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>Young people, for instance, increasingly say that political violence may be justified This is gonna get downvoted for sure because HNs bias, but based on curr

>Young people, for instance, increasingly say that political violence may be justified This is gonna get downvoted for sure because HNs bias, but based on current events, it's only the left that does that. Right-wingers may say hurtful words but don't seem too keen on murdering opponents for political reasons or disagreements. At least not yet.

estimator7292 1y ago
Like a coup?
- FirmwareBurner 1y ago
  Who got killed?
nathan_compton 1y ago
Not really relevant to the point, but https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/10/01/political-violence-424157 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/10/01/political-... That poll from 2020 shows republicans and democrats roughly equal on the question. It wouldn't surprise me to find that the desire for political violence goes up among those currently out of power, anyway.
- toomim 1y ago
  Try this newer poll from last month, in 2025: https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/52960-charlie-kirk-americans-political-violence-poll https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/52960-charlie-kir...
scoopdewoop 1y ago
Sit down. The right wing is actively zip-tying entire apartment complexes of poor people, even US citizens, while pointing guns in their faces. Thats violence, and exactly what the left has been ringing the alarm for for years.
- A4ET8a8uTh0_v2 1y ago
  Um. There is a notable difference between state sanctioned violence, for which, state does claim monopoly and semi-random vigilantes. I am concerned that I even have to point this out ( edit ) that the two are not quite the same.
  - scoopdewoop 1y ago
    A gun in your mom's face is a gun in your mom's face. I don't think those kids will find any solace in that being state sanctioned.
    - A4ET8a8uTh0_v2 1y ago
      You may want to elaborate. Note that the emotional tone or non-plausible scenarios are not the way to advance your argument here. Still, I will counter to show some good faith. My mom would not have placed herself in a position where there is a gun in her face.
      - scoopdewoop 1y ago
        https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-border-patrol-raid-sweeps-citizens-families-chicago-crackdown-intensifies-2025-10-04/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-border-patrol-raid-sweep... Is this a source you approve of? I am in good faith, I'm sorry that discussions about reality are impolite and seem crass. These aren't non-plausible, its reality. I'm guessing your mom doesn't place herself in situations like being in poverty in Chicago. Lucky her
        zaphar 1y ago
        There are plenty of people in poverty who do not put themselves in a postion to have a government put guns in their face. It is not poverty by and large that causes a government to put guns in their face in America. Poverty may at times be used as a justification for the actual reason that a gun was put in their face but it is not in fact the reason. Neither is it in the general case a good justification either.
radlad 1y ago
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9335287/#s4 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9335287/#s4 > When compared to individuals associated with a right-wing ideology, individuals adhering to a left-wing ideology had 68% lower odds of engaging in violent (vs. nonviolent) radical behavior (b = −1.15, SE = 0.13, odds ratio [OR] = 0.32, P < 0.001).
- toomim 1y ago
  That's using ancient data from... 1948: > We included individuals whose public exposure occurred between 1948 and 2018. The last 8 years of politics have been very very abnormal. And in today's data, the "very liberal" approve of political violence at a rate of 24% vs. 3% for the "very conservative": https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/52960-charlie-kirk-americans-political-violence-poll https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/52960-charlie-kir... This ^^^ is the troubling statistic, and there's a 7x difference between the left and the right.
  - acdha 1y ago
    You’re presenting the data for whether it’s okay to be happy about a political figure’s death, not whether it’s okay to cause one. There’s a section about this you should read starting with “YouGov's polling doesn't suggest that young people or liberals are more pro-violence in general”, and in particular the stark divide about self-defense. None of this is great, but it’s hardly surprising that a minority of younger people are more supportive of violence than people who have more life experience and fully-developed frontal cortexes.
    - toomim 1y ago
      Nice points! But as for "causing" violence, they also asked whether "political violence is ever justified", and the difference between left vs. right there was even more — 25% vs 3%.
      - scoopdewoop 1y ago
        The data in the link is clear that the opinions are always partisan based on the very last person shot at... that does track.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
evilduck 1y ago
You're gonna get downvoted for being a bad liar and an obvious troll who degrades the conversation and the overall site, not because of bias. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Hortman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Hortman Getting yourself downvoted doesn't validate your lies either. Farming downvotes isn't being clever, it's being toxic.
- toomim 1y ago
  [flagged]
  - acdha 1y ago
    His later years involved repeated strong statements against transgender and abortion rights which would be highly incompatible with being a Democrat but quite in line with the Trump supporter his neighbors described him as. He also had a history of lying - for example, claiming law enforcement, security, or military experience – and your description of that letter is highly skewed from the mess of conspiracy and likely misdirection people with direct knowledge described it as. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/06/17/vance-boelter-minnesota-shooting-christianity/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/06/17/vance-boelt... https://www.startribune.com/vance-boelter-letter-klobuchar-walz-mn-assassination/601376682 https://www.startribune.com/vance-boelter-letter-klobuchar-w...
  - alwa 1y ago
    Today’s “The Western Journal,” that august organ of journalism which you cite here, also features such headlines as “Demonic Compulsion: School Ran Weekly Witchcraft Address, Shut It Down Once They Couldn't Force It on Christians Anymore.” It saddens me to think that this kind of thing is permeating into HN.
    - toomim 1y ago
      Please see the primary source I just included as reference [2]. You don't need to trust the western journal. You can read the shooter's letter, in his own handwriting. In truth, he's more of a political nutcase than a political activist.
DirkH 1y ago
The left is statistically more likely to publicly endorse political violence looking at data over the past few years. The right is more likely to actually commit political violence though looking over all data over decades and that still holds today. Far-left versus Far-right Fatal Violence: An Empirical Assessment of the Prevalence of Ideologically Motivated Homicides in the United States One side is all shout and no bite. The other is no shout and then eat your fucking face. I'll take the idiots shouting but not actually killing if I had to pick. But I won't lie the choice still makes me feel dirty.
- FirmwareBurner 1y ago
  [flagged]

estimator7292 1y ago

Like a coup?

