Author of Be Ready for Anything and Bloom Where You’re Planted online course
There’s something brewing in America since the last election and that is a complete lack of civility on all sides of the political spectrum. Uncivil behavior isn’t just widely accepted – it’s praised and cheered on. Hatred of one another is becoming the norm and this is how civil wars begin.
A girl in California knocked someone’s MAGA hat off and slapped her teacher.
The examples are many. Just yesterday, a girl in a small town in California was arrested because she stole another student’s MAGA hat and then slapped her teacher as he escorted the ranting young woman from the room.
But of course, in the comments of certain outlets, some people are defending her.
“Maybe the shouldn’t alow [sic] hats like that to be worn in school as it is incitement to say the least.”
On another article was this comment:
Wearing a MAGA hat is the same as wearing a swastika, and the people who wear them know it. We all know what they mean by it. Good for this girl. She had the guts to stand up to nazis. Hey, free speech: If this guy walked in with a swastika on his hat would it be OK to knock it off? I always wondered how I’d feel if I was growing up in nazi germany. Would I have the guts to fight? This girl has guts. America fought a war to take out the nazis and now we have a lying, crooked, sick wanna be nazi and fake businessman / tv reality idiot running the country with the help of the Russians. You people want to wear that hat? Be ready for normal people to think you’re a traitor. (source)
For the most part, though, people voiced their approval that the girl is facing some discipline.
CNN supports Antifa violence
It isn’t just high school students who are being cheered for uncivil behavior. After a violence erupted last month in Charlottesville and Washington, DC, Chris Cuomo passionately defended the actions of Antifa.
The CNN anchor said there could be no “moral equivalency” between violence from the two camps and that outbursts from those protesting hate was more excusable than those promoting hate.
“It’s not about being right in the eyes of the law, but you also have to know what’s right and wrong in a moral and a good and evil sense,” said Cuomo “That’s why people who show up to fight against bigots are not to be judged the same as the bigots, even if they do resort to the same kinds of petty violence. The law will take care of that.”
…Cuomo also said that the issue was comparable to fighting an immoral enemy in a war or the civil rights movement.
“Fighting against hate matters,” he said. “In a clash between hate and those who oppose it, those who oppose it are on the side of right.” (source)
It isn’t just the “left” that is behaving badly.
Before this article turns into something that seems like a partisan rant, I want to say that it isn’t just the liberals who are behaving uncivilly. There are opposing groups who go out of their way to be just as offensive, and in many cases, seem to egg on the behavior above so they can get into altercations.
Take, for example, Christopher Monzon, (also known as Chris Cedeno) a guy in Miami who was protesting a street name protest. Now, I’m not into changing street names or knocking down statues, (see my thoughts on erasing history) but this guy was there just to cause trouble.
Monzon was standing near the entrance to Hollywood City Hall, in front of a police line that separated him from 150 to 200 protesters. Cedeno was filmed jawing back and forth with a protester from roughly ten feet away.
“You are a cancer on the face of the earth!” Monzon shouted. “All Jews are!”
He then ran directly at the crowd with a flagpole pointed toward the protesters. Cops were filmed tackling Monzon and taking him away Monzon in handcuffs.
A spokesperson for Hollywood Police said Monzon has been charged with aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, and inciting a riot. (source)
Monzon isn’t the only guy who tries to cause trouble. There are all sorts of self-avowed white supremacist groups with horrific points of view who are out there shouting their insanity to anyone who will listen. It’s deliberate sh*t-disturbing that does nothing but push Americans further apart.
Remember when families were getting separated at the borders? Human parents were separated from their human children. Sure, they were breaking the law. But does it mean that our response must be inhumane? Well according to tons of people on the internet, it does. I couldn’t believe some of the horrible comments I read about how these people and their innocent babies deserved terrible things to happen to them.
Come on, folks. Being born south of Texas doesn’t make a human being the equivalent of a stray dog. There’s a huge difference between sending people back and taking away their children to be housed in a government facility for months. And remember how the American government lost *(sort of) a bunch of these children? Is there any question why pro-immigration people think anti-immigration people are evil? Again – uncivil actions get uncivil responses.
There’s a long, sad list of awful behavior from both extremes of the political paradigm.
Then we’re back again with the responses to these uncivil actions.
And of course, this pulls the trigger on opponents of this kind of behavior, who suddenly think anyone right of them philosophically is a mouth-breathing Neanderthal. Two professors want the police to treat all alt-right groups as “street gangs” to prevent political violence, which seems rather unfair when they completely ignore the presence and actions Antifa.
Valasik and Reid argue that treating “racist” groups like the Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer as “conventional street gangs” would “deter violence” at events like this.
“Law enforcement should consider alternative approaches to curb the violence that accompanies them,” they write. “As criminologists who study street and prison gangs, we argue that Alt-Right groups are no different than conventional street gangs, and should be treated as such.”
According to the scholars, doing this would “expand law enforcement’s toolbox to more effective tactics,” such as creating a database to “identify, collect, and share intelligence about Alt-Right members who are routinely engaging in violence,” much like police do with gang databases today.
The researchers argue that the next step would be to keep these individuals from convening, explaining that “It would then be feasible to use civil gang injunctions to limit the association and congregation of these individuals.”
