Why Are So Many White People Angry And Prone To Both Far-right And Far-left Extremism?

[Funtimez12]

That’s not presenting itself as an anti-white statement. That’s sounding more like you should experience what others have. To understand their plight. I’m not understanding how you’re associating this with libertarianism. Sounds like you’re assuming based on the talking points. What indication did you get that these people were liberals ? You don’t believe that conservatives could engage in a conversation such as that ? Even the other comment you referenced sounds more like the person could have simply be referring to themselves and not the belief that white people were undesirable to anyone.

Ok buddy, just for you I went and got the quote. “We are not even trying to make a change because it (racism) doesn’t affect us. So sometimes I think we (white people) need to be taken to the plantation. We need to be the ones picking cotton before we understand what we are still doing. Slavery was never abolished we just changed the game”. So there it is. Now if you wanna take that as her saying let’s try to understand how black people feel thats fine. I wouldn’t have said it that way. I would never suggest Germans starve and gas themselves to understand what’s Jewish people went through. The fact that she suggested they do that for what’s STILL happening confused me. She didnt say let’s get beat by the cops or yelled at by a Karen or denied a job she’s qualified for (which are things that are actually still happening) she in so many words said they should be treated like slaves. Now do think she’d actually volunteer for that? No. I don’t think she’d give up her cable tv let alone pick cotton on a hot summer day (as if that’s the only atrocity that they experienced). But Those were her words. As far as the other comments you only have assumptions of what it might be. I have the experience of what it actually was. I can tell you want my experience to fit your narrative but it doesn’t. But my experience doesn’t negate the fact that there’s level headed liberals out there. This thread is about extremism. Not everyday people. But I have heard white liberals who I certainly don’t consider to be extremist say self deprecating things while discussing race. If you can’t accept that I’m sorry. But I accept what you’re saying (or what I believe you’re trying to say) and agree that not all white liberals hate themselves.

 

[Nigel Atkinson]

Ok buddy, just for you I went and got the quote. “We are not even trying to make a change because it (racism) doesn’t affect us. So sometimes I think we (white people) need to be taken to the plantation. We need to be the ones picking cotton before we understand what we are still doing. Slavery was never abolished we just changed the game”. So there it is. Now if you wanna take that as her saying let’s try to understand how black people feel thats fine. I wouldn’t have said it that way. I would never suggest Germans starve and gas themselves to understand what’s Jewish people went through. The fact that she suggested they do that for what’s STILL happening confused me. She didnt say let’s get beat by the cops or yelled at by a Karen or denied a job she’s qualified for (which are things that are actually still happening) she in so many words said they should be treated like slaves. Now do think she’d actually volunteer for that? No. I don’t think she’d give up her cable tv let alone pick cotton on a hot summer day (as if that’s the only atrocity that they experienced). But Those were her words. As far as the other comments you only have assumptions of what it might be. I have the experience of what it actually was. I can tell you want my experience to fit your narrative but it doesn’t. But my experience doesn’t negate the fact that there’s level headed liberals out there. This thread is about extremism. Not everyday people. But I have heard white liberals who I certainly don’t consider to be extremist say self deprecating things while discussing race. If you can’t accept that I’m sorry. But I accept what you’re saying (or what I believe you’re trying to say) and agree that not all white liberals hate themselves.

Yeah, that’s exactly what I thought it was. She’s generally just saying that you have to walk a mile in someone’s else’s shoes to understand their plight. You’re talking that too literal. I think you’re simply misunderstanding what you’ve heard.

 

[Funtimez12]

Yeah, that’s exactly what I thought it was. She’s generally just saying that you have to walk a mile in someone’s else’s shoes to understand their plight. You’re talking that too literal. I think you’re simply misunderstanding what you’ve heard.

Completely possible. My thing is since she knows she and nobody else is gonna do that, and if push came to shove she wouldn’t advocate for that, why say it? Why not say lets use common sense and compassion and stand with our black brothers and sisters. Maybe she did it for emphasis. The stuff she was saying before (it was way too long of a quote so i posted what was important) made her sound pretty serious. You can watch it and judge for yourself. But these days things that are said in jest are taken pretty seriously so maybe I’m reacting to the times we’re in. But I hear u bro. It’s a world of crazy racial tension and we all gotta be careful of what we say and how we perceive what we hear.

