This reminds me of a personal story. I might have shared it before, if so, apologies for repeating myself.
I lived in Berkeley, California in 2017. You might remember Berkeley as the epicenter of competing pro- and anti-trump protests.
My girlfriend at the time was, essentially, a right wing 4chan shut-in, and was excited to go to this "Patriot Rally" or whatever they called it. I freaked out, knowing that these kinds of events can end in violence or in arrests, and eventually agreed to go with her as a chaperone.
We arrived a few hours late. Early in the morning, the city officials had fenced off the park that the right wing rally planned to use, and declared it a "no weapons zone". They confiscated anything that could possibly be used as a weapon: sticks, shields, signs, etc. They funneled everyone through one entrance through the fence. Shortly after the protest began, a mob of antifa rushed the fences, and started beating the shit out of the rally-goers. Hundreds of cops, in full gear, rifles and all, just sat by and watched.
We arrived after this chaos has moved. The actual park where the rally was was pretty chill. A bunch of conservatives and libertarians just kind of hanging out. But in the street, a block away, there was a melee. Maybe 100, 200 people on each side. The line was tense, occasionally breaking out into fists. What shocked me was the antifa around the sides. There were people standing on the second story of the nearby buildings, throwing rocks and bricks into the right wing crowd. There were also antifa throwing M80 fireworks, which the military uses to simulate artillery sounds, into the crowd to provoke panic. This is where the infamous 'bike lock assault' happened, where an antifa guy ran up to a right wing protestor out of nowhere and threw a bike lock at his head, almost killing him. I didn't witness the assault, but I witnessed a 4-man swat team suddenly rush into the crowd, pull out the victim, and bring him to the medic tent. The blood spraying from his forehead is etched into my memory forever
(Fun fact: ALL CHARGES WERE DROPPED against the assailant, who was an ethics professor at a nearby college).
The whole situation seemed so artificial to me. There was a violent riot going on, but if you didn't want to be victim to the violence you could just stand at the side and watch. It was like a weird mutual combat.
We hung out for a while before getting increasingly worried about our safety and leaving. But I loaded up some livestreams on Twitter after we left. The melee moved from the street beside MLK park to downtown, two blocks away, with the Antifa people generally winning the fight (which now that I think about it makes no sense because moving to downtown meant that the antifa side was falling back, but that is what I remember).
Then, something glorious happened. Some dumbass on the Antifa side threw a bunch of smoke grenades into the Trump side but didn't check the wind first. The smoke blew back on the Antifa, disorienting them. The right wing crowd took the opportunity and rushed them. There's a very iconic photo of Nathan Damigo, someone apparently affiliated with Identity Evropa, punching some dreadlocked antifa chick the face. After this happened, the antifa melted away and then the riot ended.
Overall I expected it to go more or less like that but I was still shocked. I was shocked at how performative things felt. I was shocked at how the violence seemed 'opt-in'. I was shocked at how hundreds of cops were standing around just watching this happen, not intervening. I even spoke to some of them and asked them why they weren't. I don't remember what they said but the gist of it was that they were even more pissed about it than I was, but they weren't allowed to.
This was the second performative lefty violence event I attended, the first being riots over the Ferguson verdict in December 2014. But I was still shocked. I was even shocked by the media coverage. They did the standard "peaceful protest" lie. There was absolutely no mention of the guy who almost got murdered by a blow to the head. But the chick who got punched in the face went on national news and did the rounds on the media, and the next day, everyone I knew who wasn't personally in attendance at this event summed it up as "oh that's where the neonazi beat an innocent woman half to death".
Oh Berkeley, I was so happy to leave you in the '80s, back in the early days of "political correctness" when people would scream at me because my thoughts and opinions were not liberal *enough*. The city where "have a nice day" really meant "go fuck yourself". At that time, I was moving to Philadelphia for grad school, the city where "go fuck yourself" meant "have a nice day". I liked that much better.
Now the whole Bay Area is like Berkeley was back then. only without any of the old gritty hippy authenticity that still lingered in my day. You are correct, my friend, all fake and gay.
Our family is re-watching "The Sopranos." The Italian Americans don't like it when women take on roles and jobs typically occupied by men, but once the women insist on doing so, all bets are off: They want to navigate a man's world, they get treated like men, including being cursed at and roughed up. Sounds fair to me.
Yesterday, a woman (30ish) on an e-bike cut me off on the outside right as I was making a right turn on a non e-bike. I chased her down and told her in simple terms that was an aggressive and unsafe manoeuvre to do to a fellow cyclist. She responded by screaming "quit threatening me, or I'll phone the police", a deliberately public display to game the situation. So I gamed it. As we were riding down the street side by side, I told her "there is no threat by me, but the threat is by you not paying attention'... then I nudged her bike into the curb and she fell off her bike...
antifa seem like it could only be hired thugs? Why do they have unlimited budgets for travel, black clothes, smoke grenades and so much free time to harass people?
I am sure some are. But the ANTIFA types in my city are really pathetic. At least 95% are. Weird sexless people. I don’t know how else to describe them. The guys are fleshy incels it seems. The women are hormonally out of whack. Too skinny and shapeless or blobby obese.
It is shocking that he got away with no consequences whatsoever, but when I lived in Berkeley I paid way too much attention to local politics and the entire city is dirty. City hall will just openly allow stuff like that, if it serves a woke purpose.
I think I mentioned her in a past comment here but if you really want a black pill go look into an individual named Yvette Felarca. At one point in the past, one of the right wing youtubers I liked did an hour long video about her but I can only find fawning mainstream press about her.
She's an antifa community organizer. She's also an 8th grade public school teacher in Berkeley. She openly radicalizes her 13 year old students and brings them with her to protests as de facto human shields. Sick, twisted person.
But she was _also_ personal friends with the at-the-time mayor, so she got away with all kinds of horrible stuff. I remember at one point in her story, she was being formally disciplined by the school administration, who had compiled a 20 page long series of workplace complaints (stuff like "you faked being sick so you could fly to Philadelphia to lead a protest").
She got her (again, 13 year old) students to stage a protest outside the principle's office during her disciplinary hearing that was so disruptive that the hearing was cancelled and, as far as I know, she never faced any discipline
The fall of California is stunning. I've visited the state a few time times since 1989 as did my wife. We just came back from San Diego last year. My daughter's boyfriend lives there and we've since become friends with his parents. So it looks like we may be visiting a few more times in the future. In a conversation, they told me how bad it is in San Francisco and L.A. Not too much in San Diego....yet. And they're Democrats. They visited Montreal in December and the son said Montreal was far and away much cleaner (despite this city's demise from its highs) and fun than L.A. and SF - where he's studying. Montreal is indeed a cool city with a great hip vibe despite its idiotic green-hipster stance.
