Perhaps this is why leftists are angry and violent

Conservatives tend to support freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to buy whatever light bulbs make you happy, and so on. Leftism tends to be based more on centralized control systems, and is more comfortable with censorship and government involvement in things like light bulbs and gas stoves. Political violence is a feature of the left, presumably because you sometimes need violence to get someone to do something that they normally wouldn’t do. Conservatives don’t need violence to get people to do whatever they want. Which is why it's so hard to imagine JD Vance looking like Elizabeth Warren in this picture.

But it occurs to me that there may be another reason for the anger and violence on the left. Leftists believe that they are the smart ones, and the virtuous ones. And then they look at places that apply leftism, which are typically horrifying. The 20^th century was a nightmare for them, as leftist leaders like Mao, Stalin, Hitler, Castro, et al. caused so much suffering and destruction. American cities have been governed by Democrat governors for decades, and are nearly without exception spiraling into dystopian hell-holes. People are leaving Democrat states and moving to Republican states en masse. If leftism is so smart and so virtuous, why does it consistently lead to such suffering and destruction? Why do people run away from it? If leftism is so smart and so virtuous, shouldn’t it work? At least sometimes?

This would have to be painful for leftists. The cognitive dissonance would become increasingly difficult to ignore. In the dark of night, when they’re alone with their thoughts, perhaps they might start thinking some uncomfortable thoughts, such as: “Is it really possible that personal freedom is preferable to centralized control by well-meaning, educated intellectuals? Could my stupid, uneducated, sarcastic brother-in-law actually have a point? Oh my God - was I wrong the whole time? Was I complicit in the suffering and murder of millions of innocents? Is that really possible?”

Such thoughts would be very unpleasant. The natural response to such thoughts is, “Of course not. My brother-in-law is a jerk. Government is simply the name we give to things we do together. Cooperation is nice. America is a racist, sexist, colonial power that is a danger to the world. We just need to get others to understand this. With whatever means necessary.”

I understand that impulse. Considering the idea that you were wrong about so many very important things would be very painful. Emotional self-defense is an understandable response. Not admirable. But understandable.

As conservatives are becoming more distressed about the direction of the Western world, and as conservatives appear to be gaining a better understanding of the situation they find themselves in, this will tend to lead to more conspiracy theories on the left. Fact-checking only became necessary once the facts started getting out. The left has a problem. With reality. And with facts. And they know it.

That has to hurt.

So they lash out, like a wounded dog.

They will not go quietly into the night. They just can’t. They’re stuck.

This is ugly. And it’s going to get uglier.