Obviously we are constantly bombarded with comparisons of BLM motivated riots and the events on Jan. 6.
These are my thoughts:
The BLM violence is certainly motivated and incited by the political left. But I would be surprised if, in general, the people who actually take part in the rioting, looting, and violence are at all interested in politics. There are certainly exceptions. They are motivated by anger which is fueled by the political left and fueled by unfortunate life circumstances. But all of this is low level anger, nothing close to terrorism, and it is nothing new for those towards the bottom of society to act this way historically speaking. Leaders on the political left are culpable on a regular basis for inciting and making excuses for this type of activity.
The events of January 6 were committed by people who care very much about politics and identify strongly as political actors. This is a very small group of people but there are also the RW militia members etc. who basically fall into the same category and are a much bigger problem that the people on Jan 6 in my opinion - obviously there was overlap as well. But I don't think the political right fuels and emboldens them in the same way with the sole exception of the election nonsense which I think is fully over forever. We also have to consider that the political right does have some very bad actors who would commit large scale atrocities if given the opportunity. That said the political right completely condemns all violence committed in its name as do all of their leaders.
I think the political left, including its leaders, is clearly more irresponsible in this regard in every measurable category. But I also think they realize that this is low level stuff that is probably going to happen at some point for some reason anyway. The political left enables and makes room for their fringe constantly. This is because their fringe is a collection of individual particular interests (that can even be at odds with each other) and many moderates on the left sympathize with a small number of those interest groups but not all of them. So, because different moderates protect different fringes, they all end up getting protected.
I think the political right was royalty screwed in this department by Trump and they have lost a lot of high ground. But they still have a slightly higher ground anyway because of their consistent messaging around these subjects and the way they treat their fringe members (they exclude them).
These are my thoughts:
The BLM violence is certainly motivated and incited by the political left. But I would be surprised if, in general, the people who actually take part in the rioting, looting, and violence are at all interested in politics. There are certainly exceptions. They are motivated by anger which is fueled by the political left and fueled by unfortunate life circumstances. But all of this is low level anger, nothing close to terrorism, and it is nothing new for those towards the bottom of society to act this way historically speaking. Leaders on the political left are culpable on a regular basis for inciting and making excuses for this type of activity.
The events of January 6 were committed by people who care very much about politics and identify strongly as political actors. This is a very small group of people but there are also the RW militia members etc. who basically fall into the same category and are a much bigger problem that the people on Jan 6 in my opinion - obviously there was overlap as well. But I don't think the political right fuels and emboldens them in the same way with the sole exception of the election nonsense which I think is fully over forever. We also have to consider that the political right does have some very bad actors who would commit large scale atrocities if given the opportunity. That said the political right completely condemns all violence committed in its name as do all of their leaders.
I think the political left, including its leaders, is clearly more irresponsible in this regard in every measurable category. But I also think they realize that this is low level stuff that is probably going to happen at some point for some reason anyway. The political left enables and makes room for their fringe constantly. This is because their fringe is a collection of individual particular interests (that can even be at odds with each other) and many moderates on the left sympathize with a small number of those interest groups but not all of them. So, because different moderates protect different fringes, they all end up getting protected.
I think the political right was royalty screwed in this department by Trump and they have lost a lot of high ground. But they still have a slightly higher ground anyway because of their consistent messaging around these subjects and the way they treat their fringe members (they exclude them).