It's not a myth (I listen to Victor Davis Hanson and read Chris Bray for CA. I do it because CA is highly influential and whatever it comes up with usually finds its way into Canada) what's happening to California. It's been run into the ground. Which is sad because there isn't a more beautiful state - or province.
There's a very simple reason why Canadian cities are much cleaner and nicer, and it has nothing to do with politics. I think most of the people in these comments know what I mean. Still, I left there for a reason
Canada does not have a history of slavery. I will leave it to you to work out the implications of that
To be clear, I grew up in Canada, moved to the US at 22, and would very much prefer not to go back. You are certainly correct that Canadians are like that.
Canuckistan has implemented "Death Cult" legislation into its non-governance like MAID, behind the Project Ukraine, still pushing fraudulent medicine, like the latest the fake diabetes problem... more side effects from the Jew Jab. Plus, there is absolutely no food security strategy that would entail putting many un and underemployed, as well as street people into community labour food production.
Those that are Canuckis: do you remember the program me from the 70's known as "Outward Bound"? It gave juvie delinquents, mostly from cities, a chance to learn interpersonal skills of co-survival in the bush. Sometimes a juvie would escape from camp, but always would return as the bush is scary for those from the city!
Plus, there was the programme "Katimavik", that was awesome for connecting fellow Canadians between the ages of 18-25 from all provinces.
More than an excuse for cheap labour, the programme allowed the participants to engage in ideas to improve Canadian society.
It's thousands of incidents like this, from the local level up to the federal, that when it is asserted that in the USA we have "rule of law" that leaves me aghast.
We don't have rule of law, unless you're a chump with no political leverage and no connections.
This sort of story is why I was referring to Antifa and BLM as the paramilitary forces that would be used a few posts back. People were skeptical that anyone with funny colored hair could be a threat. But then they're armed and the opposition has *been disarmed* and the police stand by, well, you see how it goes.
Is Antifa authentic anywhere? They always appear to be the terrorist arm of the leftmost political party, much like the KKK was for the Democrat party in the US. They're clearly following orders to serve specific political masters.
Antifa is tolerated (and I guess funded) by the progressive Establishment despite being demonstrably a violent organization not only in Germany but almost everywhere in the West. They are the shock troops of the Left to suppress dissent coming from nationalists and patriots whose organizations are harassed by the legal and police systems of the Western regimes. Every dictatorship has double standards and the Progressive one is no different.
This is exactly what they are. It seems Comintern has morphed into a worldwide, NGO-funded network of terrorists, who now ironically support the neocon establishment. In 2020, while out cycling, I found myself in the middle of a few of their protests, and was able to observe a couple of their outdoor organizational meetings. I didn't stick around long, as my curiousity seemed to attract suspicion, and I learned right away that only designated terrorists were allowed take photos or videos - a rule enforced by nasty little girls with pierced septums who were backed up by thuggish ex-cons.
You're right, but that's not what I mean. They purport to represent the authentic reaction of a group of citizens to a particular grievance, like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference or ACT-UP. But in practice, they opportunistically exploit any available pretext for intimidation and violence, which varies from one time to the next. Most of their actions support the prevailing narrative of the left-leaning power structure. Their actions are, as you say, planned, funded, and organized to advance the goals of the far left, regardless of any particular issue.
My 5’4” female friend confronted a gaggle of Antifa, all black dressed and masked up. She said ‘take off your masks. You’re all cowards. If you believe in something then say so. But you’re too cowardly to’. They attempted to mouth off. She said over and over ‘I can’t hear you. Take your mask off you coward.’ They were visibly frightened by her!! Another time we were at a pro family anti sex grooming rally. Police really messed up. Same thing. All the pro groomers were masked. Non lockdown time. All masked. We just said ‘take your masks off? Why won’t you? Are you afraid? Of what. You’re all cowards.’ They were pasty out of shape semi obese semi gay males and homely weirdly asexual females. Actually they all were weirdly asexual. Like there wasn’t a hormone to be found amongst them.
This puts me in mind of that Bono concert thing a few years back.... (should add though that I think some of U2's stuff is really great music).... when he says 'Every time I clap my hands, a child in Africa dies.' A voice from near the front pierces the silence: 'Well, stop clapping your fucking hands then!' "
The thing that is both humorous and sad about what you describe is the way these chickenhawks rail against imaginary Nazis and threaten to inflict all manner of harm on them. Why, if they could collect all the Nazis in Dresden, they might just invite the Americans and British to bomb it again. Quite a brave and bellicose bunch they are. No quarter to the faux Nazis.
But I wonder, if we were to somehow magically transport a regiment or two of actual Sturmabteilung from 1932 into the Altmarkt in 2024, just how would our brave Antifa lads hold up against them? My guess is not well. These nitwits are able to run around screaming about killing Nazis precisely because there aren't any actual Nazis about to take them up on the challenge.
Large segments of our younger generations are living in a dream world, where they slay dragons and rescue fair trans damsels in drag. I'm not sure how you break through that other than fetching them a stiff clout in the head. Would it that there were some Nazis about to do that for us.
they're clearly tacitly supported by the police, which gives them space to posture as tough guys (actually about 60% of them are girls or people of ambiguous gender). these are not people you would fear at all if they didn't have official backing.
That is what I have seen in my city. Black masked semi obese males of questionable sexuality and homely strangely antisexual women. With the odd prison tats on his lined face bipolar thug.
Antifa has also had the audacity to use historical images of the Normandy invasion e.g. the landing crafts in the first wave at Omaha Beach, thus claiming they are today’s warriors fighting fascism, in the tradition of the incredibly brave soldiers who ran headlong into machine gun fire. Disgusting.
I read an antifa being interviewed. He was going to prison for something he did. Something serious. He was absolutely pathetically weak looking. Like scary weak. In the interview he said ‘the authorities have no idea what they’re doing. We three are educated. We are natural leaders. We are going to be put into a prison population of uneducated people. We will rule them and create an army of revolutionaries in prison. I am looking forward to this’. It was so ridiculously delusional. He would be spending his two years being (semi) forced into giving blowjobs to actual tough guys.
In the US the Proud Boys, an all-male North American club described by Wikipedia as "neo-fascist militant organization" became infamous for their attacks on Antifa protesters. The attacks went pretty much as you guessed.
I'm glad you clapped when that other dude clapped (followed by the uni girl) to clap away fascism LOL. In all seriousness thank you for doing this. very good commentary.
