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I am afraid that the United States is in for political violence in 2017. It could be as bad as or worse than the 1970s. I have some ideas as to what some of it may look like. It really isn’t pleasant to think about.
Political violence is like war, like violence in general: people have a fantasy about how it works. This is the fantasy of how violence works: you smite your enemies in a grand and glorious cleansing because of course you’re better.
Grand and glorious smiting isn’t actually how violence works. I’ve worked a few places that have had serious political violence. And I’m not sure how to really describe it so people get it.
This is a stupid comparison, but here: imagine that one day Godzilla walks through your town.
The next day, he does it again.
And he keeps doing it. Some days he steps on more people than others. That’s it. That’s all he does: trudging through your town, back and forth. Your town’s not your town now; it’s The Godzilla Trudging Zone.
That’s kind of what it’s like.
I’m going to talk about some nasty things here. I do not want any of it. But some or all of it could happen. Some of it already is. In 2017, I am very pessimistic about America’s future, to the point that I think the country should seriously consider a National Divorce.
Everyone feeling nice and at ease now? Good, let’s get started.
Let’s not mince words: the United States of America is currently engaged in a cold Civil War.
……If at any point in 2017 Trump supporters are harmed or harrassed like the rally in Chicago, expect Righties to get very interested in forming street defense leagues: goons and headhunters to make Black Bloc spit teeth. And they’ll be purely defensive. For a while. But they’re human. So then they’ll think about getting proactive.
Bluntly: this is dangerous. The people who do it for the Left are literal Communists. What kind of Righties will it draw? Oh, I dunno, I’m guessing people who’re comfortable with violence, who don’t mind breaking norms or being arrested…
…if you’re now thinking, “Oh ****,” well, guess what? So am I.
If streetfights start happening on a regular basis on American streets, our democracy will corrode very quickly. We’ll see rapid radicalization at both poles, meaning normalization of political extremists.
The usual story American politics tells of how extremists get politically normalized is, to say the least, inaccurate. “Extremists get normalized bc the mainstream says things so beyond the pale it invites extremes.” ie, “Republicans make Nazis.” Bull****.
How extremists really get mainstreamed: because the extremists have organization, logistics, and manpower that the mainstream finds useful.
Mainstream Lefties happily go to protests they favor that are organized by the literal Stalinists of ANSWER & the Worker’s World Party. Why? The commies are really good at getting people signs and making sure there are enough port-a-potties. When you’re great at organizing signs & port-a-potties, Lefties overlook that you’re into an ideology that murdered a hundred million people.
So how far would this go? Would mainstream Nazi-hating Righties be ok w/ literal Nazis on the streetfighting squads that keep them safe?
I dunno; how’d you feel about folks who voluntarily get their bodies between your peaceful gathering and a crowd trying to intimidate you?
Lefties could keep that very human thing from happening. But they’d have to de-escalate. And they won’t. Mellow out on college campuses? Quit disrupting righty events? No chance. It’s too much fun. So the hard Left is going to do more to normalize literal Nazis in America than anyone since Charles Lindbergh.
I suggest all the readers here acquaint themselves with the Irish Troubles. Read up on the 1969 Belfast riots, Bloody Sunday, Crossmaglen, and the ambush at Loughgall. You need to understand those events if you are to understand what will happen in this country.
We’re seeing the initial stages of the American Troubles. If you want to get a taste of what it will be like, look no further than a recent attempt by leftists to shakedown Richard Spencer’s mother. I won’t go into the details here, but the fallout from that is exactly how it will play out in the future – except it will involve actual violence.
The template is simple; extremists from one side will commit an atrocity. Extremists from the other side will retaliate. “Normies” on both sides will point fingers at each other while rationalizing or downplaying the actions of those who are acting on their behalf even as they “officially” condemn or disavow the behavior. Neither side will claim moral responsibility, nor will they attempt to deescalate.
Rinse, lather, repeat.
However, I disagree with the author at Status 451 on one thing; the Right is prepared to fight and they would win. So far they’ve restrained themselves, because they know what will happen if they decided they had enough. As Sean Connery remarked in The Untouchables, “if you’re going to go after these people you must be prepared to go all the way, because they won’t give up the fight until one of you is dead.”
Also, as I’ve mentioned before, they still have something to lose. But if they collectively realize that it’s either fight or die, the Saxon will finally relearn to hate.
Furthermore, they won’t have to do the dirty work. They will just have to be willing to turn a blind eye to it or aid those who do.
