Counterpoint: it *is* Donald Trump's America.
It's a very scary place.
It's a very scary place.
Imagine seeing what's actually happening *right now* and making that into a scary hypothetical for what would happen if the other guy won.
Stop to think what these people are protesting.
That's the scary place.
That scary place is made scarier by sending in unidentifiable paramilitary agents with obviously no interest in deescalating the situation.
That's the scary place.
That scary place is made scarier by sending in unidentifiable paramilitary agents with obviously no interest in deescalating the situation.
And yes, I've seen his tweets specifying his opinion that this is a failure of "liberal leadership" below the federal level.
But that's not what it is.
It's a systemic failure over generations.
But that's not what it is.
It's a systemic failure over generations.
And let's get something straight: when people—as Epshteyn does here—equate protests with illegitimate, out of control activity, they tend to do so on purpose, and against a wealth of historical and social science research.
Protests are seen by scholars as *part* of the political process. That has generally been acknowledged for decades. McVeigh and Smith in 1999, e.g., see "social protest as one of three competing alternatives: inaction, participation in institutionalized politics, and protest."
Cited from: McVeigh, Rory, and Christian Smith. "Who Protests in America: An Analysis of Three Political Alternatives--Inaction, Institutionalized Politics, or Protest." Sociological Forum 14, no. 4 (1999): 685-702. Accessed July 23, 2020. jstor.org/stable/685079. (Page 697).
Protesters cut across lines of race, class, and gender. But:
"…high levels of social and educational privilege are associated with high levels of participation in conventional activism…"
"…high levels of social and educational privilege are associated with high levels of participation in conventional activism…"
"…and that as one becomes less privileged, one becomes less likely to engage in conventional activities and more likely to either withdraw from participation altogether or to resort to unconventional activities."
From DiGrazia, 2014. See here, esp. page 127: sanctuaryweb.com/Portals/0/2017…
If you see a societal problem, the three choices available to you are institutional politics, protests, or doing nothing.
If institutional politics doesn't work, if inaction is no longer an option, then protest becomes the natural outlet.
If institutional politics doesn't work, if inaction is no longer an option, then protest becomes the natural outlet.
Most people who protest will do so in a "conventional" manner. They don't typically participate in more extreme forms of protest.
Who does?
Who does?
Unsurprisingly, "more unconventional activities seem to be the domain of less privileged and lower status individuals, who perhaps need to engage in more extreme forms of action to get access to political power." (Again from DiGrazia, p128).
Protests are a part of political participation. Those most likely to be targeted for protesting are "unconventional" protesters, that is: those who break 'the rules.' Who are also most likely the most disadvantaged, those with the least say in society.
No president alone could fix that. So yes, what you see there may well also be Joe Biden's America if the underlying issues aren't fixed, much as it was Lyndon Johnson's, or as it is Donald Trump's.
What's different here is that the current president seems hell-bent on cracking down on protests—as we've seen a legitimate part of the political process— with force against the most disadvantaged.
He has displayed no interest in fixing the underlying issues. Which likely means more protests, in which again those with the least privilege have to be the loudest in order to be heard. Which means force will again most likely target them. Which means more scenes like above.
That's a cycle that plays into the hands of Trump's authoritarian tendencies. So: if Trump wins again this November, expect *more* of this, not less.
This is Donald Trump's America. It's a scary place. Right now.
This is Donald Trump's America. It's a scary place. Right now.
