4 ms·

Don’t agree actually. Have seen many busy working professionals fall into “extremism” and it’s pretty much always the same. They have a few issues they are firm

• inigyou 2mo ago
  I've only seen this with the right. Can you describe what it's like when it's left?
  • aftbit 2mo ago
    In my experience, it looks almost identical, just mirror imaged. Lots of anger and fear, a strong certainty that they know the full story about every issue and that the other side is evil or idiotic. No grace or space in their hearts to consider that many of today's contentious issues are actually complicated, with overlapping and conflicting ethical arguments.
    • inigyou 2mo ago
      I'm noticing a lack of any concrete examples of left wing extremism in this comment. Right wing extremism is like, that lady from the UK who made a tweet asking everyone to burn down a hotel full of migrants.
      • jdubs1984 2mo ago
        uni bomber.
        • reverius42 2mo ago
          The Unabomber was anti-tech but not left wing in any coherent way.
      • tekla 2mo ago
        https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/former-youth-organizer-aoc-busted-143033534.html https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/former-youth-organizer-a...
      • jayGlow 2mo ago
        the various assassination attempts against the president or the multiple attacks against ICE agents and facilities? https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/leader-antifa-cell-members-north-texas-sentenced-100-years-prison-terrorist-attack-ice https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/leader-antifa-cell-members-no...
        • graceful6800 2mo ago
          Dunno, I'd mostly frame that as self defence from an increasingly hostile and authoritarian government and the actual, literal secret police. Fighting back against people who straight up murder civilians in broad daylight is not something you can classify as extremism with any good faith.
      • tanseydavid 2mo ago
        "Defund the police/abolish prisons" is a good example IMHO.
        • jst1fthsdys 2mo ago
          That is a rational response to the corruption and inhumanity of the police and jails, though.
          • inigyou 2mo ago
            You think that because you're left wing. A right wing person would think the arson threat was reasonable too.
            • reverius42 2mo ago
              Giving the police a smaller budget is the same level of extremism as murdering a bunch of refugees? And before I get piled on for saying "smaller budget", think about what calls to "fund the police" would mean (a bigger budget), and think about why it's called "defund the police" and not "abolish the police".
      • aftbit 2mo ago
        There are some other examples in the thread, but two that come to mind for me are Charlie Kirk's killer and the guy who shot the cop in Alvarado, Texas after the ICE protest. Arguable another example is the guy who killed the United Healthcare CEO. But that said, most people who have drunk the kool-aid of one party or another are not nearly this extremist. Most of them just post nonsense on social media or even keep their views to themselves but still hold extremist views.
        • jst1fthsdys 2mo ago
          > Charlie Kirk's killer > the guy who killed the United Healthcare CEO. Allegedly. Neither have been convicted.
          • positr0n 2mo ago
            Well I mean someone killed them. So whoever did it is who OP is talking about.
            • pavel_lishin 2mo ago
              Assuming the perpetrators are left-leaning.
          • aftbit 2mo ago
            Well sure, and I'm not a lawyer or your lawyer, this isn't legal advice, etc. I'm pretty confident that I know who killed both of those people. I'm pretty confident that both did it for ideological reasons. I'm pretty confident that both of those ideological reasons would be seen as "left leaning" in the American political spectrum. As you say, neither has been convicted, but fortunately I'm not a court of law so I don't have to wait until they are convicted to draw inferences from what I see in the world. Leave aside the shooters themselves for a moment. The other thing I find interesting is how those events are discussed and understood by other people, especially in contrast to right-leaning violence (like the people who killed Alex Pretti and Renee Good, or the person who killed Melissa Hortman and her husband and also shot John Hoffman and his wife, or even the guy who killed Jonathan Joss). Generally I find it to be a mark of extremism if you feel that political violence is justified as long as it is done against the other side. I've spoken to a lot of people who I would characterize as left-leaning extremists because they outright support the killings of Charlie Kirk and Brian Thompson, even if they wouldn't do it themselves. This is different from understanding how they could happen, or sympathizing with the killers. I'm talking about people who outright cheer for this to happen more frequently. IMO they do not understand what kind of world they are asking for, but that doesn't stop them from cheerfully asking for it. And similarly, I've seen people who dismiss the killing of Renee Good or Alex Pretti as justified because she "weaponized their vehicle" (no she didn't - watch the video) or because he brought a firearm to a protest (so what - that's legal ... and what about Kyle Rittenhouse?) So basically, lots of words to say ... violence against people for ideological reasons sucks and isn't justified. Don't do it.
  • zappb 2mo ago
    Their hysterical obsession with Israel.
    • doom2 2mo ago
      Can you expand more on what makes it hysterical or an obsession, compared to any other issue one might have interest in?
• mock-possum 2mo ago
  > They have a few issues they are firm on and align with one party What kind of issues though.