Eugyppius infiltrates behind enemy lines! Insightful observation about the demand versus limited supply of Nazis, but I have to ask, do you secretly eat falafel?
I wonder if she's implicating Germany's growing Muslim population. I'm pretty sure that Anitfa could find plenty of Nazi sympathizers among those folks if they were interested.
That does not compute with the emotional thinkers. When I say thinkers I mean that loosely of course.
The incompatibility of migration from the Islamic world has been pointed out to the feminists, the trannies and the gays. None are concerned such is their hostility to normality. Anything that destroys it is in. Even if it means their own death. Queers for Palestine!
They don’t appreciate the freedom they have here, Islam isn’t a loving religion but a religion of Conquer and Brutality. It has no desire to be inclusive.
Nah, it's just meant as an insult against the "nazis" and "spiesser" who they imagine hate everything foreign. Using falafel-eater as as dogwhistle to mean Turks would horrify our Antifa friends.
Excellent, incisive commentary PLUS field work! Thanks for this, 'gyp. Looks like bought-and-paid for protests (I think the kids today call it "astroturfed") seem to consistently attract (a) those out to make a few euros for their time; and (b) assorted crazies with their own pet agendas. Hence, a FAIL of the sort chronicled above. Do those pulling the strings actually think they are moving the needle of public opinion in the desired direction?
It is to maintain the narrative for those who rely on the narrative. The midwits, for example. They get to see headlines, photos and Tik Tok videos all reinforcing their worldview, that the decent people are against the hard-right, that the AfD are extremists etc.
That's how propaganda works. It distorts reality. During Covid protests in London attracting huge numbers were written off as a few thousand or even a few hundred protestors. It reinforced the idea that those cowering at home were right to do so and virtually no one disagreed.
"Never have Nazis been in such great demand and such short supply."
Here in the US, we have the same shortage of KKK Members, John Birchers and their ilk that the left claims are the "Biggest threat to Our Democracy™", although I think their actual membership approaches 17 whole individuals nation-wide.
Without manufactured crises, where would the left be?
'Manufactured crises', Climate Change springs to mind, the biggest hoax of our era. While people worry about slight changes in the weather, vast numbers of fighting age males are smuggled into their countries...by their own governments.
And many remain indifferent even when you point it out. I do suspect there is truth in the observation that we have grown so soft only collapse, hardship and witnessing real violence will waken some people up.
'lack the ability to separate the rhetoric from reality.'
Today, optics trumps reality. I'm having an…interesting discussion with some friends on my Facebook page about the Tucker/Putin interview. I had objected to calls to censor the event (despite my dislike of Tucker). One of my friends, disagreeing, described Tucker's career as 'he strains to stir anger, hatred and self righteous vitriol', and I pointed out that he could be describing almost any mainstream news outlet today, such as MSNBC. I'm nervously awaiting his reply, as he's a very dear friend. My friends are baffled because until recently I was one of them. Because of this, at least they're engaging in the discussion instead of just calling me names.
Enjoy it while it lasts, or maybe your friends will prove more willing to listen than my former friends were. But mine listened for a while too, and then my heresies grew too numerous for them to abide any longer and I was cast out.
I add the caveat mostly because I'm not a Tucker admirer, yet I still watch when he interviews someone interesting. Aside from a holdover prejudice from his takedown by Jon Stewart, my objections are purely ad hominem—his stupid expressions and whiny voice.
Twenty KKK. One old psycho, 3 85 IQ young guys, 7 embedded journalists and 9 various undercover lawmen. With the journalists and the lawmen supplying money and guns to the 4 actual KKKers.
As I understand it, the Greens are largely responsible for Germany's increasing air pollution from new dirty coal fired plants, by closing clean nucular (credit to G. Bush) power plants. Also of course us blowing up the Nordsteam gas lines.
Oh gosh those two are despicable. I met both of them at some fancy government award dinner about 25 years ago. Time flies and these hags are still around.
This sounds very much like the Christian revival tents we have in the southern US. Complete with slogan chanting, exhortations to expel the devil, manufactured drama, and everyone gathered around some barely charismatic speaker, addicted to feeling like they're part of something.
Christians don't seek government funds nor spew hate. Unlike the false virtue of the antifa mob. Similar small groups, but very different aims. And, no, I don't like nazis anywhere, don't need to hate them, whether they are in streets or the Chinadian house of commons for some rare and sudden trudeauian applause.
Given the ultimatum the choice is obvious, but what's realistic is another matter. I suspect we won't end up with either, but something not yet imagined which will borrow heavily from what came before. I take seriously Ayaan Hirsi Ali's arguments in support of Christianity but I just don't think a third great awakening is tenable. Christian social structures are too heavily degraded, and I'm not just talking about wokeness. Most Christian communities I've observed are hypocritical, performative, inauthentic dilletantes. They're not the kind of Christians who built the Western world, not by a long shot. Besides, each sect has set fire to its own legitimacy in its own special way. That's excepting the Amish and, to a lesser extent, the Mormons. I'm sure there are a couple others I'm not aware of, but you get my meaning. There are those who argue that birth rates will lead to the dominance of those two, but we've seen time and time again how naive demography arguments fail to predict the future. And I don't think it's plausible that their influence would wipe out preexisting structures, that sort of thing doesn't really happen without killing a huge number of people. So I don't think we are going to return to Christianity, as such. I wouldn't mind being wrong, but that's my read on it.
No, I don't think that America will become a Christian nation again, either, but I do notice that the Christians in my community tend to be innocuous, while the Leftists are always devising new ways to interfere with and worsen everybody's life.
None of the links in the article suggested this is happening now in America. One was from Central America. One was from Africa, and not current. And the other was from decades ago. They might not be happening anymore.
It’s always’ the current thing’ to be outraged in support of, or against. The outrage is the key element in their thinking. They might call it passion. I call it being used by the government and or the media to promote or protest ‘the current thing’. Believe me, in 70 years I have seen it over and over again.
Turn that passion toward helping those affected by the current thing, or raise money for relief. Pick up a gun and fight alongside your comrades against ‘the enemy’. You get what I am saying by now. Virtue signaling comes at no cost and very little effort.
I would venture, for these people, there's a strong quadrilateral valence of indolence, piosity, misery and inauthenticity that orbits a nucleus of acquiescence by the majority, in a culture where nihilism is a twisted virtue.
Where rational positions and words are allowed to offend someone, but the imposition itself gives the very same people a false sense of meaning to their lives.
That is sort of out of body because it requires others to feed the crazies center of gravity; to feel important for living in mom's basement and having no real sense of accomplishment.
