Donald Trump held a rally in my city today. Of course, violent protests followed.

That, combined with the protests at Milo Yiannopoulos talks on US university campuses (one video example), is going to confirm every freakin' "SJW" stereotype out there. These incidents perfectly in the right wing "violent, militant left wing" narrative. In fact, I'm sure the Trump campaign is EXCITED to create a video ad similar to Nixon's 1968 "Crime" commercial, this time using footage of the incidents in San Jose, Costa Mesa, and Albuquerque. Agree? Disagree? Solutions?

I'm not worried about the narrative. Gaters can worry about those.

I mean yeah, in Trump supporting communities "violent left" might gain some traction. Because they're... shall we say, "predisposed to believe". (I'm trying to say they're gullible idiots)

But Trump is inciting violence at every city he holds a rally in. His rhetoric is obviously, blatantly aggressive. I'd like to think most people are good enough at pattern recognition to spot the common denominator here. It doesn't matter how Trump tries to spin it, inciting violent protests is not a good look for a would-be president.

Far more worrying is the possibility that someone will get killed, either via a Cowards Punch (is that term gaining traction outside Australia? It means the same thing as "King Hit", just without the patriarchal glorification) or because someone on the other side of the fence gets scared, pulls a gun, and commits murder. It won't affect the politics at all, but it would be the end of someone's life, which is reason enough to worry.

Good.

Because the Right has been violent as fuck for decades. Maybe its time for a violent Left.

EDIT: My opinion alone, yes radical, etc etc you got it. Sick of conservatives threatening me and mine with guns.

These people do not remember the days of Baader-Meinhof and the Weather Underground. Today's left is nothing compared to them.

Frankly, I think that if conservatives are going to employ violence against us, they should do so with the fear of blowback.

Nonviolence is a privileged position in an unjust society.

e: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/peter-gelderloos-how-nonviolence-protects-the-state

They were calling the left violent back when Trump protesters were getting punched instead of throwing the punches so nothing on that view has changed.

The right has always painted the left as violent criminals no matter how non-violent the actions of the left were(look at the reactions to peaceful sit ins during the Civil Rights era or more recently how people have hysterically declared feminists seek to murder men because some feminist yelled at a bunch of assholes or posted "lol male tears" on tumblr). Meanwhile the right has been coming at oppressed people for years with violence. They beat people, they lynched people, they shot children fatally for daring to walk home through their neighborhood, they committed arson and murder and assault in mass amounts towards PoC, LGBTQ people, women.

I don't like violence for violence sake but at this point it's more self defense than anything. Fascists are about to sieze the highest office in the land and are passing laws allowing for the heinous discrimination against oppressed people(so many anti-trans laws, including one allowing therapists to deny treatment to trans people suffering from lethal mental illnesses). People are fighting for their very lives and the lives of their children.

If you're one of those doubting the ability of nonviolence to affect change, you should check out this article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonviolent_resistance.

Many of these stories are tragedies, but others had lasting effects. Egypt exists today due to Egyptian Revolution of 1919. Women have the vote due to the suffragists. There's Gandhi's India's Non-cooperation movement which completely changed India. The civil rights movement in the US.

There's so many beautiful (and so many tragic) stories on that page. I think I'm going to need to set aside a few hours for a wikiwalk...

which is hilarious considering leftist has always been met with state violence. When the only argument your opponents will understand is violence, you have to speak their language.

To be honest, I've already seen this narrative pushed by some of my acquaintances on Facebook, XBL, etc.

well after the post by prinny supervisor on the NIS forum - i feel ready