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Violence and Socialism

Ekosj
@Ekosj
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We must not depict socialism as if socialists will bring it to us on a plate all nicely dressed. That will never happen. Not a single problem of the class struggle has ever been solved in history except by violence. When violence is exercised by the working people, by the mass of exploited against the exploiters -- then we are for it!

Vladimir Lenin



The Left’s current penchant for political violence is neither an outlier nor something new. Violence has been an integral part of socialism from the get-go. Don’t believe me? Take it from Lenin. The rise of Zohran Mamdani and the rise of violence go hand in hand.

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Discussion (10)

  • Sisyphus@Sisyphus

    From the New York Post:

    A wild brawl broke out in the middle of a vigil for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk outside the Idaho State Capitol just hours after he was assassinated.

    Footage from a spectator captured the moment members of the crowd began fighting and shoving each other after a man on a bike yelled “f—k Charlie Kirk,” local KIVI TV reported.

    “I’m not condoning violence – beat his ass,” one of the spectators yelled.

    When they tell you who they are, listen.

  • Sisyphus@Sisyphus

    From Breitbart:

    Polish Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Dominik Tarczyński called for a moment of silence on Thursday to honor Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA who was assassinated in Utah the prior day, but the request was denied by a leftist leader. Lawmakers erupted in protest, shouting and slamming on their desks to drown her out.

    “Foreign Madam President, dear colleagues, the murder of political activist Charlie Kirk, a husband, loving father, and patriot, has shocked the world. We must strongly condemn political violence and rhetoric that incites violence. Please, stand with me in reflection and prayer in his honor, and I yield the rest of my time for a moment of silence,” Tarczyński told the floor.

    The presiding chair refused the request, prompting members in the chamber to shout and pound on their desks in protest. Video from the exchange shows the uproar continuing as the chair attempted to move the session forward.

  • EODmom@EODmom
    ReplyingtoSisyphus

    Sisyphus (View Comment):

    From the New York Post:

    A wild brawl broke out in the middle of a vigil for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk outside the Idaho State Capitol just hours after he was assassinated.

    Footage from a spectator captured the moment members of the crowd began fighting and shoving each other after a man on a bike yelled “f—k Charlie Kirk,” local KIVI TV reported.

    “I’m not condoning violence – beat his ass,” one of the spectators yelled.

    When they tell you who they are, listen.

    People really do not like accepting that bad things can/will happen to them. And now - a LOT of people act like they and others are in the middle of a video game.

  • Henry Castaigne@HenryCastaigne
    ReplyingtoEODmom

    Sisyphus (View Comment):

    From the New York Post:

    A wild brawl broke out in the middle of a vigil for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk outside the Idaho State Capitol just hours after he was assassinated.

    Footage from a spectator captured the moment members of the crowd began fighting and shoving each other after a man on a bike yelled “f—k Charlie Kirk,” local KIVI TV reported.

    “I’m not condoning violence – beat his ass,” one of the spectators yelled.

    When they tell you who they are, listen.

    EODmom (View Comment):

    People really do not like accepting that bad things can/will happen to them. And now – a LOT of people act like they and others are in the middle of a video game.

    I don't play video games in that depraved a manner. Most games don't have options to act this depraved.

  • Full Size Tabby@FullSizeTabby

    Violence (or at least the realistic threat of violence) is inherent in any system in which individuals are not free to make their own decisions.

    When a collective outranks the individual, the collective must have a mechanism to deal with individuals who refuse to go along with the collective. There will always be individuals who refuse to go along with the collective.

    A system with no collective responsibilities (full libertarian) will be chaotic, and few or none will be able to realize the full benefit of their liberty.

    A system of "ordered liberty" (which is I think a decent description of aspirational United States) does have collective requirements, enforced by the threat of violence by police, but ideally tries to keep as much individual liberty as possible.

    But back to socialism, the system requires suppressing the individual liberties of a large portion of the population, so a large application of violence (or large-scale threats of violence) are necessary.

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