The article goes into great detail explaining the ways in which these groups are similar to traditional street gangs, comparing the Proud Boys’ characteristic wearing of Fred Perry polo shirts to gang members wearing a particular color or insignia. They also reference the public presence of the “Alt-Right” groups, specifically at demonstrations and college campuses…“Adapting an old adage,” they propose that “if an Alt-Right group looks like a gang, acts like a gang, and sounds like a gang then it should be considered an Alt-Right Gang.” (source)
Pretty outrageous when it’s one-sided, isn’t it?
For every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction.
The result of all this going back and forth between ideologies is simple physics. Newton’s Third Law, to be specific.
The statement means that in every interaction, there is a pair of forces acting on the two interacting objects. The size of the forces on the first object equals the size of the force on the second object. The direction of the force on the first object is opposite to the direction of the force on the second object. Forces always come in pairs – equal and opposite action-reaction force pairs. (source)
The more that people of different races accuse other races of bad behavior, the more the innocent people being called out will begin to lean toward that bad behavior.
The more that people of different ideologies push people who they believe disagree, the more those people will push back.
And if you’re sitting there smugly thinking that this doesn’t apply to you, it probably does.
I’m not a racist and being called one just because I’m white and not a liberal makes me angry. It makes me feel like the people calling me that are my enemies when in reality, we’d probably get along just fine if it weren’t for this uncivil climate in America right now.
And it’s the same thing when a person knocks another person’s MAGA hat off their heads. The person’s aggression makes the person who was sitting there with a hat on his head feel defensive – and that isn’t unreasonable. This results in animosity between the two people, like two magnets repelling one another.
My liberal friends (yes, I have some) don’t hate America. They just have a somewhat different approach to things like immigration. For some people who are thoughtful and intelligent, they can provide some compelling arguments to support their opinions. But if I suddenly start screaming at them that they’re Commies, we’re no longer going to be friends. We’re no longer going to be civil to one another. We’ll be enemies instead of friends.
If people could calmly discuss these differences in philosophy and look for common ground, they just might find some. Instead, people are supporting incivility and enmity.
This is how civil wars begin.
When people can no longer find that common ground, they become enemies. Battles erupt that lead to wars. We don’t see fellow Americans and human beings. We see masked attackers and shouting aggressors. We see those who support those loudmouths who honestly do not speak for most of us. We need to remember that the folks out there acting badly are the extremes. Most of us are far more middle of the road in our beliefs but you don’t hear much about that from the media.
When uncivil behavior is seen as acceptable, when it is encouraged, it becomes the norm. Then to get attention, the actions must be more and more extreme.
Uncivil actions are the flashpoints for civil wars and we are right on the edge.
Look in to what the {1930’s German Communist party symbol } was, / Looks like, as in what the antifa symbol LOOKS like now ~ simply written in German, as in, its one in the same.. There is “No Thing” ~ NEW under the sun, the same people then are still here NOW.. Only the faces change when useful idiots are involved.
This is basically all true. But Americans are by nature a violent culture. What I wonder (when I think about it) is what comes after a “civil war”?
Not Socialism.
It all depends on who wins. Socialism is a scourge on society
So it’s just Americans who are violent, and by nature? Wow. Have you taken a look at world news lately? I guess they are just getting ready to have crumpets and tea then in Venezuela, and Africa? Hanging a label on something you may disagree with, and then burying your head in the sand and saying it isn’t me, is a significant cause of the problems you are attempting to condemn right now.
What comes after civil war? After all the deaths, hopefully civility after people finally figure out that killing each other off is not solving the problem either. In today’s technology though, with weapons that can reach across the ocean and do ones bidding, it may very well be destruction from outside as enemies see an opportunity to attack while we are distracted.
Your views are naive. Many on the left propose abolishing our borders, spit on our constitution, burn our flag. No reconciling that and they must be opposed.
Completely agree. To liberals achieving “common ground”, requires conservatives to surrender ground. We have surrendered far too much ground, for far too long, now is the time to fight back, not capitulate.
You see, I think you missed the point, MN. Call me naive if you’d like, but you can believe in the Constitution and still be friends with a neighbor who has a bumper sticker that you don’t care for. I believe your view is limited and simplistic, as you can only see shades of black and white. Critical thinkers can find shades of gray, and that is where unity lies.
Hi Daisy, love your website, but once again you are throwing pearls before swine I am afraid. The average prepper is a moron sitting in an echo chamber of hate and fear with tons of guns and no real plan. People like you and anon411 who think of rebuilding society after a collapse give me hope; I pray that those that make it through our future problems will not be completely evil. I believe we as a nation are headed for disaster and when I read the comments on articles like this it is obvious why we will collapse.
As a veteran, I swore an oath to protect this country and our constitution, and I still hold myself to that oath to this day. The problem as I see it is there is a group of very wealthy globalists who want to go back to a feudal society with rulers and serfs. The people reading this are the serfs, btw, whether they know it or not. Their masters have a problem though, too many slaves, not enough masters. Simple fix, convince the slaves that they must choose either the red team or the blue team and then hate the other side and blame everything on someone else and never accept any responsibility for your own stupidity. And like morons, all the slaves have divided themselves up.
