re: #25 suchislife

I don’t really know why this is always phrased like a lack of means and skill, when really it’s obviously a political decision not to rely on weapons do get your way in a democracy. If anyone on the left would have decided to “storm the castle” in this sense, how long would it have taken him to get a gun and to learn to shoot?

In general, the political left in this country put down the gun in the late 70’s and hasn’t picked it up since. Training in the use of arms and tactics is not currently a part of any sort of leftist demonstration of authenticity - except for a few loudmouths, leftists no longer use or advocate the use of lethal force. I’m a rightist, and I watch this kind of stuff, and whereas there may be the occasional isolated instance of the use of arms by a leftist for political purposes, the “cultural infrastructure” of the American left’s militancy no longer exists.

This means that, in general, instances of political violence are rare from the left, as they lack large numbers of members with training and familiarity with weaponry. (Note - in general, support for radical leftist causes is NOT strongly correlated with military or police service, the two main routes by which training in weapons and tactics is disseminated in the population. Note, too, that the end of the draft marked more or less the end of civilian familiarity with arms and tactics, another contributing cause, perhaps, for the decline in leftist militancy.)