One in five adults in the United States, equivalent to about 50 million people, believe that political violence is justified at least in some circumstances. Almost one in four of the respondents – equivalent to more than 60 million Americans – could conceive of violence being justified “to preserve an American way of life based on western European (White) traditions”. 3% or 7 million people – believe that political violence is usually or always justified. More than 12% said they would be willing to “threaten or intimidate a person”, and 10% to “injure a person”. 7.1% or 18 million people - said that they would be willing to kill a person to advance an important political goal. 42% agreed that “having a strong leader for America is more important than having a democracy”. One in five US adults condone ‘justified’ political violence, mega-survey finds Expert on civil wars says the US is heading toward insurgency — the 21st-century version of civil war
This time it won't be north vs. south, it will be red states vs. blue states. And it would be fought with modern weapons. And Donald Trump would be the equivalent of Jefferson Davis. Imagine what this country would look like after such a war is over.
“You’re looking at 3 to 5 million Americans willing to harm other Americans for their political beliefs.” In 1973, in the midst of some of the worst years of the Troubles, one in five people in Northern Ireland agreed that “violence is a legitimate way to achieve one’s goals”. Half a century later, a similar proportion of Republican voters in the US say that it is “justified to use political violence to accomplish political goals”. “We’re getting to a point where if the Trumpist faction wins, I think we’ll see sustained extremely high levels of violence for the foreseeable future. And if they lose, I think it’ll be worse.” US political violence is surging, but talk of a civil war is exaggerated – isn’t it?
The threat of violence has become a standard GOP response to almost any issue, including against those fighting for reproductive rights, those who support gun restrictions, and educators and librarians who oppose banning books. The language of the Republican Party and its supporters not only displays a visceral hatred for truth, democracy and justice, it also makes a corpse out of everyone who does not believe in its right-wing ideology. And it does so in a language that is spectacularized, emotive, and bereft of reason and any sense of justice. In this case, language has not only been weaponized as an expression of apocalyptic rage, it has also embraced violence as a means of bonding, offering its followers the muscular allure of a spectacularized fascism mediated through and enlivened by the false claim that white masculinity is in crisis, aggrieved and under assault by people of color. Violence is no longer hidden behind a wall of silence; it is now encouraged, sensationalized and placed on display by most of the Republican Party as a badge of honorable political discourse. Furthermore, such violence now inscribes itself in a language that attempts to appear normal — relegated to the realm of commonsense where it escapes rational analysis and is taken for granted. We Need a New Language of Resistance Amid Far Right’s Calls for Civil War
‘These are conditions ripe for political violence’: how close is the US to civil war? Sarah Palin says US civil war ‘is going to happen’ over Trump prosecutions
So my wife just went into our little town to get her hair cut. To give you and idea how small the town is, her hair dresser keeps a pig in the parlor. Anyway, the fire chief was there getting his hair cut and was talking about, "If the Democrats want a revolution, that's what they're gonna get." Pissed off about Trump getting arrested again, I guess.
Can't we just settle this by giving them a few select states of their choosing? Let them govern themselves and see how long before they, too, feel the need to cozy up to the socialists they say are the problem here. I pass a sign on the highway where construction has begun. It announces the project as "bipartisan infrastructure". I wonder how many people passing this sign even know what that means or that the congressmen in their district voted against it.
For the last three years, parts of the American right have advocated a theory called Caesarism as an authoritarian solution to the claimed collapse of the US republic, by which it means an authoritarian, autocratic leader whose post-Constitutional rule will "restore the strength of his people”. “The fact that Trump lost in 2020 has just radicalized a lot of these people – it occurred to them that they might not win a proper election again. That would mean that – excuse the language–they’re shit out of luck unless there’s some other path to power. That’s where Caesarism comes in.” "Caesarism"; a more palatable, socially acceptable term for Fascism. ‘Red Caesarism’ is rightwing code – and some Republicans are listening
Seems that we have Ceasarism now with the dictatorship of the administrative state. A difficult horse for ANY President to ride.
Trump's NY fraud trial begins today, and I'm concerned the verdict could lead to fighting in the streets. He calls the trial "a scam and a sham" and "election interference", and I'm sure his mindless minions believe that. Live updates: Trump civil fraud trial in New York begins
Please, do tell about the violence The US experienced in the wake of the George Floyd murder. Seems the violence and destruction have gome down the media memory hole.
I'd be happy to! Black Lives Matter Protesters Were Overwhelmingly Peaceful "96.3% of BLM protests involved no property damage or police injuries, and in 97.7% of events, no injuries were reported among participants, bystanders or police. In many instances, police reportedly began or escalated the violence, but some observers nevertheless blame the protesters. The claim that the protests are violent – even when the police started the violence – can help local, state and federal forces justify intentionally beating, gassing or kettling the people marching, or reinforces politicians’ calls for “law and order.” Given that protesters were objecting to extrajudicial police killings of Black citizens, protesters displayed an extraordinary level of nonviolent discipline, particularly for a campaign involving hundreds of documented incidents of apparent police brutality. The protests were extraordinarily nonviolent, and extraordinarily nondestructive, given the unprecedented size of the movement’s participation and geographic scope." Chenoweth & Pressman, 2020. Harvard Kennedy School for Human Rights Policy What violence there was was often initiated by agent provocateurs, not protesters. Far-Right Infiltrators and Agitators in George Floyd Protests: Indicators of White Supremacists You've been misinformed.
"One in three Republicans believe that “true American patriots” may have to resort to violence to save the country, as do one in three white evangelical Protestants. Respectively that is 11,898,816 and 26,525,448 people who are comfortable with the idea of forcing their beliefs upon you at bayonet point. Nearly one in four Americans believe political violence justified to ‘save’ US