FirmwareBurner 1y ago
Who got killed?

nathan_compton 1y ago

Not really relevant to the point, but https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/10/01/political-violence-424157 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/10/01/political-... That poll from 2020 shows republicans and democrats roughly equal on the question. It wouldn't surprise me to find that the desire for political violence goes up among those currently out of power, anyway.

toomim 1y ago
Try this newer poll from last month, in 2025: https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/52960-charlie-kirk-americans-political-violence-poll https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/52960-charlie-kir...

scoopdewoop 1y ago

Sit down. The right wing is actively zip-tying entire apartment complexes of poor people, even US citizens, while pointing guns in their faces. Thats violence, and exactly what the left has been ringing the alarm for for years.

A4ET8a8uTh0_v2 1y ago
Um. There is a notable difference between state sanctioned violence, for which, state does claim monopoly and semi-random vigilantes. I am concerned that I even have to point this out ( edit ) that the two are not quite the same.
- scoopdewoop 1y ago
  A gun in your mom's face is a gun in your mom's face. I don't think those kids will find any solace in that being state sanctioned.
  - A4ET8a8uTh0_v2 1y ago
    You may want to elaborate. Note that the emotional tone or non-plausible scenarios are not the way to advance your argument here. Still, I will counter to show some good faith. My mom would not have placed herself in a position where there is a gun in her face.
    - scoopdewoop 1y ago
      https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-border-patrol-raid-sweeps-citizens-families-chicago-crackdown-intensifies-2025-10-04/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-border-patrol-raid-sweep... Is this a source you approve of? I am in good faith, I'm sorry that discussions about reality are impolite and seem crass. These aren't non-plausible, its reality. I'm guessing your mom doesn't place herself in situations like being in poverty in Chicago. Lucky her
      - zaphar 1y ago
        There are plenty of people in poverty who do not put themselves in a postion to have a government put guns in their face. It is not poverty by and large that causes a government to put guns in their face in America. Poverty may at times be used as a justification for the actual reason that a gun was put in their face but it is not in fact the reason. Neither is it in the general case a good justification either.

radlad 1y ago

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9335287/#s4 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9335287/#s4 > When compared to individuals associated with a right-wing ideology, individuals adhering to a left-wing ideology had 68% lower odds of engaging in violent (vs. nonviolent) radical behavior (b = −1.15, SE = 0.13, odds ratio [OR] = 0.32, P < 0.001).

toomim 1y ago
That's using ancient data from... 1948: > We included individuals whose public exposure occurred between 1948 and 2018. The last 8 years of politics have been very very abnormal. And in today's data, the "very liberal" approve of political violence at a rate of 24% vs. 3% for the "very conservative": https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/52960-charlie-kirk-americans-political-violence-poll https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/52960-charlie-kir... This ^^^ is the troubling statistic, and there's a 7x difference between the left and the right.
- acdha 1y ago
  You’re presenting the data for whether it’s okay to be happy about a political figure’s death, not whether it’s okay to cause one. There’s a section about this you should read starting with “YouGov's polling doesn't suggest that young people or liberals are more pro-violence in general”, and in particular the stark divide about self-defense. None of this is great, but it’s hardly surprising that a minority of younger people are more supportive of violence than people who have more life experience and fully-developed frontal cortexes.
  - toomim 1y ago
    Nice points! But as for "causing" violence, they also asked whether "political violence is ever justified", and the difference between left vs. right there was even more — 25% vs 3%.
    - scoopdewoop 1y ago
      The data in the link is clear that the opinions are always partisan based on the very last person shot at... that does track.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

evilduck 1y ago

You're gonna get downvoted for being a bad liar and an obvious troll who degrades the conversation and the overall site, not because of bias. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Hortman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Hortman Getting yourself downvoted doesn't validate your lies either. Farming downvotes isn't being clever, it's being toxic.

toomim 1y ago
[flagged]
- acdha 1y ago
  His later years involved repeated strong statements against transgender and abortion rights which would be highly incompatible with being a Democrat but quite in line with the Trump supporter his neighbors described him as. He also had a history of lying - for example, claiming law enforcement, security, or military experience – and your description of that letter is highly skewed from the mess of conspiracy and likely misdirection people with direct knowledge described it as. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/06/17/vance-boelter-minnesota-shooting-christianity/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/06/17/vance-boelt... https://www.startribune.com/vance-boelter-letter-klobuchar-walz-mn-assassination/601376682 https://www.startribune.com/vance-boelter-letter-klobuchar-w...
- alwa 1y ago
  Today’s “The Western Journal,” that august organ of journalism which you cite here, also features such headlines as “Demonic Compulsion: School Ran Weekly Witchcraft Address, Shut It Down Once They Couldn't Force It on Christians Anymore.” It saddens me to think that this kind of thing is permeating into HN.
  - toomim 1y ago
    Please see the primary source I just included as reference [2]. You don't need to trust the western journal. You can read the shooter's letter, in his own handwriting. In truth, he's more of a political nutcase than a political activist.

DirkH 1y ago

The left is statistically more likely to publicly endorse political violence looking at data over the past few years. The right is more likely to actually commit political violence though looking over all data over decades and that still holds today. Far-left versus Far-right Fatal Violence: An Empirical Assessment of the Prevalence of Ideologically Motivated Homicides in the United States One side is all shout and no bite. The other is no shout and then eat your fucking face. I'll take the idiots shouting but not actually killing if I had to pick. But I won't lie the choice still makes me feel dirty.

FirmwareBurner 1y ago
[flagged]