I wish I could be comfortable and strong in my religious beliefs that I could be like those pastors whom the nationalists confronted in Virginia. I wish I could go into the coliseum of old Rome and sing hymns while the lions ate me. But I can't. I have a black spot on my soul from choosing to match violence with violence. I cannot stand by and give "thoughts and prayers" on Facebook to a group of people getting their heads bashed by nazis. I fight back; I always have and I really wish, but I can't, change in the future. Fascism is a very easy thing to slip into and especially as one gets older and has certain expectations of their life and how the world should work. Actually any "-ism" should be met with speculation and concern when the actions or the results mean one group of people must be the scapegoat for the issues being addressed. But fascism...it breaks my heart to see family members turn to it and not see it at all.
That said, a small group of people decided that something bugged them and they felt the current system of laws were not sufficient to address their anger. So as a mob, they put a rope around the object and decided to pronounce their own justice. Sounds exactly like a lynch mob. But you see, people I consider to be thoughtful, caring people were there or cheering them on from afar. But they are wrong, it is like that spectre of fascism that lurks under the veneer of polite civility or the ones who speak about injustice. Also, the Durham city police were ineffectual and totally worthless, claiming the act was on county and not city grounds.
So now there are those who try to call me fascist or saying I'm selling out to the man, because I'm telling them they are wrong. I suspect the most vociferous ones are feeling the heat for realizing they are acting out exactly like the ones they say they are against. It smarts to be called out, right, but you aren't going to back down and apologize because its already done and you actually felt a little thrill being an anarchist while doing so. But that makes you no better than the people you rail against. So calling me names and threatening me shows me you too are a coward in your beliefs.
Here is my point I tell them in parting. Because of what you did, and the lack of response from the police, what is to stop a person from going to a county library, taking all the LGBT books from the children and young adult sections and then setting them on fire outside? It is exactly the same because you are not taking responsibility for your actions which are illegal.
The sad, shake my head thing about this in Durham? The statue was a generic soldier, not anyone in particular, commemorating the men who died in the civil war. This wasn't PT Beauregard, Lee, or Stonewall Jackson. Nope, this was just one of the many, many people who died in the war. North Carolina and Virginia are believed to have lost the most in the war. While they say 25% of the population of the US died in the war, NC carried a an extremely heavy burden losing an estimated 40% of the male population.
Did these men die because they wanted to keep their slaves? Did they die because they felt superior to everyone else? No, most likely they were sold on the horror stories from the wealthy and the politicians who did not want their wealth or political clout diminished. They heard not only about the black man coming to kill them and rape their women, but also the heartless, faithless northerners who will come down to destroy them because they can. No, most likely they fought for the south because they felt like they were defending their land (if they had any), most importantly their families from even worse depredation than their life was now. So when these people decided that statue could not be tolerated any more, there was no city-wide discussion of removing it or perhaps changing the environment, there was only a mob with a noose. So the nameless representation of the common man who fought for a lie and lost so, so much now loses again.
I am antifa but those in Durham, you are anarchists and wrong.
That said, a small group of people decided that something bugged them and they felt the current system of laws were not sufficient to address their anger. So as a mob, they put a rope around the object and decided to pronounce their own justice. Sounds exactly like a lynch mob. But you see, people I consider to be thoughtful, caring people were there or cheering them on from afar. But they are wrong, it is like that spectre of fascism that lurks under the veneer of polite civility or the ones who speak about injustice. Also, the Durham city police were ineffectual and totally worthless, claiming the act was on county and not city grounds.
So now there are those who try to call me fascist or saying I'm selling out to the man, because I'm telling them they are wrong. I suspect the most vociferous ones are feeling the heat for realizing they are acting out exactly like the ones they say they are against. It smarts to be called out, right, but you aren't going to back down and apologize because its already done and you actually felt a little thrill being an anarchist while doing so. But that makes you no better than the people you rail against. So calling me names and threatening me shows me you too are a coward in your beliefs.
Here is my point I tell them in parting. Because of what you did, and the lack of response from the police, what is to stop a person from going to a county library, taking all the LGBT books from the children and young adult sections and then setting them on fire outside? It is exactly the same because you are not taking responsibility for your actions which are illegal.
The sad, shake my head thing about this in Durham? The statue was a generic soldier, not anyone in particular, commemorating the men who died in the civil war. This wasn't PT Beauregard, Lee, or Stonewall Jackson. Nope, this was just one of the many, many people who died in the war. North Carolina and Virginia are believed to have lost the most in the war. While they say 25% of the population of the US died in the war, NC carried a an extremely heavy burden losing an estimated 40% of the male population.
Did these men die because they wanted to keep their slaves? Did they die because they felt superior to everyone else? No, most likely they were sold on the horror stories from the wealthy and the politicians who did not want their wealth or political clout diminished. They heard not only about the black man coming to kill them and rape their women, but also the heartless, faithless northerners who will come down to destroy them because they can. No, most likely they fought for the south because they felt like they were defending their land (if they had any), most importantly their families from even worse depredation than their life was now. So when these people decided that statue could not be tolerated any more, there was no city-wide discussion of removing it or perhaps changing the environment, there was only a mob with a noose. So the nameless representation of the common man who fought for a lie and lost so, so much now loses again.
I am antifa but those in Durham, you are anarchists and wrong.