of property, but the puppet in the oval office now is a fascist dictator-wannabe installed by a foreign government and has no legitimacy. I still believe in sparing the lives and bodies and properties of the innocent, but smashing police cars, police buildings, and government property, I very much agree with.
I also believe there are allies in our government, like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and some of the other minority of Democrats who actually have a spine and fight Drumpf and his jackbooted minions, so those allies should be spared as well. But otherwise, I support violence towards the oppressors. Because even Martin Luther King said “If your opponent has a conscience, then follow Gandhi. But if your enemy has no conscience, like Hitler, then follow Bonhoeffer.” And neither the fascists following Lord Dampnut (Trump) nor the cops who continue to side with him have a conscience.
Adding here:
I wish I could relocate that Tumblr post with proof that the KKK, Nazis, and other racist groups have been infiltrating the police ever since Obama took office. So it's no longer hyperbole to say that cops are Nazis, because they are.
Who are the masked protesters dressed in black who break windows, loot businesses, and set fires?
At the Trump Inagguration and many Black Lives Matter protests, these sorts of people show up and wreak all kinds of havoc. Some acquaintances speculate they are white anarchists. One acquaintance insists they are agent provocateurs hired by the state. Just who are they and how do they organize?
Here was my answer:
They’re undercover cops trying to give the other cops an excuse to come down hard on the protesters.
Someone's response:
Never forget how Hitler rose to power. Many sane and peaceful Germans were peacefully protesting the Nazis rise to power. Hitler recruited and sent in the Brown Shirts to instigate violence at the protests. Hitler then used the ensuing violence as a fig leaf to declare marshal law and grab complete dictatorial control of government.
So this will not be an easy black and white judgement call, seeing as the Left does have a radical wing that accepts violence as necessary. As opposed to the majority on the Left who embrace peaceful resistance and protest a la Gandhi and MLK.
And the fascist right wing corporate elite have every incentive to try and delegitimize the massive progressive protests worldwide. And can easily follow Hitler's example of success in grabbing even more power under the banner of Right Wing Authoritarianism, which has run rampant under corporate sponsorship for decades now, but especially since 9–11.
My response to that:
It’s even more complicated than that. There are anti-fascists called the Antifa who disguise themselves and punch Nazis. Now, I’m against hurting innocent people, including being against smashing the cars and other property of middle class and lower classes, and back when Obama was President I was against all destruction of property, but the puppet in the oval office now is a fascist dictator-wannabe installed by a foreign government and has no legitimacy. I still believe in sparing the lives and bodies and properties of the innocent, but smashing police cars, police buildings, and government property, I very much agree with.
I also believe there are allies in our government, like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and some of the other minority of Democrats who actually have a spine and fight Drumpf and his jackbooted minions, so those allies should be spared as well. But otherwise, I support violence towards the oppressors. Because even Martin Luther King said “If your opponent has a conscience, then follow Gandhi. But if your enemy has no conscience, like Hitler, then follow Bonhoeffer.” And neither the fascists following Lord Dampnut (Trump) nor the cops who continue to side with him have a conscience.
Adding here:
I wish I could relocate that Tumblr post with proof that the KKK, Nazis, and other racist groups have been infiltrating the police ever since Obama took office. So it's no longer hyperbole to say that cops are Nazis, because they are.
