4 ms·

What drives me crazy is, in a rare moment for me, I will acknowledge that it’s been morphing into a “both sides” issue in the last 24mo or so. I just generally

What drives me crazy is, in a rare moment for me, I will acknowledge that it’s been morphing into a “both sides” issue in the last 24mo or so. I just generally reject “both sides” arguments because it’s so often a cheap hand wavy way to say “I don’t care/won’t look under the hood on this” without having to say it while ignoring the fundamental truth of “two wrongs don’t make a right.” And yet I still have people insist it’s all “left wing Marxists” or whatever their favorite term is these days. Like we can’t even agree political violence is ratcheting up broadly and it’s a problem we ALL have to deal with. Partisanship is a hell of a drug. Edit: several recent attempts/successful perpetrators, including Kirk’s killer, were not clearly right or left. There have been some leftwing incidents but they are certainly fewer than others. I am not saying left wing violence is as bad as right wing violence. But it’s not all right wing anymore. That’s all I’m saying.

alephnerd 1y ago
The fact you got downvoted is symptomatic of the larger issue you identified.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- Forgeties79 1y ago
  Meh it’s whatever. I know what I waded in to
mcphage 1y ago
> I will acknowledge that it’s been morphing into a “both sides” issue in the last 24mo or so. Has it been? How so?
- Forgeties79 1y ago
  The violence we’ve seen in the last ~24mo involves a broader range of political ideologies. The last decade right wing political violence has been noticeably higher overall for sure. i’m not going to bother responding to every single person who asks this question so hopefully they see this before they all dog pile with the same question lol
postflopclarity 1y ago
it might be a "both sides" issue in terms of opinion polls like this, but empirically right-wing political violence in the US is consistently, statistically, and significantly, more lethal
nitwit005 1y ago
Our current government seems to want to provoke a reaction. Constantly talking about sending troops into cities, calling democrats terrorists, and all the other vitriol, certainly isn't intended to create a sense of peace and comfort. If you constantly try to make people angry, eventually you succeed.
- Forgeties79 1y ago
  No argument here
pstuart 1y ago
[flagged]
- gruez 1y ago
  >The Charlie Kirk assassination was instantly weaponized to be blamed on the Left, despite no evidence to support that claim. More so, there's effectively been zero details about the suspect and his motivations. Are you talking about in the immediate aftermath or currently? For the latter it seems pretty safe to conclude he was probably left-leaning politically, even if he wasn't a card carrying DSA member or whatever? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Charlie_Kirk#Views_and_possible_motives https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Charlie_Kirk#...
  - atmavatar 1y ago
    For the latter it seems pretty safe to conclude he was probably left-leaning politically All we know for sure is that he's left of his MAGA parents when it comes to gay/trans rights. It's not uncommon for right-leaning individuals to suddenly discover the humanity of groups they previously hated once they spend significant time with one of their members. However, there are plenty of conservative viewpoints that do not hinge on prejudice, so I'll wait for more evidence before believing he went full vegan hippie liberal. A picture of the guy in a drum circle or animal cruelty protest while wearing a Che Guevara or tie dye and peace sign shirt would do ;)
    - gruez 1y ago
      >All we know for sure is that he's left of his MAGA parents when it comes to gay/trans rights. "left of his MAGA parents when it comes to gay/trans rights" is an understatement. From the wikipedia article: >When the roommate asked why Robinson had done it, he answered, "I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out." Maybe he was some sort of libertarian that thinks "hatred" from right wing influencers needed to be stoped via exercise of the second amendment, but you really have to bend backwards for that theory. The far more plausible explanation is that he was a run-of-the-mill illiberal-left that thinks speech from the right need to be curtailed. When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.
twojacobtwo 1y ago
Vurtually anyone saying "left wing Marxists" in the US, in reference to an organized movement, is full of shit and/or fully captured by the American propaganda waves still echoing from the the red scare era of the 1940s and 50s. These people are the type to call literally any social safety net "communist". America has been pulled so far to the right in the last 70+ years that the average voter now seems to think 'the left' starts at authoritarian communism.

alephnerd 1y ago

The fact you got downvoted is symptomatic of the larger issue you identified.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
Forgeties79 1y ago
Meh it’s whatever. I know what I waded in to

mcphage 1y ago

> I will acknowledge that it’s been morphing into a “both sides” issue in the last 24mo or so. Has it been? How so?

Forgeties79 1y ago
The violence we’ve seen in the last ~24mo involves a broader range of political ideologies. The last decade right wing political violence has been noticeably higher overall for sure. i’m not going to bother responding to every single person who asks this question so hopefully they see this before they all dog pile with the same question lol

postflopclarity 1y ago

it might be a "both sides" issue in terms of opinion polls like this, but empirically right-wing political violence in the US is consistently, statistically, and significantly, more lethal

nitwit005 1y ago

Our current government seems to want to provoke a reaction. Constantly talking about sending troops into cities, calling democrats terrorists, and all the other vitriol, certainly isn't intended to create a sense of peace and comfort. If you constantly try to make people angry, eventually you succeed.

Forgeties79 1y ago
No argument here

pstuart 1y ago

[flagged]

gruez 1y ago
>The Charlie Kirk assassination was instantly weaponized to be blamed on the Left, despite no evidence to support that claim. More so, there's effectively been zero details about the suspect and his motivations. Are you talking about in the immediate aftermath or currently? For the latter it seems pretty safe to conclude he was probably left-leaning politically, even if he wasn't a card carrying DSA member or whatever? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Charlie_Kirk#Views_and_possible_motives https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Charlie_Kirk#...
- atmavatar 1y ago
  For the latter it seems pretty safe to conclude he was probably left-leaning politically All we know for sure is that he's left of his MAGA parents when it comes to gay/trans rights. It's not uncommon for right-leaning individuals to suddenly discover the humanity of groups they previously hated once they spend significant time with one of their members. However, there are plenty of conservative viewpoints that do not hinge on prejudice, so I'll wait for more evidence before believing he went full vegan hippie liberal. A picture of the guy in a drum circle or animal cruelty protest while wearing a Che Guevara or tie dye and peace sign shirt would do ;)
  - gruez 1y ago
    >All we know for sure is that he's left of his MAGA parents when it comes to gay/trans rights. "left of his MAGA parents when it comes to gay/trans rights" is an understatement. From the wikipedia article: >When the roommate asked why Robinson had done it, he answered, "I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out." Maybe he was some sort of libertarian that thinks "hatred" from right wing influencers needed to be stoped via exercise of the second amendment, but you really have to bend backwards for that theory. The far more plausible explanation is that he was a run-of-the-mill illiberal-left that thinks speech from the right need to be curtailed. When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.

twojacobtwo 1y ago

Vurtually anyone saying "left wing Marxists" in the US, in reference to an organized movement, is full of shit and/or fully captured by the American propaganda waves still echoing from the the red scare era of the 1940s and 50s. These people are the type to call literally any social safety net "communist". America has been pulled so far to the right in the last 70+ years that the average voter now seems to think 'the left' starts at authoritarian communism.