Echo

In the aftermath of the police murder of George Floyd, extreme leftist groups have captured the imagination of a mainstream media that largely shares their ideology. We watch and listen as groups like BLM and Antifa are provided with a platform to espouse their extremist views (without context, opposing commentary, or 'adult' pushback). They advocate or actually initiate:

• violent confrontation with the sole purpose of creating a video moment that they can use for propaganda;
• vandalism and property destruction with the intent of creating chaos
• looting that "confiscates" the work of evil capitalists;
• destruction of statues and other historical places that depict a history that they disapprove of (e.g., beheading a statue of Christopher Columbus);
• active censorship of articles and books that oppose their ideology;
• efforts to 'cancel' celebrities and academics who offer views that oppose their narrative;</li>
• <li>calls for the defunding of or abolishment of police;
• specious claims that our entire country is "systemically racist"
• juvenile and intellectually dishonest arguments that "privilege" is the primary cause of all societal problems

Any one of the items on this list demands aggressive and continuing condemnation and yet, virtually all prominent Democrats (and some Republicans) have remained largely silent—afraid that they will be accused of politically incorrect words or actions. 

The prevailing attitude seems to be that the extremists will burn themselves out—that by doing nothing, all of this insanity will just go away. 

It won't.

By doing nothing, by remaining silent, the strength of the leftists grows. Even now, Antifa has annexed a small section of Seattle, suggesting that the "autonomous zone" is no longer part of the United States. The media, active apologists for the leftists, has done relatively little reporting on this or has characterized it sympathetically, because they know it will not resonate well with voters. The progressive Democratic leadership of the city of Seattle and the state of Washington remain silent and paralyzed.

Far too many people believe the leftists are nothing more than spoiled children, empowered by a collection of cowardly "adults" who refuse to reign in their most extreme and violent tantrums. Maybe. But history indicates that over time these 'spoiled children' can become psychotic adults.

In May of 2019, I posted this while on a trip to SE Asia:

I’m in Siem Reap, Cambodia, home of Cambodia’s Holocaust Museum. It presents the horrifying story of the killing fields. Most Americans are vaguely aware of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, but what they often don’t know is that the Khmer Rouge were socialist extremists—virulently anti-capitalist, demonizers of the rich, guarantors of a state controlled utopia in which medical care, education, food and other creature comforts would be available to all, and lastly, redistributionists who stole property from those who had it and gave it to favored people (always members of the communist party). 

Human Remains from the Killing Fields

At the Khmer Rouge Museum, survivors’ testimony abounds. Like Yad Vashem in Israel or the US Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, the testimony is tragic in its description of barbaric acts of violence all perpetrated in the name of a repugnant ideology. Here’s the testimony of Leng Yun, a wife and mother whose family was murdered by the Khmer Rouge.

“[The Khmer Rouge] executed high ranking officers [military who opposed their communist ideology], rich people, proletariates, capitalists, and people who used to eat delicious food. [Because we owned a small shop] we were accused of being capitalists. “

To help the communist state, all of these people became slave labor, were starved, and when too weak to work as slaves, killed.

The modern-day Left appears to be very worried about language, expressing outrage whenever someone says anything that they find offensive. Yet in the United States we’re hearing echos of the anti-capitalist, eat-the-rich language that is the staple of all socialists, including the Khmer Rouge.

“The rich don’t pay their fair share." 

“Billionaires are immoral."

“Capitalism is an evil."

"Those who oppose us are deniers."

Echos of these same sentiments were used by a group that ultimately killed millions.

To be clear, modern-day Democratic Socialists who use such language are NOT the Khmer Rouge. But the echo remains, and although it’s faint, it could grow in volume and lead to very bad things.

The echo has gotten louder over the past two weeks.