Their accomplishment is to avoid accomplishment by virtue of either acceptance or encouragement externally, with no effort. They can remain in a safe "virtual reality" of a mental state, where the void is filled by being a net "taker".
They require this from without, because they lack a key to a healthy human mind and body: PURPOSE
They seek getting their essence tickled outside of their body, because in our culture, it's become acceptable to be a loser and joy kill.
Why do you think so many punks and "alternative" people used to use the slogan "No Future!"?
What you wrote in your first paragraph, that's why. If they weren't so obnoxious of manner and behaviour, I'd pity them since they need help - their spirits are sick and drained of life.
It's is akin to heroin addiction and depression, rolled up into one nifty easily marketable lifestyle-package.
Part of it, though, is the vulnerability of the young, whose pre-frontal cortex doesn't mature until their mid-twenties. I was just thinking last night about how I refused to go up in the St. Louis Arch, visiting at a friend's parents' house, because it was a monument to Manifest Destiny. The vaccine schedule in the US begins at birth, liability-free; kids get smart phones and devices really early as our species is so utterly confident in technology (might be the chipping of stone tools over millions of years, each innovation being salvific); they don't learn to read, or read fiction or board books, which teaches point of view, sentence structure, vocabulary, and here there was a craze to cancel recess (during which all sorts of skills are learned, not the least of which being somato-sensory-proprioceptive integration,) then the curriculum is dumbed down at best and indoctrinating at worst. Propaganda and advertising from every quarter immersing them. No education, no moral education, no civics education, no history and fear raining down from every venue. I was a complete gauche callow little idiot despite having learned to read and taking biology and civics and history. What chance do these kids have?
As a retired teacher, all I can say is yes, absolutely, to your reasoning on the development of the brain, reading, and so on.
In the city I used to work in, in the worst schools 1/3 of children with non-european origin (children born in Sweden, mind) finish nine years compulsory school unable to read even those free ad-riddled "newspapers" they have at bus-stops.
IQs have dropped 5 points among the 18 year old, measured year by year, starting with kids born in the early 1990s.
Cynthia, everything you wrote is really insightful, but I fear this has become a crutch or "cop out" in today's "conventional wisdom": "[W]hose pre-frontal cortex doesn't mature until their mid-twenties." Most people know right from wrong and have a moral compass before they even start elementary school. I think we must expect every individual to behave responsibly, regardless of age. I've noticed this "pre-frontal cortex" argument cropping up the last few years to justify and excuse all sorts of mischief and worse. I don't buy it. And if the argument is accepted, it should have all sorts of ramifications, such as: Why is anybody allowed to vote or get married before age 25?
I agree wholeheartedly. If the truth were known, I suspect a lack of meaning today in the lives of many is what drives much of this, many of the problems we now face.
Or, concentrate on leading your personal life responsibly and loving those around you. If we all got our own individual houses in order, most larger problems wouldn't even exist.
Yes. This has become more and more clear to me as I enter middle age. And the Bible covers this front: "Take the beam out of your own eye, before you decry the mote in your neighbor's." That's a paraphrase, of course. But if individual Westerners kept their own personal affairs in order, everything would be going much more swimmingly in our countries.
This reminds me of a personal story. I might have shared it before, if so, apologies for repeating myself.
I lived in Berkeley, California in 2017. You might remember Berkeley as the epicenter of competing pro- and anti-trump protests.
My girlfriend at the time was, essentially, a right wing 4chan shut-in, and was excited to go to this "Patriot Rally" or whatever they called it. I freaked out, knowing that these kinds of events can end in violence or in arrests, and eventually agreed to go with her as a chaperone.
We arrived a few hours late. Early in the morning, the city officials had fenced off the park that the right wing rally planned to use, and declared it a "no weapons zone". They confiscated anything that could possibly be used as a weapon: sticks, shields, signs, etc. They funneled everyone through one entrance through the fence. Shortly after the protest began, a mob of antifa rushed the fences, and started beating the shit out of the rally-goers. Hundreds of cops, in full gear, rifles and all, just sat by and watched.
We arrived after this chaos has moved. The actual park where the rally was was pretty chill. A bunch of conservatives and libertarians just kind of hanging out. But in the street, a block away, there was a melee. Maybe 100, 200 people on each side. The line was tense, occasionally breaking out into fists. What shocked me was the antifa around the sides. There were people standing on the second story of the nearby buildings, throwing rocks and bricks into the right wing crowd. There were also antifa throwing M80 fireworks, which the military uses to simulate artillery sounds, into the crowd to provoke panic. This is where the infamous 'bike lock assault' happened, where an antifa guy ran up to a right wing protestor out of nowhere and threw a bike lock at his head, almost killing him. I didn't witness the assault, but I witnessed a 4-man swat team suddenly rush into the crowd, pull out the victim, and bring him to the medic tent. The blood spraying from his forehead is etched into my memory forever
(Fun fact: ALL CHARGES WERE DROPPED against the assailant, who was an ethics professor at a nearby college).
The whole situation seemed so artificial to me. There was a violent riot going on, but if you didn't want to be victim to the violence you could just stand at the side and watch. It was like a weird mutual combat.
We hung out for a while before getting increasingly worried about our safety and leaving. But I loaded up some livestreams on Twitter after we left. The melee moved from the street beside MLK park to downtown, two blocks away, with the Antifa people generally winning the fight (which now that I think about it makes no sense because moving to downtown meant that the antifa side was falling back, but that is what I remember).
Then, something glorious happened. Some dumbass on the Antifa side threw a bunch of smoke grenades into the Trump side but didn't check the wind first. The smoke blew back on the Antifa, disorienting them. The right wing crowd took the opportunity and rushed them. There's a very iconic photo of Nathan Damigo, someone apparently affiliated with Identity Evropa, punching some dreadlocked antifa chick the face. After this happened, the antifa melted away and then the riot ended.
Overall I expected it to go more or less like that but I was still shocked. I was shocked at how performative things felt. I was shocked at how the violence seemed 'opt-in'. I was shocked at how hundreds of cops were standing around just watching this happen, not intervening. I even spoke to some of them and asked them why they weren't. I don't remember what they said but the gist of it was that they were even more pissed about it than I was, but they weren't allowed to.
This was the second performative lefty violence event I attended, the first being riots over the Ferguson verdict in December 2014. But I was still shocked. I was even shocked by the media coverage. They did the standard "peaceful protest" lie. There was absolutely no mention of the guy who almost got murdered by a blow to the head. But the chick who got punched in the face went on national news and did the rounds on the media, and the next day, everyone I knew who wasn't personally in attendance at this event summed it up as "oh that's where the neonazi beat an innocent woman half to death".
