“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” - Isaac Asimov, American author.
There is a trend that I’ve been concerned about for some time. The growing acceptance of political violence by Americans.
The trend appears to have started with the attack on the US Capital by the political Right on January 6, 2021, in an attempted coup to overturn the election. The following year, on October 28, 2022, Paul Pelosi, the husband of Democratic representative Nancy Pelosi, was attacked at their San Francisco home by someone obsessed with Right-Wing conspiracy theories.
Violence isn’t limited to the political Right. Brian Robert Thompson, the CEO of the American health insurance company UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed in New York City on December 4, 2024. On December 9, 2024, authorities arrested 26-year-old Luigi Mangione and charged him with Thompson’s killing.
Political violence isn’t new to America. The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre is one example of political violence by the American political Right. The year before, in 1919, anarchists (advocates for a Left-wing ideology) committed a series of bombings in the US.
What concerns me most about the current trend of American political violence is its growing acceptance. President Trump has openly stated support for the January 6th terrorists and pardoned most. While many on both sides of the aisle criticized the attack on Paul Pelosi, some on the political Right treated it as a joke. The murder of Brian Robert Thompson also drew many criticisms; however, there were a shocking number of people on the political Left who declared the accused Mangione a hero for Thompson’s murder.
One of the prerequisites for eudemonia, an ancient term for a flourishing life, is a society that’s both safe and stable. It’s challenging to live a life that's flourishing when you’re constantly having to watch your back. Violence, if not condemned by society, will likely continue to grow and threaten us all.
The glorification of political violence in America needs to stop.
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