What can be done to stop oppressive leftists?

[Riders]

In the early and mid 70s right winged military police went into crowds of college pascivists peacefully protesting and fire and shooting everyone for those of you claiming Republican conservatives don't cause violence with protest I beg your pardon.

WHat about violent prolifers who have killed abortion doctors?

 

[Falvlun]

Where are we missing out on injecting respect for the political process and the sanctity of political speech into the ideologies of these young leftists?

Seeing that the vast majority of young leftist protesters don't perform violence, I think the education of young leftists is generally sound.

 

[Stevicus]

In the early and mid 70s right winged military police went into crowds of college pascivists peacefully protesting and fire and shooting everyone for those of you claiming Republican conservatives don't cause violence with protest I beg your pardon.

If you're referring to Kent State, that was a horrible tragedy that didn't have to happen, but it wasn't exactly an entirely peaceful protest either. There had been property damage, arson, rock-throwing, verbal incitements to violence - and the National Guard (who were mostly kids themselves) panicked and opened fire. They could have found other ways of dealing with the situation, other than calling out the National Guard. But to suggest that they were sent in as "right winged military police" with the expressed purpose of gunning down peaceful protesters, that would be inaccurate.

That's not to say that there hasn't been a good deal of violence from the right-wing. The right-wing is certainly capable of violence from their side as well. It's hard to say who is worse. At their most extreme, both left-wing and right-wing can be pretty vicious, violent, and just plain awful human beings.

 

[Valjean]

My experience:
Liberals and leftists are a generally peaceable lot. They're tolerant, and prefer non-violence, passive resistance, &c.

It's the authoritarian right wing who are intolerant of disorder, bristle at a lack of respect for 'sacred' symbols and social conventions, often resort to violence, and prefer a show of strength to non-violence.
In my experience it's the police, angry at disorder and disrespect, who escalate peaceful protests into violent confrontations.

From Wiki:
Right-wing authoritarianism is defined by three attitudinal and behavioral clusters which correlate together:
Authoritarian submission — a high degree of submissiveness to the authorities who are perceived to be established and legitimate in the society in which one lives
Authoritarian aggression — a general aggressiveness directed against deviants, outgroups, and other people that are perceived to be targets according to established authorities.
Conventionalism — a high degree of adherence to the traditions and social norms that are perceived to be endorsed by society and its established authorities, and a belief that others in one's society should also be required to adhere to these norms

 

[Mister Emu]

Seeing that the vast majority of young leftist protesters don't perform violence, I think the education of young leftists is generally sound.

Seeing that I addressed these leftists, this statement on the education of leftists in general doesn't address my post in any meaningful manner.

 

[Willamena]

Rioters break windows, set fire to force cancellation of Breitbart editor's UC-Berkeley talk

We do all agree that we cannot allow political speech to be threatened in such a manner, correct? No one wants to see similar actions towards leftists, or, the grace of god forefend, blood in the streets. Yet, it seems those are the only places this can go, if allowed to continue.

I'm not saying stop people from protesting, be we can't let "protest" turn into this kind of wild anti-speech activity.

Where are we missing out on injecting respect for the political process and the sanctity of political speech into the ideologies of these young leftists?

What makes you think these people are leftists?

 

[Falvlun]

Seeing that I addressed these leftists, this statement on the education of leftists in general doesn't address my post in any meaningful manner.

There's bad apples in every barrel. Sometimes thugs are just looking for an excuse to be thugs. You can't account for all of those.

On the other hand, there might be people who genuinely believe that violence is the answer, that peaceful protest has failed, and they need to take it to the next level for some greater good. While that's scary and generally should be condemned, especially when no coherent message or organized group is involved, it might be that they are right. (Note: I don't think that the riot in Berkeley rises to this level.) Only history can tell, and history is written by the winners of such struggles. Look at how America was founded. Diplomacy failed, and the people had to rise up violently to take what they considered rightfully theirs.

 

[Riders]

There's bad apples in every barrel. Sometimes thugs are just looking for an excuse to be thugs. You can't account for all of those.

On the other hand, there might be people who genuinely believe that violence is the answer, that peaceful protest has failed, and they need to take it to the next level for some greater good. While that's scary and generally should be condemned, especially when no coherent message or organized group is involved, it might be that they are right. (Note: I don't think that the riot in Berkeley rises to this level.) Only history can tell, and history is written by the winners of such struggles. Look at how America was founded. Diplomacy failed, and the people had to rise up violently to take what they considered rightfully theirs.

Well and that brings up the topic of Texas and other states who might want to with drawel from the US and become a Republic. There might be violence outbreak if that took place. we could also end up going back to the 1800s where violence and guns were an everyday thing.

 

[Notanumber]

Should us free thinkers be worried about this?

1984 here we come!

 

[metis]

Should us free thinkers be worried about this?

Wait a minute! Does "free thinkers" also mean that their thoughts are just so very cheap?

 

[UpperLimits]

Wait a minute! Does "free thinkers" also mean that their thoughts are just so very cheap?

I suppose everybody has to put in their 2¢ worth.

 

[UpperLimits]

Oh, 2 - bits worth. Wow. Inflation!

 

[Notanumber]

They should put on their listening ears for a change.

Syrian refugee 'felt oppressed' by Stop the War protest - BBC News

 

[leibowde84]

Rioters break windows, set fire to force cancellation of Breitbart editor's UC-Berkeley talk

We do all agree that we cannot allow political speech to be threatened in such a manner, correct? No one wants to see similar actions towards leftists, or, the grace of god forefend, blood in the streets. Yet, it seems those are the only places this can go, if allowed to continue.

I'm not saying stop people from protesting, be we can't let "protest" turn into this kind of wild anti-speech activity.

Where are we missing out on injecting respect for the political process and the sanctity of political speech into the ideologies of these young leftists?

To be fair, it wasn't leftists who were responsible (unless I don't understand what you mean by "leftists"). They were anarchists, who are pretty much the opposite of leftists. Leftists want big government ... anarchists want no government.