It's all fake and gay. All the way down
EDIT: I forgot a very important detail, a detail that the news conveniently failed to report.
Nathan Damigo punched this chick in the face 30 seconds after she threw a sharp, broken glass bottle at his head
Oh Berkeley, I was so happy to leave you in the '80s, back in the early days of "political correctness" when people would scream at me because my thoughts and opinions were not liberal *enough*. The city where "have a nice day" really meant "go fuck yourself". At that time, I was moving to Philadelphia for grad school, the city where "go fuck yourself" meant "have a nice day". I liked that much better.
Now the whole Bay Area is like Berkeley was back then. only without any of the old gritty hippy authenticity that still lingered in my day. You are correct, my friend, all fake and gay.
Our family is re-watching "The Sopranos." The Italian Americans don't like it when women take on roles and jobs typically occupied by men, but once the women insist on doing so, all bets are off: They want to navigate a man's world, they get treated like men, including being cursed at and roughed up. Sounds fair to me.
And that's a problem.... women will always pull the "you can't hit me I'm a grlll" card. Then they find out reality sucks.
LOL!
Yesterday, a woman (30ish) on an e-bike cut me off on the outside right as I was making a right turn on a non e-bike. I chased her down and told her in simple terms that was an aggressive and unsafe manoeuvre to do to a fellow cyclist. She responded by screaming "quit threatening me, or I'll phone the police", a deliberately public display to game the situation. So I gamed it. As we were riding down the street side by side, I told her "there is no threat by me, but the threat is by you not paying attention'... then I nudged her bike into the curb and she fell off her bike...
Still waiting for that police response.
Noyce!
antifa seem like it could only be hired thugs? Why do they have unlimited budgets for travel, black clothes, smoke grenades and so much free time to harass people?
I am sure some are. But the ANTIFA types in my city are really pathetic. At least 95% are. Weird sexless people. I don’t know how else to describe them. The guys are fleshy incels it seems. The women are hormonally out of whack. Too skinny and shapeless or blobby obese.
Tbh, only seen them on video.
Last sentence. Indeed.
I remember the bike lock guy and still can't believe he got away with such a violent assault that could have easily resulted in death.
He had ties to the Mayor's office or something.
It is shocking that he got away with no consequences whatsoever, but when I lived in Berkeley I paid way too much attention to local politics and the entire city is dirty. City hall will just openly allow stuff like that, if it serves a woke purpose.
I think I mentioned her in a past comment here but if you really want a black pill go look into an individual named Yvette Felarca. At one point in the past, one of the right wing youtubers I liked did an hour long video about her but I can only find fawning mainstream press about her.
She's an antifa community organizer. She's also an 8th grade public school teacher in Berkeley. She openly radicalizes her 13 year old students and brings them with her to protests as de facto human shields. Sick, twisted person.
But she was _also_ personal friends with the at-the-time mayor, so she got away with all kinds of horrible stuff. I remember at one point in her story, she was being formally disciplined by the school administration, who had compiled a 20 page long series of workplace complaints (stuff like "you faked being sick so you could fly to Philadelphia to lead a protest").
She got her (again, 13 year old) students to stage a protest outside the principle's office during her disciplinary hearing that was so disruptive that the hearing was cancelled and, as far as I know, she never faced any discipline
The fall of California is stunning. I've visited the state a few time times since 1989 as did my wife. We just came back from San Diego last year. My daughter's boyfriend lives there and we've since become friends with his parents. So it looks like we may be visiting a few more times in the future. In a conversation, they told me how bad it is in San Francisco and L.A. Not too much in San Diego....yet. And they're Democrats. They visited Montreal in December and the son said Montreal was far and away much cleaner (despite this city's demise from its highs) and fun than L.A. and SF - where he's studying. Montreal is indeed a cool city with a great hip vibe despite its idiotic green-hipster stance.
It's not a myth (I listen to Victor Davis Hanson and read Chris Bray for CA. I do it because CA is highly influential and whatever it comes up with usually finds its way into Canada) what's happening to California. It's been run into the ground. Which is sad because there isn't a more beautiful state - or province.
There's a very simple reason why Canadian cities are much cleaner and nicer, and it has nothing to do with politics. I think most of the people in these comments know what I mean. Still, I left there for a reason
Do tell.
To me, Canadians are Pavlovian Dogs. And proud of it.
Canada does not have a history of slavery. I will leave it to you to work out the implications of that
To be clear, I grew up in Canada, moved to the US at 22, and would very much prefer not to go back. You are certainly correct that Canadians are like that.
And they all wear kneepads and submit to authority and Mammon.
I have told a few fellow Canuckistanis that I'll buy them an Ottoman to bend over - more comfortable 'when taking it'.
Keep the kneepads for 'giving'.
Somewhat O/T,
Canuckistan has implemented "Death Cult" legislation into its non-governance like MAID, behind the Project Ukraine, still pushing fraudulent medicine, like the latest the fake diabetes problem... more side effects from the Jew Jab. Plus, there is absolutely no food security strategy that would entail putting many un and underemployed, as well as street people into community labour food production.
Those that are Canuckis: do you remember the program me from the 70's known as "Outward Bound"? It gave juvie delinquents, mostly from cities, a chance to learn interpersonal skills of co-survival in the bush. Sometimes a juvie would escape from camp, but always would return as the bush is scary for those from the city!
Plus, there was the programme "Katimavik", that was awesome for connecting fellow Canadians between the ages of 18-25 from all provinces.
More than an excuse for cheap labour, the programme allowed the participants to engage in ideas to improve Canadian society.
Money better spent than prosecuting WW3.
I remember "Outward Bound."
What do you mean by "Jew Jab"?
Um hmmm. Nailed it
San Diego for generations was a bastion of the Republicans.
Now it's gone Democrat; the decline has started, palpably.
Give it just a few years and it will be as terrible as San Francisco.
"He had ties to the Mayor's office or something."
It's thousands of incidents like this, from the local level up to the federal, that when it is asserted that in the USA we have "rule of law" that leaves me aghast.
We don't have rule of law, unless you're a chump with no political leverage and no connections.
About the bike lock guy:
“Court papers later revealed that Clanton struck at least seven people in the head, according to authorities.”
He got 3 years _probation_ for hitting 7 people in the head, including the case you described.
https://www.berkeleyside.org/2018/08/08/eric-clanton-takes-3-year-probation-deal-in-berkeley-rally-bike-lock-assault-case
Holy cow. Such a violent criminal should have been sent away for a very long time.