I have tried for years to red pill people to the danger or this red team/blue team destructive dynamic, but it does no good. The slaves are securely in their echo chambers and can no longer think for themselves. I just pray that there are good people like you that make it through the times ahead so that society has a chance of being rebuilt into something that would not shame our founding fathers.
So….eat the rich? Was tried in France and Russia and China. I say “bury them alive in thier bunkers”, then see if society calms down afterwards. Maybe the trouble is more basic than that ie. human nature?
“The average prepper is a moron sitting in an echo chamber of hate and fear with tons of guns and no real plan.”
Wow, really?
6 years later and you are more correct than ever. I don’t see any common ground with anyone who hates this country, and they do indeed hate it. They’re actively promoting the destruction of America. All the things that have happened since you wrote this: the border has been erased, cities were burned by black lives matter and antifa. Nothing happened to the perps except that they were awarded big money by the courts for even having been arrested. biden gave up billions of dollars of equipment to the taliban and abandoned some of our people there. Massive election fraud. A fake pandemic. Told to stay in our houses. Schools closed. Government officials trying to force vaccines that have caused a huge problem. Violation of our Constitutional rights of freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. Churches in trouble because they didn’t shut down when the government told them to. People given jail sentences for saying something hillary didn’t like. This is not America. But it is in them marxist playbook.
It won’t last long.Libtards have to get into Mommy’s Safe,and then figure it all out.
Chose your side wisely. There appears to be no middle ground in the current conflict. This was bound to happen considering the forces in play
I’m not choosing a side, per se. I am choosing the things I believe to be ethical. I’m neither a Republican nor a Democrat. I just try to do the right thing and choose liberty first. No political philosophy that I have seen opts for liberty and ethics 100% of the time.
The dangerous thing about not choosing a side is that the two opposing sides will choose a side for you. If you remember GWB did exactly that, “You’re either with us, or with the terrorists.” No middle ground, no gray area. People seeking power never allow gray or middle. Doesn’t fit with their agenda.
You must be a middle child – can’t we all just get along…
Hahaha – actually I’m an “only.” 🙂 I am an INFP, if you follow the Myers-Briggs stuff, also known as “The Mediator.”
“INFP personalities are true idealists, always looking for the hint of good in even the worst of people and events, searching for ways to make things better.”
Daisy
That sounds a lot like where I was until I retired and had the time to dig deeper into things. I had always tended GOP, but I considered Dem positions and occasionally voted for a Dem. In retirement I decided to try to fully understand the philosophies. That was almost 20 years ago. The book that I found most illuminating was “A Conflict of Visions” by Thomas Sowell. This book has many quoted philosophical arguments from philosophers of the right and left spanning the philosophical periods from the 18th into 20th centuries. It’s a tough slog unless you fined philosophy interesting. His general conclusion shows that the philosophers of the right regard ethics as a personal struggle against the negative aspects of human nature, whereas those on the left regard ethics as a function of government, believing that the negatives in human nature will vanish if government provides all of the physical needs of the population in a socially just manner. You won’t hear any politicians put it this bluntly, but you will hear hints of it from time to time. If your picture is accurate, you’re not old enough to remember the Soviet Union declaring that there was no crime in it and everyone was happy — they had achieved a utopian society.
Another book of philosophical interest is “Explaining Postmodernism” by Stephen Hicks. This book concentrates on the changes in dominant philosophical ideas since the end of the Age of Enlightenment. It was Enlightenment thinking that was the dominant influence on our founders. Post Modern philosophy is what most college students are exposed to now if they take political science, humanities, etc. and it dominates Dem political thinking.
You may be interested in a paper I put online that discusses some of this and various aspects of US history that have had long term influence on political policies.
“Understanding America’s Political Divide” at http://www.cedarstrip.wordpress.com
Somebody should have taught the guy in the white house about manners and civil behavior when he was a child. It’s shameful and ludicrous that the “leader” of the country is a self-serving vengeful name-calling lying cheating bully attacking our allies while being friendly with other bullies on the world stage; a grown man that throws temper tantrums when things don’t go his way, and attacks those who simply speak the facts about his actions as “fake” in an attempt discredit them and direct attention away from himself, all while inciting violence against those who oppose him. Meanwhile he doesn’t have the attention span to sit through a security briefing unless it’s littered with his own name. It’s because of this sort of anti-leadership that this country is tearing itself apart.
Reasonable people cannot comprehend anyone defending this sort of behavior, which would result in the very least a trip to the school office and some sort of discipline were it a child in school acting out in this way. If we wouldn’t tolerate it in our children, why would we tolerate in a grown man? By doing so, what message ARE we sending our children?
So it is that anyone defending such boorish and dangerous behavior is perceived as an active threat to our nation’s future. The people who somehow manage to convince themselves that Trump is any way a good leader reflecting this country’s core values need to seriously re-evaluate their principles, because it seems to me a lot of people are willing to overlook a multitude of sins simply because they don’t want to admit that they were wrong. If they were being honest with themselves, they could admit that this behavior in a Democrat would have caused them to rise up and call for his removal at the very least (these same people want to throw Hillary in prison for making the mistake of using her own email server, something that was done by several GOP people in positions of power and recommended to her by them, all because she was trying to keep from juggling two phones).
