What We Can Learn From Political Violence

 

         We have learned two things from the political violence in America over the past year.

          First, when you remove any and all mechanisms for a redress of grievances through the democratic process, there will be people who resort to violence because they feel they have no other choice.

          It is not a surprise that police are regularly attacked, and even killed.  The BLM-fueled riots this year have made this a front-page story, but it has been happening for years and it is now simply a regrettable part of our culture. The mythical “war of white cops on black men” is a vicious slur, of course, and it has been repeatedly debunked, but the rule for many decades has been that when cops do something wrong or criminal (to anybody), they are protected by their unions and city governments and they are almost never charged and almost never lose their jobs.  It is something of a mystery to me why good cops (i.e., the vast majority), would allow the criminals and psychos to remain in the force, but they do.  Apparently, there’s a taboo about ratting out your fellow cop no matter what he does, but the result is that a certain amount of random, deadly violence is visited upon cops, good and bad, simply because there is often no place a wronged citizen can obtain justice.

          The rioting in the Capitol building in D.C. comes from much the same source.  There are perhaps a hundred million Americans who believe the 2020 election was stolen, that they will never see a fair election again, and that America, as founded in 1776 on principles of individual liberty, is now kaput.  In response to their outrage and disappointment, every avenue of investigation in the courts and the US Congress has been shut down, almost always on procedural grounds without ever allowing the merits of the claims to be examined.  In addition, they are told by newspapers, TV stations and social media that they (and the current president), are lunatics, cultists and conspiracy freaks for even raising the issue.

          Most of us who question what happened in the election are sad, depressed, and even angry, but we are not people who take up arms and start blowing things up.  BUT SOME PEOPLE WILL.  If they are denied all legitimate means by which their complaints can be heard and adjudicated, there are a few people who will break into the Capitol Building and fart on Nancy Pelosi’s sacred chair.  We have seen this process in America many times.  We have seen it around the world.  When you silence dissent rather than addressing it, there will be a few people who will explode.

          The abortion issue is a perfect example.  Prior to Roe v. Wade, there were political debates in every state, with some places banning it, others restricting it in certain ways, and still others leaving it completely legal and unregulated.  If you felt strongly about the issue on one side or the other, you could devote your efforts to persuading your fellow citizens.

          But when Roe v. Wade came down, all that stopped.  Suddenly, there was no legitimate path to changing the law in the political or legislative arenas.  And that’s when abortionists started getting shot and ministers protesting at abortion clinics started getting beaten up.

          And now let me answer your objection before you make it.  No, I am not saying that shooting cops is justified, or that storming the Capitol in Washington should not be punished, or that abortion doctors got what was coming to them, The point I’m making is about the democratic process, one purpose of which (and perhaps the primary purpose), is to prevent violence by providing people with a non-violent method of obtaining justice.  Once that is taken away, some people will pick up a gun.  It is inevitable, and completely predictable.

          The second lesson we have learned about political violence from the events of 2020 has been noted by others.  Tucker Carlson, on his TV show a few nights ago, discussed it at length.  If we do not punish and stifle political violence, we will get more of it.

          Beginning around Memorial Day and lasting for months, we all saw police officers being attacked and shot at, looting, rioting, the destruction of public and private buildings, the bombing of vehicles, the blocking of roads, and other forms of destruction and violence.  In some places (e.g., Portland), it continues to this day.  Very few people were arrested for these crimes, and most of them were immediately released.  Left-wing politicians expressed sympathy for the criminals and their rage, or at a minimum, failed to demand that the violence be stopped.

          Where there was official reaction, it often targeted the police for their efforts to stop the violence.  In Philadelphia, for example, police were fired for using teargas in an attempt to stop demonstrators from blocking an interstate highway during rush hour.

          There has always been political violence in America.  From the Civil War to the Haymaker riots to anarchist bombings in the 1920s to the Weathermen to the Unibomber to a hundred other acts of politically-based mayhem and murder, it has always been a part of our national story.  What was different this summer was that elected officials and some law enforcement agencies did nothing, or almost nothing, to stop it.  I don’t remember that ever happening before.

          When violence of this sort is not suppressed, and people are not arrested and punished for their attacks upon their fellow citizens, the nation and its instrumentalities, there will be more such attacks.  That is the explanation for the breach of the Capitol.  That which is rewarded gets repeated, perhaps in ways you may not fancy.

 

Copyright2021MichaelKubacki