 

[Nigel Atkinson]

Completely possible. My thing is since she knows she and nobody else is gonna do that, and if push came to shove she wouldn’t advocate for that, why say it? Why not say lets use common sense and compassion and stand with our black brothers and sisters. Maybe she did it for emphasis. The stuff she was saying before (it was way too long of a quote so i posted what was important) made her sound pretty serious. You can watch it and judge for yourself. But these days things that are said in jest are taken pretty seriously so maybe I’m reacting to the times we’re in. But I hear u bro. It’s a world of crazy racial tension and we all gotta be careful of what we say and how we perceive what we hear.

Yeah, she said it to emphasize her point on white people doing better and treating others fairly. I do that sometimes myself and I can understand the confusion it can cause for some people.

 

[Funtimez12]

Yeah, she said it to emphasize her point on white people doing better and treating others fairly. I do that sometimes myself and I can understand the confusion it can cause for some people.

Well thanks for the clarity. Going forward I’ll do my best to balance being mindful of what i and others say vs the fly away comments in everyday conversations. When discussing race I think the being mindful part dominates for most people but if we’re all walking on pins and needles to begin with it can put a haze over how u perceive things.

 

[Klingsor]

Wow . . . a little bit of understanding and meeting of minds.

It really IS the end of the world!

 

[bigpecs8]

How is what I stated not a fact? It's a fact that most domestic terrorists below to the far-right and that white nationalists are currently this country's biggest terrorist threat. Statistics support this. Read this article: Far-Right Groups Are Behind Most U.S. Terrorist Attacks, Report Finds

Also, @dreamer20 I know you're a leftist (even though it appears from some of your comments that you're also anti-semitic), so why did you "like" his comment calling into question the fact that most domestic terrorists belong to the far-right? Is it because you just don't like me?

I'm certain that what you have posted you believe to be factual and truthful. But that's just not the case. And, no, I'm not wasting my time trying to read some article written by someone and published by someone else espousing some line of crapola that is supportive of whatever line of bullshit that's on today's bill of fare.
5,000 posts? 8,000 posts? 10,000 posts? Are you people nuts? Even if you were Alan Dershowitz, I can't imagine you going beyond maybe 200 to 300 posts over years of these social media forums. But 10,000? Do you people have a life or what? It would, indeed, be astonishing if I made 20 or 25 posts on all the social media forums of which I are able to post. Combined. Lifetime. How in the Hell does anyone have the time to make, write, read, think about 10,000 posts? Suggestion: go to the beach. Read a book. Watch something on Netflix. But put this OCD behavior to bed. Rant concluded.

 

[BussyPhilipps]

I'm certain that what you have posted you believe to be factual and truthful. But that's just not the case. And, no, I'm not wasting my time trying to read some article written by someone and published by someone else espousing some line of crapola that is supportive of whatever line of bullshit that's on today's bill of fare.
5,000 posts? 8,000 posts? 10,000 posts? Are you people nuts? Even if you were Alan Dershowitz, I can't imagine you going beyond maybe 200 to 300 posts over years of these social media forums. But 10,000? Do you people have a life or what? It would, indeed, be astonishing if I made 20 or 25 posts on all the social media forums of which I are able to post. Combined. Lifetime. How in the Hell does anyone have the time to make, write, read, think about 10,000 posts? Suggestion: go to the beach. Read a book. Watch something on Netflix. But put this OCD behavior to bed. Rant concluded.

Why won't you read the article? It's a New York Times article about a report done on the subject. The report analyzed statistics. Statistics are facts.

Also, why are you criticizing the number of posts some of us have made on this site? Many of us have been members of this site for years. Lots of people regularly comment on blogs and sites that they like. How old are you? Maybe it's a generational thing. Older generations seem less likely to comment online. Btw, you've only been on this site for a month and a half, yet you've already made four posts, so you'll be at 20 or 25 posts before you know it.

 

[BussyPhilipps]

You’ve actually heard white people say “fuck white people” ? I find that hard to believe. What do you generally consider down talk besides what you’ve mentioned ?

