I've got a lot of friends who consider themselves essentially moderate folks — you want the best for everybody in a broad, general sense and you're troubled by agressive, confrontational approaches to civic and societal problems.
I need you to understand that those desires and inclinations have been exploited by authoritarians who know how to speak your language when they want your cover, but pursue violence the moment you're looking away.
The time is coming when your desire for gentle moderation is no longer a useful cover for them, but an unwelcome constraint.
They will not be held back by your desires; your unwillingness to support their violence will simply make you their next target.
They will not be held back by your desires; your unwillingness to support their violence will simply make you their next target.
This isn't an attempt to convince you that you should go out and fight, or that you should stand up for people you've been convinced are "questionable."
It's a warning. You need to practice your full-throated support of authoritarian violence, and you need to sound convincing.
It's a warning. You need to practice your full-throated support of authoritarian violence, and you need to sound convincing.
I don’t mean to imply that path is an ethical or moral one; just that if you want to be a voice of moderation in the presence of authoritarians, you are not safe. Just temporarily useful.
In addition, I don’t mean to imply that violence is the alternative to toothless moderation. Indeed, violence is often done in defense of the status quo, and moderates often accept violence as the uncomfortable price of preserving the current order.
Peaceful protest that is radical in its demands for justice is treated with brutality; violence in defense of an unjust order is treated with regretful acceptance.
What we are seeing right now was triggered by cops, surrounded by witnesses, murdering an unarmed black man accused of forging a $20 check. The police in our nation are protected from the consequences of their violence by law. That is the status quo.
Voting hasn’t changed it. Peaceful protest is met with outrage when it’s not met with tear gas. The time for scolding is over. Donate to bail funds. Call your governor. Center the lives of the victims like #GeorgeFloyd whose murders are hidden until the boiling pot explodes.
