Unsurprisingly, I agree with everything in Mounk’s essay — by 1968, I was a pacifist and conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. That was the most revolutionary year since the Civil War. So, I just want to help people keep things in proportion.
In Feb., the US suffered 2,293 military deaths; about 700 were draftees. This tended to legitimize violence against the government. Also, in Feb., police killed 3 Jackson State student civil rights protesters. In March, the My Lai massacre, which killed about 500 Vietnamese civilians, further delegitimized the federal gov. In April, MLK was assassinated, which led to dozens of urban riots (all political), 43 deaths, 3,000 injuries, and 20,000 arrests. In June, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated.
There were eight more riots in May, June and July.
At the Dem Chicago convention, about 10,000 almost entirely peaceful (though disruptive) demonstrators were confronted, over about 5 days, by 12,000 Chicago police, 6,000 members of the National Guard, and 6,000 US Army troops. A National Commission later described it as a police riot. About 500+ demonstrators were injured. There was also considerable violence against reporters.
So what did our year of revolution lead to? #1 Richard Nixon. But ...
In 1969, the Weather Underground formed and did a lot of bombing, only killing themselves. In 1970, the National Guard shot and killed 4 Kent State students who were dispersing peacefully. Also, the Hard-Hat riot in NY beat up anti-war protesters, and Angela Davis supplied 4 guns used to kidnap a judge, the D.A., and three jurors.
In 1972, the East Coast Panther underground (BLA) started assassinating cops and killed upwards of 10. And the academic left turned very pro-Panther and excused a lot of violence.
And then?
Well, it all began to seem ridiculous, and the women in the movement decided it was too damn macho, and radical feminism took over.
And then?
We got identity politics (1977) and CRT, and the radicals decided it was more effective to claim to be nicey nicey while being sneaky and taking over academia.
And it was much more effective. And it still is.
I find the current far-left politics far scarier than all that political violence, horrible as it was.
Of course, this is a terribly compressed history lesson. But I think it’s a good cautionary tale. Remember the proverb: "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't."
Unsurprisingly, I agree with everything in Mounk’s essay — by 1968, I was a pacifist and conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. That was the most revolutionary year since the Civil War. So, I just want to help people keep things in proportion.
In Feb., the US suffered 2,293 military deaths; about 700 were draftees. This tended to legitimize violence against the government. Also, in Feb., police killed 3 Jackson State student civil rights protesters. In March, the My Lai massacre, which killed about 500 Vietnamese civilians, further delegitimized the federal gov. In April, MLK was assassinated, which led to dozens of urban riots (all political), 43 deaths, 3,000 injuries, and 20,000 arrests. In June, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated.
There were eight more riots in May, June and July.
At the Dem Chicago convention, about 10,000 almost entirely peaceful (though disruptive) demonstrators were confronted, over about 5 days, by 12,000 Chicago police, 6,000 members of the National Guard, and 6,000 US Army troops. A National Commission later described it as a police riot. About 500+ demonstrators were injured. There was also considerable violence against reporters.
So what did our year of revolution lead to? #1 Richard Nixon. But ...
In 1969, the Weather Underground formed and did a lot of bombing, only killing themselves. In 1970, the National Guard shot and killed 4 Kent State students who were dispersing peacefully. Also, the Hard-Hat riot in NY beat up anti-war protesters, and Angela Davis supplied 4 guns used to kidnap a judge, the D.A., and three jurors.
In 1972, the East Coast Panther underground (BLA) started assassinating cops and killed upwards of 10. And the academic left turned very pro-Panther and excused a lot of violence.
And then?
Well, it all began to seem ridiculous, and the women in the movement decided it was too damn macho, and radical feminism took over.
And then?
We got identity politics (1977) and CRT, and the radicals decided it was more effective to claim to be nicey nicey while being sneaky and taking over academia.
And it was much more effective. And it still is.
I find the current far-left politics far scarier than all that political violence, horrible as it was.
Of course, this is a terribly compressed history lesson. But I think it’s a good cautionary tale. Remember the proverb: "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't."