I've actually heard white people say this. I lived in NYC, and I heard several young white college-aged kids repeatedly say "white people are the worst," and not sarcastically. One of them identified as a communist and believed all of the women and children who died in the Russian revolution deserved their deaths because they were privileged and elitist brats. I couldn't believe what was coming out of his mouth, how someone could justify the murder of children just because they were born into wealth and/or nobility.

 

[GS_PL]

I feel far left extremism is nearly non-existent. For every 250,000 guys who say Trump really won, guns are the root of everything American, and Jesus rules, there's only 1 guy who loves to play the pan flute, apples are the root of everything American, and yoga rules. My utopia has this statistic the complete other way around.

 

[BussyPhilipps]

As a 'far left white' myself, let me help you understand!

First, my support for BLM isn't about 'white guilt'. My family is poor, protestant Irish trash from way back. We can trace our ancestry to the flood of immigrant labor that settled in the Appalachians. We have ancestors who were indentured servants, and who fought on both sides of the Civil War. None of my ancestors owned slaves, though. So why should I care about slavery or reparations? Because people alive today are descended from people who were mistreated for no reason other than the color of their skin. Because the systems I benefit from, as a white man, are DEEPLY racist in structure and execution. Because today, a poor black man still gets arrested and his life and family get destroyed over an offense a rich white boy gets a slap on the wrist for. Because police assume violence and respond accordingly when there is any melanin in a crowd, but shrug and do nothing for a white crowd. Because black men and women are murdered by cops who should know better. Because black voters are STILL being disenfranchised by white 'conservatives' I care because real people are being harmed by our cultures continued refusal to look at ourselves and accept responsibility for 'our' part in this.

Next, my support for queer issues is personal. I have several queer family members, and am, myself, queer. So my support for LGBTQ+ issues stems from personal connections to, and an understanding of, the REALITY of queer issues.

Additionally, my support for choice, autonomy and women's health issues comes from several places. I myself have been, and people I know and love have been raped, and not been taken seriously by law enforcement and family. I have family members who have had abortions, for various reasons from rape to health issues to simple poor timing. I have educated myself on issues concerning autonomy, choice, and women's health and how poorly medicine in America tackles the subject (to say nothing of media or government) because the women in my life are important to me.

I care about racial justice, queer rights, women's rights, education, the environment, health care...because those issue MATTER. It isnt some 'woke' performance of guilt. It isnt about hating myself. It's about wanting to make sure the world is safer and better for future generations. It's about being willing to sacrifice my comforting ignorance in order to do my part in making sure that my ignorance doesn't infect future generations. It's about empathy. Thinking how it would feel to be in the shoes of another.

Is some left wing wholeness performative? Absolutely. But that doesn't make the concepts they talk about less real. If you can't understand that, then...maybe you need to do some real soul searching.

Are you far left, though? Are you an anarchist who believes in abolishing the police and prisons rather than making reasonable reforms such as removing guns from most cops (like in Britain and other countries), using social workers and EMTs to respond to mental health crises and drug overdoses, requiring much more de-escalation and racial bias training, greatly increasing the number of female cops (female cops are shown to be much less likely to use excessive force, yet less than 20% of cops are women), and greatly reducing the number of people incarcerated for drug use and other non-violent crimes? Those are all things that have yet to be done, yet some crazy and irrational people want to abolish police and prisons because they have "All or Nothing Thinking," which Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) will tell you is a type of cognitive distortion.

Do you want to completely get rid of capitalism, or do you think the U.S. should take the more reasonable approach of instituting more socialist policies and programs so that we have the best of both capitalism and socialism, such as in the Nordic countries? Lots of people in the U.S. have the wrong impression that the Nordic countries are socialist, when they're actually a healthy mix of socialism and capitalism. They have more labor unions and a much better welfare state, but they still have capitalism. True socialism would mean no one could own their own property or own their own business. People should be allowed to start their own businesses and do what they want with them, and people should also be able to have their own property and do what they want with it.

