By David Lee

Recently the NRA ran a commercial attacking protesters and others who have been critical of this nation, and in the commercial Dana Lash talked about taking the country back from the people working to create a truly empowering experience for all living in the country, and not just those with wealth and political power. The commercial stated that the police were the last line of defense in this war to repossess the country, but for whom are they going to repossess the country, and who are they going to take the country back from? First of all, the country does not just belong to those rooted in the white supremacist frame of reference; it actually belongs to all the people of this land, even those possessing views that do not align with the alt right. Next, the commercial implicitly advocated violence against the people protesting for the rights to live like decent human beings, and anyone with an ounce of objectivity knows that if the political left would have aired a commercial implying any sort of violence against the police, or the political right, that they would be in prison or worse as soon as that commercial was seen.

This theme of promoting violence on national television, or in social media communications – like Trump just did recently with his social media expressions against CNN – is considered to be a joke in rightwing political circles, but if you dare advocate any sort of violence against those creating policies that are detrimental to the average person living in this country, you’re going to be demonized on the highest possible level, although their policies are actually creating life-altering conditions for the people of this nation and beyond. These conditions take away vital services that people need to stay alive, and yet this is not a serious concern for either political party because rather than truly address these issues both parties are playing political tag. However, no demographic is more obsessed with fleecing the people of this nation than the alt right that is currently operating in the White House, their cronies in rightwing media circles and, within rightwing groups like the NRA. These are very dangerous people with tons of influence that is being used to promote violence and policies which would be criminal if applied to them.

It is funny because the use of violence against peaceful protestors fighting for justice is deemed to be okay, but the people cannot protect themselves against those acts of violence without being criminalized in the process. Nevertheless, this is considered to be justice, no matter how unjust these scenarios get. The alt right basically is given a free pass to commit acts of violence against the poor, or against those struggling for human rights in this country. I guess that Lady Justice is not really blind, and her sight is altered in the direction of those advocating white supremacy and capital supremacy that eliminates 95% of the country from sharing in the wealth of the nation, although it is the work and other services rendered or extracted from the 95% that allows those capital supremacists to live like royalty. Unfortunately, most of the issues that are viewed on news stations in reference to these issues are nothing more than red herrings used as magic tricks to hide the core concerns of the people. The violence of the police, military violence against innocent people throughout the globe, the poverty that creates conditions that are so unbearable that people risk their lives in search of a life beyond the insanity that they were born into is ignored, but even the suggestion of violence against those mounting attacks against the poor are considered to be the work of villains to be persecuted by the state. While the people of this nation are still waiting for the police to be held accountable for the acts of violence committed against them in the name of justice, or blind justice, the people are still being dealt a hand that is far from being fair. It has been made quite obvious that the police are aligned with the alt right community, so their actions come as no surprise to anyone looking at this situation from an objective standpoint.

Radical solutions are necessary if we wish to make the sort of changes that are required to create a truly just society. This is in no way to advocate violence because we cannot make progressive changes by using violence as a tool. Peaceful organizing is the way to beat those with the power, but this sort of organizing truly requires the type of unity that is still not present in our struggles. We cannot continue to discriminate against each other as we work towards bringing forth concrete political and economic changes. Religious, gender, racial, or any other sort of discrimination will not allow us to move in a new direction – an emergent direction. We must learn to see each other as human being deserving of respect and just treatment at all times, because how, in our right state of minds, do we ask others to treat us with respect and human dignity, if we cannot treat each other with the utmost respect? The types of supremacist mentalities that create hierarchies are dangerous and will eradicate any attempts at coalition building. Coalition building does not mean that we have to agree with each other in every facet of the struggle for freedom, rather we must understand that freedom means we can be different and still work with one another. The key component here is to move as far away from hierarchical style leadership as possible, and build collective-style leadership opportunities that do not discriminate based on gender, class, religious beliefs, race, or any other forms of discrimination. This does not mean that everyone will be allowed into these circles, as some will not connect with strategies designed to liberate human beings because they are rooted in benefiting from our oppression, and they will never truly believe in the possibilities of creating something different than what already exists.

If we look closely at the verbal attacks taking place against any source that is willing to be critical of the White House and the alt right fanatics in step with those in the leadership of their campaign, we can see a serious push for violence to quiet any voices of dissent. Even peaceful protesters are viewed as people to be attacked with violence or imprisonment, but they must be dealt with immediately. The freedom of speech farce is openly proven to be a dangerous illusion when you utter comments that do not fit within the accepted line of white supremacist reasoning that is now on national display. Speech, like every other aspect of life in this country, is only acceptable when you are speaking a language that is connected to maintaining current practices, and anyone foolish enough to believe otherwise will place themselves at great risk when attempting to exercise a right that does not actually exist. First Amendment rights do not apply to those speaking against their oppressors, especially when your oppressors are government officials and their corporate cronies.

It is vitally important that people learn how to defend themselves against violent attacks; however, much of those discussions must take place within private circles to protect various strategies that activists are planning to employ as they continue to struggle for the expansion of human rights in this country. The types of strategies that people employ should be based on the resources they have at their disposal and so they should organize locally to best achieve their goals. However, the sharing of information is necessary to exchange useful ideas with activists around the country. The main objective is to protect ourselves from the current alt right movement to further suppress the voices of dissent in this country, while we simultaneously work toward creating various avenues to liberate ourselves from the smiling faces of tyranny in positions of power pretending to be at work for the benefit of all the people of this country.