The difference between Trump supporters and those who oppose his distinct brand of awfulness—and those who oppose range from all across the political spectrum, excepting the far right—is that those who oppose are more likely to be capable of admitting when they have made a mistake. I know that I am (and I am center- left in my thinking): If someone I had voted for was doing all of this, I’d be first in line to admit I was wrong and to call for actions to fix the problem. You do not see Trump supporters willing to do this.
To put party over country, which is what Trump supporters are doing, is to spell it’s demise. We HAVE to come out of this tailspin. And right now the people at the controls are those who refuse to do anything to put a stop to the madness. The cognitive dissonance on display here is frightening. It’s up to them to wake up and do something about their mess—to put the future of this country ahead of their party interests—because the rest of us can’t seem to get them to see reason. And if they don’t, then yes, I can believe that civil war will be all that is left to us. Because behavior like Trump’s cannot be tolerated in the America that I have always known and loved and served. This is NOT who we are: We are so much better than this.
Your words and your position are great example of not being civil. Your bitter ramblings are the same talking points I hear and see daily from the Leftist aka socialists. Learn to think for yourself, the world really isn’t that bad.
@ kWF
Wow, you sure have a thin skin. I read Becky’s comment several times and nowhere was there an uncivil comment made. It was the truth as she saw it. I also agree with her and I’m definitely not a Liberal. Both my husband and I are extremely conservative. And for the record, we feel Trump is the worst example of a president because of his name calling etc.
Perhaps you need to understand that all people are entitled to their opinions even if they don’t match yours. It’s called being a mature adult.
Feelings. Nothing more than feelings.
(these same people want to throw Hillary in prison for making the mistake of using her own email server, something that was done by several GOP people in positions of power and recommended to her by them, all because she was trying to keep from juggling two phones).
Putting our national secrets on an unsecure server ISN’T A MISTAKE – it is treason.I It is this kind of partisan stupidity that is causing us to be divided. I admit that President Trump had out of wed-lock affairs years ago if you will admit that Hillary violate the espionage act in setting up an unsecure server and passing national secrets through it. There, we’re back together again!
You can dislike Trump and be civil. I didn’t like either candidate. They were both awful. But I also didn’t like Obama. Regardless I didn’t assault people who liked him.
Your comment is a prime example of why people cannot get along. It’s because people REFUSE to get along. I can tell you are passionate and care about people but it isn’t right to deny others their opinions. It isn’t right to be filled with animosity towards those who believe differently.
When a war starts on our soil and people you love die, remember. It was the refusal to allow others to have different opinions that caused it. I’m not just pinpointing you, but those who flatly refuse to find things in common with their neighbors because of personal opinions.
I agree Daisy. I also did not like Obama and I think he took us backwards as far as race against race. People refusing to get along and completely shut off to others concerns are a huge part of the problem.
I so agree with your comment. People are choosing to be nasty and not get along. Some of these comments just prove your point!
I did not like either candidate or Obama either but I wasn’t going around being nasty to those who did. I do speak my opinion but try to do so with respect to others. Sometimes I just have to be quiet because the other person just gets unreasonable and nasty if I disagree with them. Very sad state of affairs for a country created for those with differences of opinion. We have forgotten our heritage and history in general.
Daisy,
It’s more than left or right, democrat or republican, communist or capitalist. It’s good vs evil. With God there is no gray area only right or wrong.
I supported trump reluctantly given the alternative. Forget the constant lying the brazen corruption. Is Hillary even sane? One of her emails contained an exchange between Hillary & her very close friend Cheryl Mills talking about “sacrificing a chicken to moloch” . Even Hillary admits she talked about that claiming it was a joke. WTF is moloch & why would you sacrifice a chicken to it. According to Wikipedia moloch is the god of child sacrifice. Anybody who thinks child sacrifice is a joke isn’t fit to be walking the streets unattended let alone being in the White House. As far as trumps performance in office I have been very pleasantly surprised. I didn’t expect much of him. He has done things that not only I didn’t expect if him but that I didn’t expect anyone could do. I didn’t think it was possible for anyone to stop North Korean missile test & nuclear tests without starting a devastating war or paying them a huge bribe he did it. The economy is doing better than it has in decades. The Hillary worshippers predicted economic collapse & war the direct opposite happened. You would think being chronically wrong would humble them a bit not a chance. If his tweets hurt your feelings sorry snowflake but there are more important things than your inner life.
Remember the lie Hillary told about being under sniper fire in in Bosnia ? Why would a supposedly brilliant woman like Hillary concoct such a silly lie she must know that she is surrounded by security people who are trained to spot shooters. That she is also surrounded by reporters & photographers who certainly would have noticed as well. Why? Because when she said it she believed it. To leftists reality itself is just something you make up as you go along. Hillary is a cult figure to her supporters & why should that surprise us Stalin Mao Chavez are all worshipped as deities as well.
TCinNC, Amen and Bravo!
No one can deny that Trump loves America and is protecting the U.S. Constitution! No one can hide the improvements Trump has made for our economy and reducing unemployment for US citizens. I wish Trump had a larger vocabulary but he has stood up for America against international bullies, including China, Russia, NATO members and NAFTA members. He didn’t pay off NOKO with plane loads of cash like Obama paid off Iran and other Muslim countries. He supports our military and while I am not a fan of his affairs, at least his were with and not teenagers, 20-somethings or perverts like other politicians.
