@Charles241 I guess you could say we are on the same page if not the same paragraph. While I contend the Organization of both of the groups mentioned are Marxist, based on public declarations and Marxist support, have caused the backlash and divide it is the acceptance by the left that has pushed many of our neighbors away from what at one time was what we would have called Patriotism. What it does is puts us on our guard unless we know full well where the people we are dealing with stand. And I think the divide is getting bigger. At least it is making things more uncomfortable. Gun sales are still through the roof and ammo is just coming back on line. It can no longer be ascribed to the Pandemic. Our school districts are trying to interject part of the 1619 project into the classrooms without notifying the parents. One of the thrusts of that project is a direct offshoot of Marxist Critical theory replacing class with race. (Feel free to research that contention.) That subject is causing even greater divisions in our society and causing people to choose sides. In my opinion.
It is division like these that cause even greater divisions and separation then I have seen since the 1960. Once again in my opinion. Yes last years riots concerned me. This years riots are just as concerning and it seems as if the dry brush of our differences is growing faster than cooler heads will be able to control. I know for one my trusted friends list is getting smaller.
Okay I traveled the right road.
Yes I am well verse in Critical Race Theory, Cultural Marxism, Wokism.
Antonio Gramsci- prison notebooks
Marcuse /Ordono - Frankfurt School
@Charles241 thanks for the link. I had someone, another site, work hard on me trying to get me to “confess” to being a raciest so we could have a deeper conversation on the issue. I recognized it as a attempt to establish corporate guilt for something I had no part of. the other person even “confessed” to their own bit of Racism just to prove how necessary it was to establish a line of communication. The link you posted had enough information to confirm where this tactic fit in the CRT tool box. Your link was a good read.
No nation is perfect, nor will any nation ever BE perfect. That’s probably why the Founding Fathers, in their wisdom wrote in the Preamble to the Constitution “WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in order to form a MORE PERFECT UNION, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America”. From the time the first European foot hit the beach in America, there was prejudice. Not minimizing the treatment of Native Americans, the Puritans persecuted Catholics and Mormons. Africans were brought over as slaves. Many of them fought for liberty in the Revolution. The Civil War was called an INSURRECTION by Abraham LIncoln because, if he had called it a Revolution, he could not have blockaded the southern ports, making it harder for the South to import foreign goods to fight the war, not to mention the possibility of foreign recognition of the South as a separate nation. The initial reason for the Civil War was to PRESERVE THE UNION. It evolved TO FREE THE SLAVES came later via THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION which freed only those slaves “in those areas then in rebellion against the United States, in territory controlled by the U.S. military”. (Not sure the quote is verbatim, but you get the idea.) The 13th ans 14th Amendment “freed” the slaves until “Jim Crow laws” were instituted in the south after Reconstruction. Moving forward, the Chinese were brought over to build the railroads. After they were built, the CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT became law. So they were persecuted.World War II. Remember how American born Japanese were treated? Manzanar ring a bell?
The point I’m trying to make is this. America was and is a young nation that went through a LOT of growing pains, like a teenager with acne. As time went on, it had WARTS. It still has. Today, America has elected an African-American President- TWICE. More “people of color” and females to the House and Senate then ever before. Whivh begs the question- IF AMERICA IS SO SYSTEMICALLY RACIST, WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE FROM SO MANY NATIONS WANT TO COME HERE?!?!?
There are people behind the scenes who benefit greatly from fear and division. The more they can play left against right and black against white, etc. the more they can get away with screwing all of us over.
Now that they have extracted almost all there is to scrounge out of the worlds economies they will need to create even bigger divisions and diversions so they can crawl unnoticed under the rocks with their loot while we are left to fight over the few remaining scraps. When we are done fighting amongst ourselves they will re-emerge and start the process all over again. History keeps rhyming along.
Your Corporate Overlords sow division to keep the rabble fighting amongst itself. It’s called divide-and-conquer and all of us rubes eat it up with a spoon like it’s good.
Sowing division, creating an “us” and “them”, regardless of the subject matter, and blaming “them” for whatever negative condition, whether real or perceived, “us” has to deal with, is how tribal leaders are born. It has existed long enough to be considered human nature. Tribes battle tribes for resources, wealth and power. Who really gains from the created division? Thats what we need to watch for.
