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Donald Trump was targeted by riots, assassination attempts, and the largest non-state fascist movement in human history. His supporters were targeted by the 21st-century equivalent of stormtroopers. People in his orbit were convicted on bogus charges. Machiavelli's maxim that it is better to be feared than to be loved was tested.
It was found wanting. At the end of the day, the progressive movement either had the votes to sustain its woke totalitarian nightmare or it did not. Americans are not like Europeans. We do not live in segregated ethnic states, bowing our heads to a globalist overclass who dictates our political choices. Nor do we live in the British Empire, with an imperial viceroy pitting local tribes against each other.
There were basically two responses to the rise of progressive fascism. Cut off its sources of electoral power and let its remnants in the corporate sector and the arts burn themselves out. Or start a civil war. American progressivism is by far the largest fascist movement of the past 50 years; no amount of assassinations or urban riots was going to defeat it. But ultimately we are talking about a non-state fascist movement. Violence was not the way to defeat it--perseverance was. At the end of the day, they can have all the large corporations and media organizations and film studios they want. We will own the state. And without state backing, they will not be able to hold on to corporations or Hollywood.
Discussion (9)
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Good luck with that, Joseph. We have a lot of hard work to do to make your words prophetic.
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Perhaps it is overlooked, because people focus on other things. We put some trust in people who approached the election with more than a plan to participate and send gift bags to donors. Yes, we won this round at the ballot box, with no small amount of help from an insane D party.
The reward is more conflict. What we've seen so far is a lower intensity than eight years ago and that's a great thing. We outlasted them, but along the way abuses were made. Nonviolence is not passive. Laws were broken, crimes against the people, and these actions need answer so they do not recur.
Understand that some believe words are violence. There is no distinction made and, as a result, they have easy moral justification to turn things physical. A justified response is to prosecute and let the rule of law have its say. This will be an act of war to some. They are not a majority even among those who vote with them, but they have a loud voice, funding, and organization. What they are losing is the People.
What we have is principle and increasing numbers because they've worn out their coalition by pushing ever farther.
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I am certainly glad that violence and other types of severe disruption were largely absent on the Right with Trump and Republicans returning to office. But are they returning to Power? We'll see how things go. I agree with @DoctorRobert that there is a lot of work to be done. The election is a big relief, but I don't believe it settles affairs. Progressives still have a lot of institutional power. But Republicans certainly have momentum currently, so let's effectively use it.
Progressives I imagine would want people on the Right to get violent though. This provides the opportunity and excuse to clamp down hard on the opposition. This is the reason why I believe so many Democrats were actually joyful of the J6 Riot (or "insurrection"). They just can't necessarily openly admit it. That incident created a golden goose for them to use over and over again for their purposes. It also made it much more difficult for Republicans to advance arguments in the public square. J6 was like a trump card that could get pulled to nullify anything a conservative was saying.
However, I like your sentiment.
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And one more argument in favor of the idea that left actually wanted, provoked, etc, Jan 6.
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Of course they did. Progressives love that kind of thing. One of the most off-putting thing about listening to progressives is the "this is so awesone" tone they take when talking about things like racism or supposed right wing violence.
They loved Jan 6th; the romanticism of it all, the sense of moral supremecy. They turned it into their Reichstag Fire moment.
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