Excuses, excuses.
Where was your selective outrage during the Obama years where all the power of the government was used to spy on political opponents, pallets of cash to Iran, Holders gun running, and Hillary’s colluding with the Russians to generate false information for the government to use to attempt an overthrow of a duly elected President (just to nae a few) . Sorry your choice didn’t win, get over it.
I didn’t burn anything down during Obama’s reign.
It;s people like you that are so forgiving of ‘your guy’ that is the real problem.
Trump is the backlash that Obama caused and Hillary would have continued.
Hope you enjoy your self righteous Kool Aid.
I understand your disapproval of Trump’s somewhat beligerant behavior. I voted for him, but not without concern primarily because I considered Hillary to be the most corrupt person to ever seek the presidency. However, I suspect that most of your perception of him is formed from mainstream news media. In TV news there are multiple sources of mainstream news and only FOX News presenting alternative coverage. For many years when FOX stories were at odds with the others it might have been difficult for most folks to know which to believe. Since the election of Trump the mainstream news has been on a relentless attack of everything Trump. It was possible to believe that Trump had had some underhanded dealings with Russia that led to him being able to steal the election. This is still the position portrayed by the mainstream.
But, over the more than 2 years of investigating by the FBI, then Mueller and Congress, no evidence has been presented to support that allegation. What has happened has been a gradually increasing body of evidence that there was a plot to sabotage the Trump campaign, a plot that involved top figures in the FBI, the DOJ, Hillary’s campaign, a research firm called Fusion GPS, a former British intelligence agent, Russian contacts, and possibly the CIA. This is hard evidence supported by email documentation and individual testimony. If you don’t follow FOX or conservative sites on the web you may be blissfully unaware of this. When the plot failed to stop Trump at the ballot box it continued with a vengance after the election. That the mainstream media are uninterested in the biggest scandal in US history is an indication of their function as the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party.
So, yeah, Trump has a lot of rough edges, but this country is in serious trouble and he seems to be the only one capable of taking on this whole deep state swamp. If Hillary had been elected none of this would have seen the light of day. If the Democrats regain control of the House there will be a strong effort bury these seditious actions. Meanwhile the US economy is performing at historic levels. Unemployment is at record lows for blacks, Hispanics, and women. His efforts to make rational trade deals with foreign countries is paying off. He has accomplished many things that were declared impossible by “experts” before the election. NATO countries are agreeing to pay the amount they agreed to years ago. The NK initiative may prove impossible, but he did get prisoners released and the remains of military service men held in NK since the Korean War. He made no concessions to NK.
The practice of separating children from parents who entered the US illegally began during the Clinton administration as part of an agreement between Janet Reno and the 9th Circuit Court. Why was it never an issue before??? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reno_v._Flores#1997_settlement_agreement
As for Hillary’s “mistake” with her email server, it was a blatant violation of national security rules. She used it for all official communication, not just occasional personal stuff. Her server was accessed by several foreign entities. The Chinese penetrated it so successfully that all emails were forwarded to a Chinese firm in real time. The FBI was aware of this but nothing was done about it. https://neonnettle.com/news/4923-china-killed-12-cia-sources-after-hacking-hillary-clinton-s-server
Becky, Trump and MAGA are a predictable reaction to progressive over reach. Reagan too. Both were populists and ultimately made the very same mistake of pushing too hard for thier goals. Red and blue are color wars that niether wins but both are neutralized by. The real winners dont have colors only self interests.
Kelly, I’m not a violent person and I am most definitely an American. What comes after is a good question and a potentially scary one. Mass deportation? Concentration camps? Re-education camps? Firing squads?
I kind of think that this is mostly bluster but then we have world history to factor into the equation.
Good question –what comes afterward…You are correct on all 4 counts if what the winners will do to the losers. That’s why we better win. Sad and scary, but often true–especially with history showing this after Communist/Leftists victories.
So what do you suggest Daisy? Should we all go camping, toast ‘smores, and sing Kum By Yah?? Too late.
My plan for coping is….. don’t waste time and energy pouring gas onto the kindling. It “is” going to ignite and burn quite well, without any extra effort. Get well away and (this is important,) Upwind from the fire. Don’t become “fuel” yourself.
Find a place where there is minimal dry brush. Keep a perimeter cleared around your home. If and when you begin to see the first lone arsonists approaching your safe new location…..well then is the time to go totally proactive.
Sorry if this was too “metaphorical.” 🙂
That’s a great analogy, Harbour. And yeah that is sort of what I suggest.
I’m trying to get to know my neighbors. I’m trying to find points we have in common like our vegetable gardens or our kids of similar age or our Golden Retrievers. Is it a deep friendship? No. But. It’s better than knowing so much about their opinions that I can’t respect them.
Also, I refuse to discuss politics with them and keep my views to myself. I think we need to get back to seeing people as people instead of viewing others as their ideologies.
Will it work? So far, so good on my little street. It sure doesn’t hurt. I’d rather have allies than enemies.
Exactly!
“This is how civil wars begin. When people can no longer find that common ground, they become enemies.”
Uhm, no, not really. Please study civil wars before making superficial statements. First, let’s ignore the U.S. civil war because it had nothing to do with freeing slaves, as so many are quick to credit Lincoln in his actions. However, if we pretend that was really the case, then what’s the common ground between holding another person as a slave or being free??