For some clarification. Is there a contention that those that have decided to arm themselves from others haven’t already taken sides? ( Not by you specifically) Have we not determined we have no stock with those that would kick our door in or hijack our car or harm our family and are willing to assign the term “they” to that group? Are we part of the problem from wanting to defend ourselves and our communities? I am not saying that is “your” contention but have not the people that rioted and burned so many of our cities last summer and are doing so again this summer not already chosen a side none of us are part of?
My original post was simply to express my concern with what is happening to cities where I have family and friends living and now considering leaving because of groups that have been allowed to loot, burn and intimidate average citizens for over a year now. It didn’t take some overlords to give me a sense that people that did not have values about society like me have captured Capital Hill in Seattle, Plastered their name on Barricades identifying themselves with a name or names that Me and mine could never align ourselves with.
What I am simply saying is people that take over parts of cities by force and destroy businesses by force are who I would call them. I cannot embrace their ideology nor would I see not making sure my weapon was fully loaded and spares available if I saw them marching down the street heading in my direction in my town. If that is seen as US and Them let it be known it is not something I or we started. And while I have no intention of attacking them I will defend my own no matter what they say their cause is.
If there is a better description of how I should feel watching Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis, L A and even New York Burn it would be nice if someone posted it. If anyone believes with the crime rates climbing in so many major cities we can simply embrace the opposition and sing Kumbaya I think they badly mistaken. My opinion anyway. At one time saying there was a problem in Portland was sowing division. Is pointing out the problem sowing division or is rioting in the city sowing division?
I think the group consists of 3 elements, the ringleaders, the followers and the animals. The ringleaders are anarchists pushing for change for 1 reason or another. They want change and don’t care how it happens. The followers are those that believe they are supporting a valiant cause. The animals are those you have labeled as them. They are thugs that are out for a good time destroying what they can. To them it’s an event, an excuse. Doesn’t matter if it’s a political riot, or the home team wins or loses. They are there to cause mayhem and steal some sneakers and purses.
You don’t have to protect your self from the leaders, individually they are impotent, they need the crowd for strength. You don’t have to protect your self from the believers, they only want to debate and call you names. You always have to protect you self from the thugs, whatever the reason they leave their lairs.
Hasn’t group A and B been with group C during the billions of dollars of destruction? Or is it as the Media projects peaceful? Group A and B seem to be right there when the bottles start flying.
I will take your assessment under consideration but I will never accept either one of those two groups as legitimate. At least I can’t ever call them “us”.
Very interesting read, now the question that comes to my mind is, What can we ( as the people’s) do to correct all this division and hate towards one another?
It is hard to heal divisions especially when some are working so hard to create them.
The first step, I think, is to not let ourselves write anyone off simply because we decide to lump them into one of the groups we currently disagree with. Most people are good most of the time and most can agree more often than they disagree when they aren’t being closed minded or manipulated.
The second is to let the manipulative self serving radicals stand alone on their soap boxes preaching to themselves. Instead of blindly following them because we really like a couple of their talking points.
Basically the same things I taught my children’s, niece’s and nephews. Never judge a book by its cover. Never hate anyone because of the color of their skin. Everyone has an opinion, could be right or wrong but it’s their opinion.
While your last two sentences have merit, the people on their soap boxes have a goodly portion of our fellow citizens cheering them on. Painting their name on our streets. Pushing to let them out of jail with no bail after committing a crime. Tearing down our monuments and blocking our passage on our streets even to the point of attacking people eating dinner at sidewalk cafes. And even trying to teach our children they are born oppressors because of their race. You cannot turn on the news and miss this last attempt. Even our president made a speech saying saying white supremacy is the greatest threat to our nation. I for one will go to my grave calling everyone one of these measure an act of the enemy. I simply don’t see us coming together with the opposition on these points. I just haven’t seen a point of agreement coming from the sides we have been discussing yet. If someone can I would like to see a list.
I don’t personally know a single person who is doing the acts you are describing. I have many friends from the left and right and not one of them supports the actions you are speaking of. I would be extremely surprised if more than 5% of the people in this country truly support those actions. Unfortunately they are the ones getting all the news coverage because no one wants to watch video of my neighbor with the BLM sticker on his car helping my neighbor with the Trump 2020 flag in his front yard fix another neighbors fence.
I have seen the signs in pictures of the Autonomous zone on Minneapolis? Look for the banners flying inside the zone. I will disengage because we have reached an impasse. I am not sure there were good Nazis of Stalinist or Mao Communists. I am sure there were people that supported some of their ideas. We have reached an impasse. I can’t separate a good Anarchist from a bad one. Maybe others can.