I know that Antifa isn't really organized or centralized, but are you ok with people who identify as Antifa (most of them white) burning and destroying small businesses in Portland, Oregon (I linked to an article about it earlier in this thread) and other cities, even though many of those businesses don't have insurance and were already struggling due to the pandemic? Are you ok with them hurting innocent people like that?

I've had years of CBT, so I have pretty nuanced opinions and views on things because I've spent a lot of time trying to break the habit of All or Nothing Thinking. People on the far left (just like on the far right) tend to be very black or white in their thinking. They're always wanting to abolish and get rid of things rather than trying to make reasonable reforms that haven't even been attempted yet. They like to throw the baby out with the bath water.

People like Glenn Greenwald are a perfect example of the horseshoe theory, that the far left and the far right have a lot more in common they they like to admit. He used to be a paragon of progressives and the far left (and I've seen some still defend him), but now he has aligned himself with people on the far right, and has recently called Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon and Trump (version 2016) "true socialists." The reason he was able to make the switch so easily is because the far left and the far right have several core commonalities, three of them being that they're both anti-establishment, they both believe the end justifies the means, and they both don't believe in compromise. Both the far left and the far right have very All or Nothing "My way or the highway" thinking. It's toxic, irrational and not conducive to civil discourse.

 

[BussyPhilipps]

I feel far left extremism is nearly non-existent. For every 250,000 guys who say Trump really won, guns are the root of everything American, and Jesus rules, there's only 1 guy who loves to play the pan flute, apples are the root of everything American, and yoga rules. My utopia has this statistic the complete other way around.

Far-left extremism isn't as much of a problem as far-right extremism, but it does exist. Clearly you haven't read about the far-left anarchists in Portland, Oregon and other cities who have burned and destroyed small businesses, many of which didn't have insurance and were already struggling due to the pandemic. These mostly white anarchists have tried to co-opt the BLM movement for their own purposes: In America’s whitest city, Black activists struggle to separate themselves from anarchists

 

[BussyPhilipps]

Remember when that far-left Antifa member shot and killed that far-right Trump supporter in Portland, Oregon last year and then the Antifa guy was later shot and killed by police? Now, the circumstances around the Antifa guy's death at the hands of police were controversial, and it would have been better had they just arrested him, but my honest to God reaction to hearing that both he and the Trump supporter were dead was, "Good riddance to both of them. Two less crazies in the world." The Antifa guy claimed he had been acting in self-defense, but the bottom line is that neither he nor the Trump supporter should have had guns on them or any type of weapon for that matter. Neither of them were peaceful protestors. Both were violent nut jobs, and both were white men.

Killings of Aaron Danielson and Michael Reinoehl - Wikipedia

 

[Industrialsize]

Remember when that far-left Antifa member shot and killed that far-right Trump supporter in Portland, Oregon last year and then the Antifa guy was later shot and killed by police? Now, the circumstances around the Antifa guy's death at the hands of police were controversial, and it would have been better had they just arrested him, but my honest to God reaction to hearing that both he and the Trump supporter were dead was, "Good riddance to both of them. Two less crazies in the world." The Antifa guy claimed he had been acting in self-defense, but the bottom line is that neither he nor the Trump supporter should have had guns on them or any type of weapon for that matter. Neither of them were peaceful protestors. Both were violent nut jobs, and both were white men.

Killings of Aaron Danielson and Michael Reinoehl - Wikipedia

So, you're for extra-judicial execution?

 

[bigpecs8]

Why won't you read the article? It's a New York Times article about a report done on the subject. The report analyzed statistics. Statistics are facts.

Also, why are you criticizing the number of posts some of us have made on this site? Many of us have been members of this site for years. Lots of people regularly comment on blogs and sites that they like. How old are you? Maybe it's a generational thing. Older generations seem less likely to comment online. Btw, you've only been on this site for a month and a half, yet you've already made four posts, so you'll be at 20 or 25 posts before you know it.