Good story. I have one important question: Where does one find a "4chan shut-in girl friend"?
You don't. She'll leave you and fuck all your nerd friends.
But, seriously, okcupid pre-2017
This sort of story is why I was referring to Antifa and BLM as the paramilitary forces that would be used a few posts back. People were skeptical that anyone with funny colored hair could be a threat. But then they're armed and the opposition has *been disarmed* and the police stand by, well, you see how it goes.
"In which eugyppius attends dumb government-backed demonstrations AgAInST FasCIsM so you don't have to."
Thank you for throwing yourself on that sword for us Eugyppius. You are a braver man than I.
What a lame protest! It's comforting that there's so little real passion among the demonstrators.
Is Antifa authentic anywhere? They always appear to be the terrorist arm of the leftmost political party, much like the KKK was for the Democrat party in the US. They're clearly following orders to serve specific political masters.
Antifa is tolerated (and I guess funded) by the progressive Establishment despite being demonstrably a violent organization not only in Germany but almost everywhere in the West. They are the shock troops of the Left to suppress dissent coming from nationalists and patriots whose organizations are harassed by the legal and police systems of the Western regimes. Every dictatorship has double standards and the Progressive one is no different.
This is exactly what they are. It seems Comintern has morphed into a worldwide, NGO-funded network of terrorists, who now ironically support the neocon establishment. In 2020, while out cycling, I found myself in the middle of a few of their protests, and was able to observe a couple of their outdoor organizational meetings. I didn't stick around long, as my curiousity seemed to attract suspicion, and I learned right away that only designated terrorists were allowed take photos or videos - a rule enforced by nasty little girls with pierced septums who were backed up by thuggish ex-cons.
Mid-level provocation under the Mao Insurgency Model.
The early covid panic was surreal in that Antifa more or less acted as the paramilitary wing of the CDU.
They are and always have been authentically the terrorist arm of far left parties, if that's what you mean.
You're right, but that's not what I mean. They purport to represent the authentic reaction of a group of citizens to a particular grievance, like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference or ACT-UP. But in practice, they opportunistically exploit any available pretext for intimidation and violence, which varies from one time to the next. Most of their actions support the prevailing narrative of the left-leaning power structure. Their actions are, as you say, planned, funded, and organized to advance the goals of the far left, regardless of any particular issue.
They have been that way since 1932.
Antifa = Wannabe Brown Shirts
My 5’4” female friend confronted a gaggle of Antifa, all black dressed and masked up. She said ‘take off your masks. You’re all cowards. If you believe in something then say so. But you’re too cowardly to’. They attempted to mouth off. She said over and over ‘I can’t hear you. Take your mask off you coward.’ They were visibly frightened by her!! Another time we were at a pro family anti sex grooming rally. Police really messed up. Same thing. All the pro groomers were masked. Non lockdown time. All masked. We just said ‘take your masks off? Why won’t you? Are you afraid? Of what. You’re all cowards.’ They were pasty out of shape semi obese semi gay males and homely weirdly asexual females. Actually they all were weirdly asexual. Like there wasn’t a hormone to be found amongst them.
“we all clapped together, and in this way we defeated fascism.” 😂
This puts me in mind of that Bono concert thing a few years back.... (should add though that I think some of U2's stuff is really great music).... when he says 'Every time I clap my hands, a child in Africa dies.' A voice from near the front pierces the silence: 'Well, stop clapping your fucking hands then!' "
I remember when I thought Bono was against the corporations taking over our freedoms….I was young and idealistic back then…
He's an absolute global establishment insider.
Never cared about his band's music, either. But I guess some of the tunes were catchy.
Bono's self-righteousness ruined U-2's music for me.
I betcha they picked up their trash afterwards....
I don't know how you do it.
But thank you for doing some real journalism!
He's willing to endure hours of boredom - a sign of a well-trained academic.
If he is an actual academic he already signed up for decades of it.
The thing that is both humorous and sad about what you describe is the way these chickenhawks rail against imaginary Nazis and threaten to inflict all manner of harm on them. Why, if they could collect all the Nazis in Dresden, they might just invite the Americans and British to bomb it again. Quite a brave and bellicose bunch they are. No quarter to the faux Nazis.
But I wonder, if we were to somehow magically transport a regiment or two of actual Sturmabteilung from 1932 into the Altmarkt in 2024, just how would our brave Antifa lads hold up against them? My guess is not well. These nitwits are able to run around screaming about killing Nazis precisely because there aren't any actual Nazis about to take them up on the challenge.
Large segments of our younger generations are living in a dream world, where they slay dragons and rescue fair trans damsels in drag. I'm not sure how you break through that other than fetching them a stiff clout in the head. Would it that there were some Nazis about to do that for us.
they're clearly tacitly supported by the police, which gives them space to posture as tough guys (actually about 60% of them are girls or people of ambiguous gender). these are not people you would fear at all if they didn't have official backing.
Two frightening words, “official backing.”
One wonders if the primary motivation of the antifa guys is to get familiar with the antifa girls.
That is what I have seen in my city. Black masked semi obese males of questionable sexuality and homely strangely antisexual women. With the odd prison tats on his lined face bipolar thug.
And obviously they know, or at least sense, that they have official backing.
Other than ten absolute weaklings can still damage you for life.
Antifa has also had the audacity to use historical images of the Normandy invasion e.g. the landing crafts in the first wave at Omaha Beach, thus claiming they are today’s warriors fighting fascism, in the tradition of the incredibly brave soldiers who ran headlong into machine gun fire. Disgusting.
I read an antifa being interviewed. He was going to prison for something he did. Something serious. He was absolutely pathetically weak looking. Like scary weak. In the interview he said ‘the authorities have no idea what they’re doing. We three are educated. We are natural leaders. We are going to be put into a prison population of uneducated people. We will rule them and create an army of revolutionaries in prison. I am looking forward to this’. It was so ridiculously delusional. He would be spending his two years being (semi) forced into giving blowjobs to actual tough guys.
In the US the Proud Boys, an all-male North American club described by Wikipedia as "neo-fascist militant organization" became infamous for their attacks on Antifa protesters. The attacks went pretty much as you guessed.
“…slay dragons and rescue fair trans damsels in drag.” Gold.
'Would it be....' oh but there are of course, huge numbers - but they're waiting for weapons and instructions, dreaming of those virgins.
I'm glad you clapped when that other dude clapped (followed by the uni girl) to clap away fascism LOL. In all seriousness thank you for doing this. very good commentary.
