It seems as if we have reached a situation where the most visible parts of
both the left and right of politics (in the US) could not become more ironic.
Ironic may be the wrong word, completely lacking any common sense might be a
better description.
Today saw students at Berkeley, supposedly progressive, violently riot in
reaction to the speaker Milo Yiannopoulos
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38837142 . A defining characteristic
of the most abhorrent regimes in history has been the limiting of free speech.
It is not a coincidence. By limiting free speech you gain control by limiting
opposing ideas. If by publicly voicing ideas contrary to the status quo you
risk violence or death effective opposition becomes very difficult to build. In
this way would be groups that could overthrow a regime never have the chance to
form.
Berkeley students' response of violence to a speaker who's views they
dislike is an attempt to limit discourse and free speech. I have little doubt
that they see Milo as tantamount to a fascist but in behaving this way they are
emulating many of the great fascists. They are fighting something they view as
bad (rhetoric) with something worse (violence).
Protest organiser Yvette Felarca defended the demonstration, describing the
actions of students as "self-defence".
"We have the right to defend ourselves," she said, adding:
"This shutting down Milo Yiannopoulos, and doing whatever's necessary to
do that, is our right to self-defence."
The event organiser, while she may or may not condone the violence, displays
this obviously warped view that it is ok to try and silence people you disagree
with. The phrase “doing whatever’s necessary” suggests she does in fact agree with
the violence that occurred.
Moving to the inconsistency on the right of US politics. Trump has decided
to ban refugees from 7 Muslim countries https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-01-30/trump-s-refugee-ban-and-the-legal-landscape-ahead-quicktake-q-a
. He sights protecting US citizens as the reason for his ban. As the many
shared graphic shows there has been not a single life taken by people entering
from those countries while the US has one of the toughest immigration processes
in the world. If protecting US lives was the priority then there are a great
many things he could do better. A focus on mental health the 10th
largest killer in the US is an obvious one but there are many more things which would do a lot more to improve the safety of its citizens - http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-leading-causes-of-death-in-the-us/
