Name:   copperline - Subject:   the influence of political beliefs on violence Date:   2/12/2013 9:58:11 PM

Just wanted to post a link to an article about violence in the US studied  by categories like left- or right-wing,   so called “single issue” terrorists acts and the “lone wolf” killers…. for anybody that is interested. 

http://www.cfr.org/terrorist-organizations/militant-extremists-united-states/p9236#p7

it’s a bit long-winded, but contains several striking points… ( there’s a detour into how the government defines “violent extremism” and coordinates domestic terrorism policy).    

iMHO, we seemed to have politicized many incidents of impulsive violence in that since 9/11 … it seems that we are now trying to see political meaning in any act of crazy violence that makes the headlines.   Surely we should all be concerned about increasing violence, but are we going anywhere by arguing about the political leanings of people who are simply acting out some revenge fantasy or paranoid delusion?    if i really wanted to understand what would make an individual commit a violent act, but i don’t think i would waste much time thinking about who they voted for in the last election.   Beyond some context, most of the time whatever ‘political statement’ is made by the shooter is just their rationalization…. A self-serving narrative designed to justify their behavior, or just a sound-byte provided by the media.

i think the ‘drivers’ of  violent behavior are more likely to be closer to home than that… like having a really poor grip on reality or a fragile personality that can’t take failure/rejection/humiliation.     in the end, i’d bet that the individual ‘mental world’ of violent people is remarkably similar… no matter what their political beliefs.   Violence is violence.   And it really doesn’t’ matter to me what kind of politics a person has, when they become dangerous they are apolitical.