The Left has never faced true resistance, so their initial reaction to right-wing resistance will be to escalate further.
Currently, they do not protest or hold rallies despite fear of what their enemies may do; that apprehensive is borne solely by those on the Right. There was no threat for Clinton supporters attending her rallies. Meanwhile, Trump supporters were hunted down in the streets and attacked right in front of law enforcement. University events featuring leftist speakers are not shut down due to the danger posed by right-wing protesters. In my neck of the woods, leftists all but riot to prevent Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking.
Leftists do not have to censor themselves for fear of losing their jobs. Political correctness, used to silence dissent, is a distinctly left-wing concept. Whenever there is conflict, they intensify their efforts until the Right backs down. That has been the norm for the last 50 years.
Unfortunately, when the Troubles come there will be those on the Right willing to engage in unsavory behavior. Although many right-wingers will not condone their actions, they won’t do anything about it, either. And the Left will be so accustomed to weakness in the Right they will double down, confident their strategy will work as usual.
Except it won’t.
These right-wingers they face will be different. They will repay brutality with brutality, savagery with savagery. Lex Talionis will be their motto. The mainstream Left will shriek with outrage and demand ordinary Americans actively oppose it. It will be a litmus or “loyalty” test. Remaining silent or pretending to be apolitical won’t work. Whatever they say in public, privately they will grow increasingly sympathetic to strangers willing to risk neck and limb on their behalf.
The most important thing is that ordinary people will get caught in the middle of things. They will be used as pawns, as symbols of what one side hates and the other cherishes. Your innocence or guilt will have nothing to do with how you are treated if they decide they want you dead.
If you live in an urban area, my advice is this: have a plan to leave if things get ugly and stay in a rural area. It doesn’t have to be remote or even that small. What you want is a high-trust community where there is little division or tension and you will fit in well with the locals. You do not want to be in the Troubles’ epicenter, i.e. diverse neighborhoods or on the border of segregated ethnic groups.
Get a gun if you don’t have one and carry it whenever possible.
Moreover, come to terms with the fact that many people you know – friends, family, relatives, loved ones, siblings, coworkers – may be on the opposite side when things go down. As painful as it might be to admit, they cannot be trusted to stand with you. They will most likely not defend you or protect you. They won’t do anything themselves, and that’s the point.
Status 451 is right; we need a national divorce. But it won’t happen. At least not until too much blood has already been spilled.
Political violence is like war, like violence in general: people have a fantasy about how it works. This is the fantasy of how violence works: you smite your enemies in a grand and glorious cleansing because of course you’re better.
Grand and glorious smiting isn’t actually how violence works. I’ve worked a few places that have had serious political violence. And I’m not sure how to really describe it so people get it.
This is a stupid comparison, but here: imagine that one day Godzilla walks through your town.
The next day, he does it again.
And he keeps doing it. Some days he steps on more people than others. That’s it. That’s all he does: trudging through your town, back and forth. Your town’s not your town now; it’s The Godzilla Trudging Zone.
That’s kind of what it’s like.
I’m going to talk about some nasty things here. I do not want any of it. But some or all of it could happen. Some of it already is. In 2017, I am very pessimistic about America’s future, to the point that I think the country should seriously consider a National Divorce.
Everyone feeling nice and at ease now? Good, let’s get started.
Let’s not mince words: the United States of America is currently engaged in a cold Civil War.
……If at any point in 2017 Trump supporters are harmed or harrassed like the rally in Chicago, expect Righties to get very interested in forming street defense leagues: goons and headhunters to make Black Bloc spit teeth. And they’ll be purely defensive. For a while. But they’re human. So then they’ll think about getting proactive.
Bluntly: this is dangerous. The people who do it for the Left are literal Communists. What kind of Righties will it draw? Oh, I dunno, I’m guessing people who’re comfortable with violence, who don’t mind breaking norms or being arrested…
…if you’re now thinking, “Oh ****,” well, guess what? So am I.
If streetfights start happening on a regular basis on American streets, our democracy will corrode very quickly. We’ll see rapid radicalization at both poles, meaning normalization of political extremists.
The usual story American politics tells of how extremists get politically normalized is, to say the least, inaccurate. “Extremists get normalized bc the mainstream says things so beyond the pale it invites extremes.” ie, “Republicans make Nazis.” Bull****.
How extremists really get mainstreamed: because the extremists have organization, logistics, and manpower that the mainstream finds useful.