(Can't stop laughing.) You misinterpret, mon ami. I'm not being critical - I'm simply astonished. Very astonished. Maybe there's something wrong w/the calculus and a 'Like' is considered a post. Don't know. NY Times? Anything - repeat, anything - written by the NY Times, I refuse to believe. Let me make that a wee bit stronger. I consider the NY Times, the LA Times and most of TV/Cable news to be untruthful. Why would I want to read anything written by a pack of liars and charlatans? (To think I knew someone in the Ochs family. ) With age comes wisdom, (Read "Lost Horizon".) so I'm old enough to know that 10.000+ posts by any one person is laughable. There would be, as always, some exceptions but, nevertheless, any number of posts equal to or larger than the calories in a Big Mac, are, by base logic, just not worth reading.

 

[JackWesterJr]

I am a white older dad and not angry.

 

[Jamesishuge]

Well, I just wanted to say that I'm a content, generally happy and satisfied white man who loves his neighbors and his country (Canada).
As a polite neighbor and friend america, I would never presume to judge how they govern themselves or disparage someone for their american politics.
I WILL admit that the previous four years I was addicted to american news and needed my dose each night before going to bed it was all so captivating and plus I wanted to know if america was going to invade for our oil sands or declare us a national security risk (which they did, to ban our aluminium and steel imports to US)...you know just in case. I'm currently in recovery from my american political news addiction. One day at a time.
Peace and love,
James IS CANADIAN

 

[malakos]

One of them identified as a communist and believed all of the women and children who died in the Russian revolution deserved their deaths because they were privileged and elitist brats. I couldn't believe what was coming out of his mouth, how someone could justify the murder of children just because they were born into wealth and/or nobility.

I question your interpretation of what this young man was doing in several respects. Most relevant for this thread is that you are presenting it as related to race. Justifying brutal violence against the ruling class is not apparently about race, especially if the person you're hearing it from is a genuine Communist.

 

[Industrialsize]

(Can't stop laughing.) You misinterpret, mon ami. I'm not being critical - I'm simply astonished. Very astonished. Maybe there's something wrong w/the calculus and a 'Like' is considered a post. Don't know. NY Times? Anything - repeat, anything - written by the NY Times, I refuse to believe. Let me make that a wee bit stronger. I consider the NY Times, the LA Times and most of TV/Cable news to be untruthful. Why would I want to read anything written by a pack of liars and charlatans? (To think I knew someone in the Ochs family. ) With age comes wisdom, (Read "Lost Horizon".) so I'm old enough to know that 10.000+ posts by any one person is laughable. There would be, as always, some exceptions but, nevertheless, any number of posts equal to or larger than the calories in a Big Mac, are, by base logic, just not worth reading.

I have over 20,000 posts. Do you have a problem with that? So, what sources do you peruse to get your news? Look out the window?

 

[seventiesdemon]

As a white person myself, I’ve noticed that during Trump’s presidency, quite a few white people gravitated to either the far-right or the far-left. It’s like all the crazies came out of the woodwork.

I want to make it clear that I’m not making a false-equivalency between neo-Nazis and people who identify as ANTIFA, as I realize most domestic terrorists belong to the far-right and white nationalist terrorism is currently more of a threat than ANTIFA or anarchists. However, a common denominator between both groups is that most of the people are white, whether it’s the insurrectionists at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6th, or the ANTIFA anarchists vandalizing/destroying Democratic Party offices, federal buildings, police stations and small businesses in places like Portland and Seattle.

Not to mention most mass-shooters are white too.

So what makes white people, especially white men, particularly prone to violence and extremism, both on the left and right? Why are white people causing so much trouble?

Yes..............why is that? How come no other nation on earth has never invaded it's neighbour...............ever ? The Emperors of China must have built that huge wall to protect themselves from white humans and not from Mongolian Warlords. Does building walls remind you of East and West after WW2 ? Or of Donald Trump? Race has nothing to do with it.....It is HUMAN greed, want and hate.

The Mayans must have built huge cities and walls, pyramids, to protect themselves a thousand years later from the Spaniards. The Egyptians..mixed race... were so afraid of whites...they built the largest structures know to man of that time, walls and protection...................

HUMANS...........please stop placing humans in a 'Race' Do a little bit of actual factual research on the human race. Stop racialising humans, we all bleed red, all have the same emotional responses. Just stop it.

Why did the HUMAN race migrate across the planet? To escape greed and hatred of one another, survival. Race or colour had nothing to do with it..............it followed us everywhere we went.