In short, the commonality of civil wars has much more to do with one side holding power and oppressing the remainder through denial of their God-given rights. Finding “common ground” is likely to be nothing more than appeasement (ala Neville Chamberlain), which is frequently just a futile attempt to avoid conflict.
If you want to avoid civil war, set rules (in our case its called the Constitution), elect officials who follow the rules, and have rules to change the rules as the people see fit using due process. If you don’t like the rules, then you can vote at the ballot box or vote with your feet. But allowing the rules to be broken over and over again, either by the people or by elected officials, is the real recipe for civil war.
The divisions are becoming worse.
The alt-left believes there is a boogy man out there to get them by the name of Trump and all the fascists who support or voted for him. The reality is, most people voted for Trump as they saw Clinton as the establishment and wanted change. A NPR Dem analyst noted many of the same people who voted for Obama in 2012 voted for Trump in 2016.
The MSM, having abandoned their journalistic integrity and objectivity, is a greater threat to American society then Trump. And I believed that long before Trump rode the escalator down and announced his candidacy for president.
MSM feeds into the resistance and the fear they generate. It sells.
The alt-left and the alt-right are mirror images of each other. Both are hate groups. Difference is, the alt-right, being white supremists, and real neo-nazis are a small minority.
The alt-left would have you believe the alt-right is everywhere, and anyone who wears a MAGA hat, or flies the American flag is a fascists.
Fighting extremism with extremism is not the solution.
This violence is threatening a civil war, but I blame the demonization more. We need accurate reporting, not inflammatory propaganda that mislabels.
I have to disagree with one point: it’s not two extremes fighting against one another, rather it’s two splinter groups within one extreme. These are two splinter groups within the hard left. Both splinter groups want to draw the whole country into their conflict, like what happened in Spain in the 1930s—a civil war that devastated the country where the common people were forced to choose which poison to take—the socialists of the fascists or the socialists of the communists. Neither group of socialists gave space where anti-socialists may oppose both sides.
We see the same pattern with Antifa, where anyone who doesn’t support Antifa are by their definition supporters of the other splinter group of left-wing socialists. They leave no room for those who oppose socialism.
No, this is not just since Trump was elected. The SEIU were Obama’s thugs who were beating up (physically) people who opposed Obama. The leftists have just ratcheted up their violence since Trump was elected.
To add: The hyper-emotional reactions, the hyper-sensitivity, makes for a even reasonable, let alone civil discussion near impossible.
So very true, 1stMarineJarHead! That’s why I tend to avoid political discussions IRL. It’s damn near impossible.
The problem is once such a war starts none of the people who helped start it will be backing up thier useful idiots, the useful idiots will be the ones on the front lines and the silent majority will be defending themselves probably quite well. Unfortunately the arrogant can’t see where increasing acts of random violence leads to for them. I feel bad for the few of the innocent majority who might lose a limb or worse. As a black conservative (always voted Republican) I support the president because it makes it look good overseas. I also support many of the policies he has enacted, especially the fight for border security and against terrorists entering the country like they did in Europe. If you have spent any decent amount of time in third world countries you would know why but if you haven’t then you should really do your research and realize that the process of immigrating from these vastly different cultures should be limited, not everyone wants to become American but many want to take advantage and even think your culture sucks. Plus go down south where im from and live in a city with a lot of illegals, I have had plenty of Hispanic friends and one of my neighbors who I was friends with had an illegal immigrant boyfriend who lived next door with a whole lot of illegal immigrants and she let me know that if it wasn’t for the fact that her boyfriend respected my husband they would have robbed us when my husband was away at work and I was home alone, needless to say it wasn’t comfortable living next to ten or more non English speaking men who were always staring at us when they saw us, not to mention the loads of cash my friend had which her boyfriend brought home, tax free. Yep that’s America. I just added that in cos I’m tired of people who don’t know anything saying there’d no need for ICE or a wall. I don’t care how this sounds nut seriously the Eastern cultures are massively different from yours and you can’t let everyone in as if they earned it. Anyways we had to get a gun….
Hi, Beatrice. I think you may have misunderstood my example.
I actually never said anything about ICE or a wall. I gave an example about kids being separated from their parents and held elsewhere. I believe in borders, but I also believe in treating people humanely. These two things don’t have to be mutually exclusive. We can have both.
Daisy
AMERICA is a hissing in the mouth of the world,a shining example of EVIL,its bearly mentioned in the BIBLE,the time to return to the LORD is almost up america,YOUR MARKER was ignored,ISRAEL,your last 70 years were given to everyone,america was so busy minding everyone elses business,you forgot about your own house,IT BECAME THE EVIL of the world,and you ignored that too..NOW THE LORDS BIRTHDAY IS SEPTEMBER 11,2018,this is the final day of your 70 years,NOW hell will come upon you…..
Oh and here I assumed a civil war had already started when the FBI, DOJ and the CIA started spying on a Presidential candidate, when the FISA courts decided to allow spying on the American people, when this giant 30 year conspiracy of our leadership establishment to sell out the American people and their interests to China for greater access and market share.
Fantastic point, mlopez.
