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People always believe their form of extremism is justified. That's what makes it so dangerous. I think we put a little too much emphasis on people's intention
by jwhitlark 10y ago
People always believe their form of extremism is justified. That's what makes it so dangerous. I think we put a little too much emphasis on people's intention, and not enough on the result of their actions.
- eli_gottlieb 10y ago>People always believe their form of extremism is justified. Of course, people always believe other people's moderate proposals are dangerous extremism. For instance, the FBI considered Martin Luther King Jr a dangerous extreme leftist to be spied-upon for the sake of national security, and of course, part of the reason MLKJr was actually a socialist was precisely because mid-century America's idea of "moderate" and "normal" was that prosperity for the white working-class could and should be purchased with the tortuous exploitation of the black and immigrant working classes, and that anyone who would run a Poor People's Campaign for all colors together was a dangerous extremist who had to die.
- jwhitlark 10y agoI was trying to point out that he was describing himself as extreme, and when people say they're willing to go to extremes, I both take them at their word and get nervous.