Eugyppius infiltrates behind enemy lines! Insightful observation about the demand versus limited supply of Nazis, but I have to ask, do you secretly eat falafel?
it is not my favourite food but I having nothing against it.
sounds like something a fascist would say
😂😂
Literally Hitler eugy.
I wonder if she's implicating Germany's growing Muslim population. I'm pretty sure that Anitfa could find plenty of Nazi sympathizers among those folks if they were interested.
That does not compute with the emotional thinkers. When I say thinkers I mean that loosely of course.
The incompatibility of migration from the Islamic world has been pointed out to the feminists, the trannies and the gays. None are concerned such is their hostility to normality. Anything that destroys it is in. Even if it means their own death. Queers for Palestine!
But those damn Christians will be the death of us all!!!!
They don’t appreciate the freedom they have here, Islam isn’t a loving religion but a religion of Conquer and Brutality. It has no desire to be inclusive.
They will find that out the hard way.
Nah, it's just meant as an insult against the "nazis" and "spiesser" who they imagine hate everything foreign. Using falafel-eater as as dogwhistle to mean Turks would horrify our Antifa friends.
I was hoping. Even fake protests attract an assortment of unapproved crazies and weirdos.
I have something to confess to all of you ... this is not easy ... I used to eat quiche.
…blocked…
😒
Excellent, incisive commentary PLUS field work! Thanks for this, 'gyp. Looks like bought-and-paid for protests (I think the kids today call it "astroturfed") seem to consistently attract (a) those out to make a few euros for their time; and (b) assorted crazies with their own pet agendas. Hence, a FAIL of the sort chronicled above. Do those pulling the strings actually think they are moving the needle of public opinion in the desired direction?
They don't care.
The point is mockery
And our brains are meant to be shock absorbers.
Precisely. Well said, Ryan.
It is to maintain the narrative for those who rely on the narrative. The midwits, for example. They get to see headlines, photos and Tik Tok videos all reinforcing their worldview, that the decent people are against the hard-right, that the AfD are extremists etc.
That's how propaganda works. It distorts reality. During Covid protests in London attracting huge numbers were written off as a few thousand or even a few hundred protestors. It reinforced the idea that those cowering at home were right to do so and virtually no one disagreed.
Great report. So many people, so few brain cells.
"Never have Nazis been in such great demand and such short supply."
Here in the US, we have the same shortage of KKK Members, John Birchers and their ilk that the left claims are the "Biggest threat to Our Democracy™", although I think their actual membership approaches 17 whole individuals nation-wide.
Without manufactured crises, where would the left be?
'Manufactured crises', Climate Change springs to mind, the biggest hoax of our era. While people worry about slight changes in the weather, vast numbers of fighting age males are smuggled into their countries...by their own governments.
And many remain indifferent even when you point it out. I do suspect there is truth in the observation that we have grown so soft only collapse, hardship and witnessing real violence will waken some people up.
Sadly, I agree. Far too many victims of the indoctrination that passes for education today lack the ability to separate the rhetoric from reality.
'lack the ability to separate the rhetoric from reality.'
Today, optics trumps reality. I'm having an…interesting discussion with some friends on my Facebook page about the Tucker/Putin interview. I had objected to calls to censor the event (despite my dislike of Tucker). One of my friends, disagreeing, described Tucker's career as 'he strains to stir anger, hatred and self righteous vitriol', and I pointed out that he could be describing almost any mainstream news outlet today, such as MSNBC. I'm nervously awaiting his reply, as he's a very dear friend. My friends are baffled because until recently I was one of them. Because of this, at least they're engaging in the discussion instead of just calling me names.
Wish I could say something heartening or useful.
I've done the exact same journey, though it was before "social media" was the Jagganatha is is today. It hurts, at first.
Then, it feels liberating.
Enjoy it while it lasts, or maybe your friends will prove more willing to listen than my former friends were. But mine listened for a while too, and then my heresies grew too numerous for them to abide any longer and I was cast out.
Why do you dislike Tucker?
The snotty little bow-tied Tucker of 25 years ago, sure, but have you watched him the last few years?
He's evolved intellectually at a breathtaking rate. And he deserves recognition for that; it's not easy to change and grow.
We could all stand to listen to his work, and make our own judgements, like adults.
I add the caveat mostly because I'm not a Tucker admirer, yet I still watch when he interviews someone interesting. Aside from a holdover prejudice from his takedown by Jon Stewart, my objections are purely ad hominem—his stupid expressions and whiny voice.
definitely!
I think COVID is the biggest hoax. Although I imagine climate change will be the longest lasting.
That's why they act like every red MAGA hat is a white pointy hood.
It's literally all that they have in their quiver.
Too bad for humanity that so many low-info types spoon it right up without question....
Twenty KKK. One old psycho, 3 85 IQ young guys, 7 embedded journalists and 9 various undercover lawmen. With the journalists and the lawmen supplying money and guns to the 4 actual KKKers.
My friends in Saxony are eagerly awaiting fresh elections, in the hope of seeing the despised greens sink below the 5% threshold.
They should sink even further, preferably below the placid waters of the river Elbe, the whole damn lot of them.
Well quite... but Saxons are patient and polite to a fault.
As I understand it, the Greens are largely responsible for Germany's increasing air pollution from new dirty coal fired plants, by closing clean nucular (credit to G. Bush) power plants. Also of course us blowing up the Nordsteam gas lines.
Hungary is now in the crosshairs:
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F04fa8c7c-0603-4b75-91b0-ecee840a81c3_1515x1525.png?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Wherever Samantha Powers or Victoria Nuland go trouble follows…BIG trouble.
Oh gosh those two are despicable. I met both of them at some fancy government award dinner about 25 years ago. Time flies and these hags are still around.
This sounds very much like the Christian revival tents we have in the southern US. Complete with slogan chanting, exhortations to expel the devil, manufactured drama, and everyone gathered around some barely charismatic speaker, addicted to feeling like they're part of something.
All cults etc. etc. That's one eternal truth fer shure.
Christians don't seek government funds nor spew hate. Unlike the false virtue of the antifa mob. Similar small groups, but very different aims. And, no, I don't like nazis anywhere, don't need to hate them, whether they are in streets or the Chinadian house of commons for some rare and sudden trudeauian applause.
I don't mean to denigrate Christianity in general. Still, some of its incarnations are better than others.
Would you rather your compatriots practice Christianity or Neo-Marxism? It's no contest.