I would like to point out a big mistake that you are making in your analysis. First you claim that uncivil behavior is happening on both sides and you start with an example of someone on the left who rips off a MAGA hat from another persons head. Then you attempt to point out someone from the right attacking using a flag pole, who you claim is a white supremacist. The problem is that white supremacists are aligned with the left, NOT the right. Liberals are very successful at relabeling things the opposite of what they have always been. That’s because they have about 90% of all media on their side repeating the same lies. Liberals call conservatives Nazi’s, but the Nazi’s were socialists. In fact the word Nazi means “National Socialists.” Many of the white supremacist sprang from the Nazi’s. And the democrat party is the ones that started up the KKK.
With regard to the separating of families ;
For months the families children were held with their mothers (or fathers where mothers were not present) but this resulted in children being held in adult facilities. The ‘complainers’ complained about that and claimed that infringed on the children’s rights.
Illegals were picking up unaccompanied minors and passing them off as relatives to get quick access to the states.
It was as a result of this denial of rights plus the fact that most of the so-called families in fact were no relation that they were separated.
It was not ‘babies’ torn from their mother’s but limited to children mostly over 10.
In the event that a US citizen mother breaks the law, then the child is removed from the mother whilst she is incarcerated and placed with the state. Why would this not apply to someone illegally crossing the border?
No person legally crossing at a border point was separated, because they would be turned back if found not to have the correct documents.
So whilst it is unfortunate, the remedies are not simple and you are damned if you do separate and damned if you don’t
What we are witnessing is basically the same thing that was seen in Germany in the 1930’s and Russia in 1917-1919. However, I can see no recourse as looks like it is to the point of : “Us” verse “Them.” There are terms used that signify each side as being less-than people. There is an atmosphere of “…we’ll have to get them or they’ll eliminate us.” These are part of the 8 steps of genocide. Unfortunately, it appears we are past the point of no return.
The Liberal/Leftists have shown themselves to be a fungus on society–they are not my fellow Americans anymore.
Again, we can’t group every person who calls themselves a liberal in with Antifa.
Daisy, we’re being played. I’ve looked at the so called alt right platform (probably got a lot of attention from DHS for looking at those websites), and I can say with authority that they aren’t right anything. They’re fascists. The moneyed interests that maneuvered Wilson into creating the Federal Reserve, that bankrolled Hitler’s Nazi party, Lenin’s Bolsheviks, Mussolini’s Fascists, and the Italian Antifa that opposed him (yes, it’s the same Antifa organization that has popped up here, they never really went away, they instead immersed themselves into other communist groups worldwide), are the same moneyed interests feeding money into these opposed groups now. It’s an engineered conflict.
Problem, reaction, solution. Create a crisis, panic the population, and then use that panic as a bludgeon to force legitimate authorities to accept your agenda as the ‘solution’. This is how we were maneuvered into two world wars, an ongoing series of ‘police actions’, and the Patriot Act. The calls for the ‘solution’ have already begun; ever greater surveillance, censorship, “no gun” and “no train” lists to go with the no fly lists that are already in effect, “red flag” laws, etc..
The so called elites have lost control of the narrative due to exposure of their criminality, just as it did right before WWI and WWII, and they’re trotting out the same fix; war and chaos. They’re engineering a civil war in the U.S.. I can only hope enough people are catching on quickly enough to derail the plan this time.
John Dunlap is correct – we are being played. The elites financing these “organizations” are following Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals. Their goal is to disarm and subdue the populace and turn America into a socialist nation. They “think” that will preserve their money and power. They’re wrong, but that’s why there is no middle ground any more.
Always pay attention to the labels that the left uses. For instance, what’s the real meaning of alt-right? They say it like it applies to all Republicans and Trump supporters – and that’s exactly what they mean, but it’s not accurate (they don’t care about accuracy). What’s the meaning of a “hate crime”? The left came up with that one too.
Daisy, I just wanted to say I appreciate your attempts to point out these things. I considered myself a conservative until Trump; now I just say I don’t fit anywhere, because I don’t. I have plenty to quibble with on both sides, though the things I cannot suffer on the right are growing exponentially these days. Most reasonable people, if I sat down with them, I think I could find common ground.
But people say and believe a lot of things that make no sense to me (or worse). Even 80% of the comments on your blog make me want to barf. I’m trying to learn the basic rule of the internet: don’t read the comments!
You lost me jumping on the open border bandwagon, when you confused the desire to deport ANY ilegall alien REGARDLESS OF POINT OF ORIGIN, with racism. Look at todays ICE bust. people. Each one using forged documents. Guilty of: Illegal Crossing, Forgery, Identity Theft. 150. All Illegals MUST GO. Period. Full stop. They are all, by definition, criminals. Period. Full stop.
Hi, Jakob – when did I say that the border stuff was racism? I simply said these folks were human beings. And they are – just like us. I have no issue with people being deported. My issue was with the families being split up. Take them back – TOGETHER.
UNCLE SAM { HE IS REAL ! }THE TAXMAN PAYS F0R THiS WEBSiTE !! HiS NAME IS R0CKEFELLER !! HE IS – N0T DEAD !! HE IS GERMAN ! HE 0WNS HALF THE BANKS IN THE W0RLD ! HE IS A ZiLLi0NARiE !! HiS – NiCKNAME IS [ ROTTENFELLER ! ] HAVE A NiCE LiFE ? ? ?
