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unhinged
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'vigilante thugs (right wing terrorists) save the interests of the power elites, as in the case of involving the nevada rancher who made war, in essence, on behalf of the corporations that seek to eradicate public ownership of land. these vigilantes revel in a demented hypermasculinity. they champion a racist nationalism and sexism. and they have huge megaphones on the airwaves, funded by the most retrograde forces in american capitalism. the gang violence in poor, urban neighborhoods in cities like chicago or detroit credentializes these vigilante groups and stokes the inchoate fear of blacks among whites that lies at the core of the gun culture and american vigilantism.
the raison d'être given by vigilante groups for the need to bear arms is that guns protect us from tyranny. guns keep us safe in our homes. guns are the bulwark of liberty. but history does not support this contention. the communist party during the rise of fascism in nazi germany did not lack for weapons. throughout the dictatorship of saddam hussein in iraq, citizens had assault weapons in their homes. during the war in yugoslavia, ak-47 assault rifles were almost as common in households as stoves. i watched in iraq and yugoslavia as heavily armed units encircled houses and those inside walked out with their hands in the air, leaving their assault rifles behind.
...and faced with the full weight of the US military, armed vigilante groups today will disband as well. the militias in nevada might have gotten the bureau of land management to back down, but they would have scattered like a flock of frightened crows if the government had sent in the 101st airborne.
the engine of vigilante violence is not fear of government. ti is the fear by white people of the black underclass and of the radicals who champion the cause of the oppressed. the black underclass has been enslaved, lynched, imprisoned, and impoverished for centuries. the white vigilantes do not acknowledge the reality of this oppression, but at the same time they are deeply worried about retribution directed against whites. guns, for this reason, are made easily available to white people, while gun ownership is largely criminalized for blacks. the hatred expressed by vigilante groups for people of color, along with jews and muslims, is matched by their hatred for the college-educated elite. the vigilantes see people of color, along with those who espouse the liberal social values of the college-educated elites, including gun_control , as contaminants to society.' - chris hedges
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171210
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