Given the ultimatum the choice is obvious, but what's realistic is another matter. I suspect we won't end up with either, but something not yet imagined which will borrow heavily from what came before. I take seriously Ayaan Hirsi Ali's arguments in support of Christianity but I just don't think a third great awakening is tenable. Christian social structures are too heavily degraded, and I'm not just talking about wokeness. Most Christian communities I've observed are hypocritical, performative, inauthentic dilletantes. They're not the kind of Christians who built the Western world, not by a long shot. Besides, each sect has set fire to its own legitimacy in its own special way. That's excepting the Amish and, to a lesser extent, the Mormons. I'm sure there are a couple others I'm not aware of, but you get my meaning. There are those who argue that birth rates will lead to the dominance of those two, but we've seen time and time again how naive demography arguments fail to predict the future. And I don't think it's plausible that their influence would wipe out preexisting structures, that sort of thing doesn't really happen without killing a huge number of people. So I don't think we are going to return to Christianity, as such. I wouldn't mind being wrong, but that's my read on it.
Great points.
No, I don't think that America will become a Christian nation again, either, but I do notice that the Christians in my community tend to be innocuous, while the Leftists are always devising new ways to interfere with and worsen everybody's life.
There is absolutely something pseudo-religious about it. There is an imitation going on.
Where exactly does one find these Christian revival tents in contemporary America?
I think you're hallucinating, or living in the year 1890.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tent_revival
None of the links in the article suggested this is happening now in America. One was from Central America. One was from Africa, and not current. And the other was from decades ago. They might not be happening anymore.
There are two links in the references that were just before COVID... One link is broken but accessible through google
Your continued sacrifice on behalf of us, your grateful readers, is humbling.
It’s always’ the current thing’ to be outraged in support of, or against. The outrage is the key element in their thinking. They might call it passion. I call it being used by the government and or the media to promote or protest ‘the current thing’. Believe me, in 70 years I have seen it over and over again.
Turn that passion toward helping those affected by the current thing, or raise money for relief. Pick up a gun and fight alongside your comrades against ‘the enemy’. You get what I am saying by now. Virtue signaling comes at no cost and very little effort.
I think all meaning has been systematically drained from their lives so they mistake this pale affectation for passion.
Bingo.
I would venture, for these people, there's a strong quadrilateral valence of indolence, piosity, misery and inauthenticity that orbits a nucleus of acquiescence by the majority, in a culture where nihilism is a twisted virtue.
Where rational positions and words are allowed to offend someone, but the imposition itself gives the very same people a false sense of meaning to their lives.
That is sort of out of body because it requires others to feed the crazies center of gravity; to feel important for living in mom's basement and having no real sense of accomplishment.
Their accomplishment is to avoid accomplishment by virtue of either acceptance or encouragement externally, with no effort. They can remain in a safe "virtual reality" of a mental state, where the void is filled by being a net "taker".
They require this from without, because they lack a key to a healthy human mind and body: PURPOSE
They seek getting their essence tickled outside of their body, because in our culture, it's become acceptable to be a loser and joy kill.
Why do you think so many punks and "alternative" people used to use the slogan "No Future!"?
What you wrote in your first paragraph, that's why. If they weren't so obnoxious of manner and behaviour, I'd pity them since they need help - their spirits are sick and drained of life.
It's is akin to heroin addiction and depression, rolled up into one nifty easily marketable lifestyle-package.
Part of it, though, is the vulnerability of the young, whose pre-frontal cortex doesn't mature until their mid-twenties. I was just thinking last night about how I refused to go up in the St. Louis Arch, visiting at a friend's parents' house, because it was a monument to Manifest Destiny. The vaccine schedule in the US begins at birth, liability-free; kids get smart phones and devices really early as our species is so utterly confident in technology (might be the chipping of stone tools over millions of years, each innovation being salvific); they don't learn to read, or read fiction or board books, which teaches point of view, sentence structure, vocabulary, and here there was a craze to cancel recess (during which all sorts of skills are learned, not the least of which being somato-sensory-proprioceptive integration,) then the curriculum is dumbed down at best and indoctrinating at worst. Propaganda and advertising from every quarter immersing them. No education, no moral education, no civics education, no history and fear raining down from every venue. I was a complete gauche callow little idiot despite having learned to read and taking biology and civics and history. What chance do these kids have?
As a retired teacher, all I can say is yes, absolutely, to your reasoning on the development of the brain, reading, and so on.
In the city I used to work in, in the worst schools 1/3 of children with non-european origin (children born in Sweden, mind) finish nine years compulsory school unable to read even those free ad-riddled "newspapers" they have at bus-stops.
IQs have dropped 5 points among the 18 year old, measured year by year, starting with kids born in the early 1990s.
Cynthia, everything you wrote is really insightful, but I fear this has become a crutch or "cop out" in today's "conventional wisdom": "[W]hose pre-frontal cortex doesn't mature until their mid-twenties." Most people know right from wrong and have a moral compass before they even start elementary school. I think we must expect every individual to behave responsibly, regardless of age. I've noticed this "pre-frontal cortex" argument cropping up the last few years to justify and excuse all sorts of mischief and worse. I don't buy it. And if the argument is accepted, it should have all sorts of ramifications, such as: Why is anybody allowed to vote or get married before age 25?
So very well said. They are not part of any form of a solution and really have nothing to gain or lose either way things turn out.
Exactly! And thank you!
You are welcome.
Beautifully put. Really excellent.
I agree wholeheartedly. If the truth were known, I suspect a lack of meaning today in the lives of many is what drives much of this, many of the problems we now face.
Excellent observation.
I have another term for their "passion" of my own creation:
POUTRAGE.
Seems more fitting to me....
Ha! This is an excellent coinage. I like it. Poutrage; getting angry and then filming it with good lighting.
Yes! Great word!
You might have a market for t-shirts and baseball-caps.
Thanks! I hadn't thought of that angle, Hmmmm.....
Here's another one I coined just this week: "BIDEMENTIA".
What do you think?!?
Oh yeah! I can see it, not unlike the classic Coca Cola-logo.
"Feeling regrets? Anxious? Worried? Have a sip of BIDEMENTIA and relax!"
LOLOLOL!!!!!!! LOVE it!!!!!
excellent, goes well with crybully
good one
I like it.
Feel free to use it if you feel so inclined, as there is no copyright associated with it!
Thank you, that is the way I roll too.
Or, concentrate on leading your personal life responsibly and loving those around you. If we all got our own individual houses in order, most larger problems wouldn't even exist.
That is excellent advice and a great starting point for all of us.
Yes. This has become more and more clear to me as I enter middle age. And the Bible covers this front: "Take the beam out of your own eye, before you decry the mote in your neighbor's." That's a paraphrase, of course. But if individual Westerners kept their own personal affairs in order, everything would be going much more swimmingly in our countries.
I agree, get your own house in order first.