Hi, Bob. Just so I understand you correctly – you’re saying that Mr. Rockefeller owns this website?
YES DAiSY – J0HN DAViDS0N THE 4TH ( JAY R0CKEFELLER THE GREAT NEPHEW PAYS F0R Y0UR WEBSiTE !! HAVE A – NiCE LiFE ? ? ?
Hahahahahahahaha…
And what is your proof of this? I’m incredibly curious, since I haven’t gotten any payments from Jay.
It’s “Us” (Capitalist/Secure Borders/Nationalists/Traditionalists–the defenders of Western Civilization) verse “Them” (Marxists/Communists/New World Order/Open Borders/Multi-Cultural–the fungus; cancers on the politics of Western society). Both sides have a few sub-factions branching off. Both sides pretty much hate each other and believe there is not room for both on this planet. Want to stop the civil war? At this point you’ll need to arrange a serious crisis to bring us together–like an asteroid strike or super volcano.
First of all regarding Charlottesville, both sides were leftist. The “Alt Right” was led by an Obama guy. That is just a fact, its been widely publicized, the other side was George Soros funded soyboys. Its all astroturf. In normal America nobody is even noticing this incitement by the left wing loons because they are only in charge of the 50 big cities, the rest of the population a) doesn’t watch the left wing news because they are at work, and b) cares more about the country than the left wing cities filled with foreigners.
During these heated protests the police should take the side line and let the the mayla begin. It want take but 30 min for a victor to imerage. I would bet money that the loony left would be beat down so bad they would think again before starting a riot . There are no consequence for the left with there masked face bats and fire bombs . When The left is held accountable things will change.
During these heated protests the police should take the side line and let the the mayla begin. It want take but 30 min for a victor to imerage. I would bet money that the loony left would be beat down so bad they would think again before starting a riot . There are no consequence for the left with there masked face bats and fire bombs . When The left is held accountable things will change.
My view is that both party’s are working in cahoots with each other. The republicans don’t even want to support Trump. Both party’s are working together and somewhat fear Trump. Their plans ran afoul whe he was elected. So both party’s pulled the most basic of military maneuvers, which is divide and conquer! We’re being played like fiddles, and they are raping us. My and your beloved country is collapsing, and we’re letting,,,,actually helping it happen thru the hate that they’ve generated.
Mid term elections do not vote for incumbents they are a big part of the issue here. Let’s get some new blood to refresh our corrupt government, and bring it back to life. The shit that’s happening now is not about freedom. It’s about control. Think about it!
Newton was wrong. “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”
means that transmitting energy through collisions of physical objects is impossible.
The pentagon and national guard are traitors pledged to serve the BritishEmpire/N.A.T.O. HEROIN MAFIA. The pentagon wipes its ass with our Declaration of Independence. It is not the job of the U.S. military to build and maintain AirForce bases in Australia BECAUSE WE ARE NOT THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
nothing ever changes with the human animals. Fighting, killing, enslaving, warring….is just what humans do. They are a failed species and will prabably not be around much longer. As i like to say….the universe will never be a safe place as long as humans exist. We need a civil war very badly as it is far past time to thin the herd. I myself am totally sick of endless demands of extortion on my blood and sweat to feed a gang of thugs and killers known as governments. The real power lies not in any sweetly worded document but in the hands of those who have the weapons and have no conscience about using them.
All the democrats can do is run a campaign on character assassination, because they have nothing else. What kind of wierdos still support this party?
https://www.conservativereview.com/news/levin-democrats-deploy-alinsky-tactics-against-desantis-because-socialism-cannot-win
‘When the debate is lost, slander become the tool of the loser.”
Socrates.
“The people whos emotions override their reasoning ability become even more emotional. Put them all together and you’ve got just the sort of group that gets things done on college campuses. Who needs the best argument when you’ve got the biggest mob of enraged leftists.” >>>
Three Lessons from the Jordan Peterson vs. Cathy Newman Debate
https://youtu.be/bfLGulgBD7E
Most of these comments are exactly what she is trying to tell us NOT to do.
Im right, you are a $#%$#^%$ing idiot, and now im going to spend the next 30 minutes telling you why you are an idiot. This approach never worked, and never will.
I agree, it’s the fringe groups on both sides that are making the most noise and causing the problems.
I agree, there is no talking to these people, their minds are made and that’s that.
I agree, they are a cancer on society and therefore like any cancer, really should be destroyed before they spread and kill the entire body off.
When the riots start, these people will quickly kill each other off. Hopefully the rest of us, protect each other from them, and can say, “Hey, let’s not go down that road”, and not get dragged into that mess by the inertia of it.
People keeping level heads and actually being willing to work things out, won’t stop riots, but it WILL stop the riots from devolving into a full blown civil war. Sometimes you are at the point that it’s no longer about prevention, but damage control, before you finally realize your real situation.
Do you stop the fires or go down with the ship, it’s your choice, but one you need to make early on.
In the mid-eighties I was President of “Young Democrats” in college. It was then I saw the democrat party bringing in all sorts of groups including the socialist. I would’ve never believed growing up that we would be where we are today, and our Religion would be under attack.
I agree with many here unless there’s a real emergency (super volcano ect) there’s no gray areas…….Only black and white.