New Years Day in Portland, Oregon saw another outbreak of rioting, fire-bombing and looting, courtesy of Antifa. Mayor Ted Wheeler, who has commiserated with such “social justice” groups in the past, was unequivocal in his condemnation, wondering aloud “Why would a group of largely white, young and middle aged men destroy the livelihood of others who are struggling to get by?” Indeed he actually seemed to admit the incredible naivete of his previous tolerance of their behavior. “My good faith efforts at de-escalation have been met with ongoing violence and even scorn from radical antifa and anarchists.”
In the world bequeathed us by Marx, those in the Capitalist West who rage against the status quo are generally deemed to be Innocent if not Heroic. Wheeler, apparently disenchanted with that simplistic contention, would seem to have realized that Evil transcends the superficial categories espoused by the Left, indeed that one’s economic status, race, gender, sexual orientation, etc., tell us little about one’s quality as a human being. I pretend to know nothing of his “progressive” leanings but his stated intention of using the authority of the State [i.e., the police] to prevent any such further disruptions of the public peace would seem to be at least the first step on the road to the “conservative” principle that we need to judge all individuals not in the condescending terms of their status as the members of a particular group but in terms of the quality of their behavior as Intelligent, Volitional Beings.
Those in Portland given to violent dissent may perhaps want to move to Seattle where legislation is being considered which would grant special consideration to those whose criminal behavior seems to be a product of their poverty. Among the crimes to be granted such exemption: theft, assault, drug possession, indecent exposure, property destruction, etc. Good luck Seattle! Perhaps you can rival Chicago’s fatalities which, under Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot who rejected Trump’s offer to send in the military, increased from 491 in 2019 to 768 in 2020 with more than 4100 actual shooting victims! That this radical increase was at least in part the result of the Left’s denigration of the police after the shooting of George Floyd is perhaps the best example of its utter disconnect from the realities of Human Nature.