That's the opinion of Chris Hernandez, who writes:
Since I don’t care much for Nazis, it might seem surprising that I don’t think they should be punched. To be more precise, I don’t mind punching actual Nazis; the problem is, the people getting punched lately aren’t Nazis. Richard Spencer is in fact a white nationalist, but he doesn’t actually do anything except talk. Milo Yiannapolous is a gay Jew with an affinity for black men, which would have gotten him killed three times over in Nazi Germany. The people who went to his event at Berkeley weren’t Nazis at all, they were just regular people who wanted to hear a dissenting opinion. One was just a young girl who didn’t agree with the mob. She wasn’t punched, she got pepper sprayed for it.
And therein lies the problem. When we cheer a violent rioter because “he punched a Nazi!”, without having any actual evidence the victim was a Nazi, what we’re really saying is, “It’s okay to use violence on people because I think I know their opinions, and I’ve decided some opinions aren’t allowed.”
But hey, Nazi opinions shouldn’t be allowed. Right?
Yes, they should. Nazis suck, and Nazi opinions suck, but we live in America. ANY opinion is allowed; not every opinion is valid, not every opinion is respectable, not every opinion is or should be safe from well-deserved ridicule. But an opinion – ANY opinion – is harmless. In America, we don’t beat people up for their opinions.
. . .
Mob violence against people for having forbidden opinions is great fun and all, until your forbidden opinion is the one facing the angry mob.
There's more at the link.
The problem with the accusation that someone's a Nazi is that almost everyone throwing it around has no idea whatsoever what being a Nazi really means. I do. I've literally exchanged gunfire with real Nazis - those who actively, knowingly, violently support and propagate Hitler's racial and cultural philosophy. I wrote about it some time ago. Believe me, there are so few real Nazis in America today that I doubt most of us will ever come within a hundred miles of one.
Another problem: violence begets counter-violence. If you beat up Nazis - or those you allege to be Nazis - don't be surprised if next time, they come out in force to beat you up in return. It's reality - and it has nothing to do with democracy. Do you believe in your democratic right to protest, or gather for political meetings, or vote for whom you please? Then don't deny that right to others . . . or they may deny it to you.
It seems many on the progressive left in the USA have forgotten that lesson. If they carry on like this, I fear they may be reminded of it anew. Violently.
Peter
5 comments:
Had the misfortune to catch part of a TV interview with a young female who claimed to be the instigator of the Berkeley riot, protest in her words.
In the space of three minutes she transformed before my eyes from a rather attractive dark haired young lady into what I can only describe as the epitome of evil. She felt justified in every action taken including the fires and destruction of private property because silencing Milo's opinion took precedence over any thought of free speech or peaceful protest.
I admit that I came away from that experience with a strong desire to introduce her to a can of gasoline and a match. Nazi? She was the absolute worst of that evil cult personified.
Somehow, when they set the Rules of Engagement they never seem to understand that those work both ways.
As an alternative view. I think if more hippies had been punched in the 60's there might be fewer troubles with Communists running our country today.
If we follow the nazi-punch trail of breadcrumbs to it's logical conclusion: I can easily see that the Left is violent and out of control and will kill anyone who disagrees with them. I disagree with them. Q.E.D, they intend to kill me. Thus, I am permitted to kill them first and under conditions that are tactically advantageous to me. My preference is for a peaceful society. But I have played enough chess to recognize opening moves when I see them. I saw this play out in Yugoslavia. Don't kid yourself if you think it can't happen here. It's not an accident or something that just happens. It is an intentional strategy that community organizers employ to get what they want. The results are totally predictable because guys like Alinsky were morons and never figured out that most Americans wouldn't put up with his shit forever.
I'll let you punch a nazi so as long as I get to defined what a nazi is and you have to follow through on my definition.
Hey Peter;
I had blogged about it a couple of days ago. It has been 3 weeks since Da Trump was sworn in, it has been a little over 90 days since Donald Trump beat the odds and ruined the coronation of the smartest women in the world. The left has lost their mind. When President Obama won the 2nd term, I was disappointed but life goes on. Now it has been a new election cycle and the PIAP* was defeated, We should have come together as Americans, but the left will not let it go. They are protesting and pushing boycotts of businesses that they believe supported Trump. They are calling us "Nazi's" and using this as an excuse to dehumanize us and they believe that once they have demonized someone and called them "Nazi", then they can hurt us, damage our property perhaps even kill us and in their mind it is"OK" because we are "Nazi's" and we deserve everything we get.
*Pig in a Pantsuit
The problem with punching Nazis is that when they punch back, you did Nazi that coming.
:-)
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