Mainstream Lefties happily go to protests they favor that are organized by the literal Stalinists of ANSWER & the Worker’s World Party. Why? The commies are really good at getting people signs and making sure there are enough port-a-potties. When you’re great at organizing signs & port-a-potties, Lefties overlook that you’re into an ideology that murdered a hundred million people.
So how far would this go? Would mainstream Nazi-hating Righties be ok w/ literal Nazis on the streetfighting squads that keep them safe?
I dunno; how’d you feel about folks who voluntarily get their bodies between your peaceful gathering and a crowd trying to intimidate you?
Lefties could keep that very human thing from happening. But they’d have to de-escalate. And they won’t. Mellow out on college campuses? Quit disrupting righty events? No chance. It’s too much fun. So the hard Left is going to do more to normalize literal Nazis in America than anyone since Charles Lindbergh.
I suggest all the readers here acquaint themselves with the Irish Troubles. Read up on the 1969 Belfast riots, Bloody Sunday, Crossmaglen, and the ambush at Loughgall. You need to understand those events if you are to understand what will happen in this country.
We’re seeing the initial stages of the American Troubles. If you want to get a taste of what it will be like, look no further than a recent attempt by leftists to shakedown Richard Spencer’s mother. I won’t go into the details here, but the fallout from that is exactly how it will play out in the future – except it will involve actual violence.
The template is simple; extremists from one side will commit an atrocity. Extremists from the other side will retaliate. “Normies” on both sides will point fingers at each other while rationalizing or downplaying the actions of those who are acting on their behalf even as they “officially” condemn or disavow the behavior. Neither side will claim moral responsibility, nor will they attempt to deescalate.
Rinse, lather, repeat.
However, I disagree with the author at Status 451 on one thing; the Right is prepared to fight and they would win. So far they’ve restrained themselves, because they know what will happen if they decided they had enough. As Sean Connery remarked in The Untouchables, “if you’re going to go after these people you must be prepared to go all the way, because they won’t give up the fight until one of you is dead.”
Also, as I’ve mentioned before, they still have something to lose. But if they collectively realize that it’s either fight or die, the Saxon will finally relearn to hate.
Furthermore, they won’t have to do the dirty work. They will just have to be willing to turn a blind eye to it or aid those who do.
The Left has never faced true resistance, so their initial reaction to right-wing resistance will be to escalate further.
Currently, they do not protest or hold rallies despite fear of what their enemies may do; that apprehensive is borne solely by those on the Right. There was no threat for Clinton supporters attending her rallies. Meanwhile, Trump supporters were hunted down in the streets and attacked right in front of law enforcement. University events featuring leftist speakers are not shut down due to the danger posed by right-wing protesters. In my neck of the woods, leftists all but riot to prevent Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking.
Leftists do not have to censor themselves for fear of losing their jobs. Political correctness, used to silence dissent, is a distinctly left-wing concept. Whenever there is conflict, they intensify their efforts until the Right backs down. That has been the norm for the last 50 years.
Unfortunately, when the Troubles come there will be those on the Right willing to engage in unsavory behavior. Although many right-wingers will not condone their actions, they won’t do anything about it, either. And the Left will be so accustomed to weakness in the Right they will double down, confident their strategy will work as usual.
Except it won’t.
These right-wingers they face will be different. They will repay brutality with brutality, savagery with savagery. Lex Talionis will be their motto. The mainstream Left will shriek with outrage and demand ordinary Americans actively oppose it. It will be a litmus or “loyalty” test. Remaining silent or pretending to be apolitical won’t work. Whatever they say in public, privately they will grow increasingly sympathetic to strangers willing to risk neck and limb on their behalf.
The most important thing is that ordinary people will get caught in the middle of things. They will be used as pawns, as symbols of what one side hates and the other cherishes. Your innocence or guilt will have nothing to do with how you are treated if they decide they want you dead.
If you live in an urban area, my advice is this: have a plan to leave if things get ugly and stay in a rural area. It doesn’t have to be remote or even that small. What you want is a high-trust community where there is little division or tension and you will fit in well with the locals. You do not want to be in the Troubles’ epicenter, i.e. diverse neighborhoods or on the border of segregated ethnic groups.
Get a gun if you don’t have one and carry it whenever possible.
Moreover, come to terms with the fact that many people you know – friends, family, relatives, loved ones, siblings, coworkers – may be on the opposite side when things go down. As painful as it might be to admit, they cannot be trusted to stand with you. They will most likely not defend you or protect you. They won’t do anything themselves, and that’s the point.
Status 451 is right; we need a national divorce. But it won’t happen. At least not until too much blood has already been spilled.
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