The Difference

[rowyn]

I'm at Panera, and I don't really feel like writing anything in particular. But I do really feel like playing 4thewords, so Imma just ramble for a while.

My Twitter feed is All Politics All the Time Now. A big popular thing is Punch Nazis in the Face. Some white nationalist dude got punched in the face and my Twitter feed is now all Pro-Violence

Comments

[tagryn]

It sets a terrible precedent. Legitimizing violence-as-political-tactic opens the door for actual brownshirts to do as they please...and they will. With probably a lot more experience and comfort with violence backing them up than the people who hit first have.

The particular GIF I saw, its hard to see, but it looked like the hitter was in the standard Black Bloc attire of black hoodie/balacalva/etc. I wonder how many of the people laughing at the image also were outraged when the peaceful protestors they were supporting were linked to the violent activity of the BB in places like DC? There's an inconsistency there.

My other thought...I think there's a lot of people who mistake suppressing speech as the same thing as making the ideas behind them disappear, too. Doesn't work that way - the person may not be saying the objectionable things anymore, in public, but you can bet they're still harboring them in their heart, and these days its simple enough to find like-minded folk online without the risk of confrontation. Pushing something underground doesn't make it go away - you'd think progressives would understand that, since many come from discriminated groups themselves.

I'd *much* rather have the person express what they're actually thinking, so I can judge their views as needed. If the person really is a neoNazi white supremacist, I want to know that via hearing from the person themselves. Best disinfectant is sunlight.

[rowyn]

Yeah, the last thing I want to do when my side is losing is normalize violence. x_x

I feel like "Trump is president" should be an object lesson in the virtues of a limited government that can't do much and especially CAN'T DO MUCH HARM but unfortunately, this does not seem to have persuaded anyone but people who already leaned libertarian. :/