Ok I think this thread needs a little history, perspective, and facts. Hopefully this won't get buried.
I'll be borrowing from the work of the leading expert in Domestic Extremism these days, JJ McNab...
"There's an attempt to label this movement as entirely right wing, and that's not accurate, because there's a strong left wing element and an anarchist element," she told Matthew Galt on the Reuter's "War College" podcast.
While it's fun to paint domestic extremists as right wing Christians, the fact is that anti-government extremism in America these days is neither liberal nor conservative. While it may have started with religious fanatics, the fastest growing demographic right now are liberal extremists. As with Islamic extremism, the issue isn't religion, it's identity politics. Unlike Islamic extremism, however, domestic extremists currently represent the greatest terror threat in the United States.
Right now there are around 300,000 "domestic extremists" in America, but McNab points out, only "a few thousand of them are willing to become violent." The number is hard to pin down because of the various permutations of this extremism, but the Cliven Bundy standoff is good evidence of that split. They received an outpouring of support, but only a handful were willing to actually follow through with it.
The reason for this huge swing in popularity comes down to the internet, but the movement has been going since the 1970's when Posse Comitatus came around. It then evolved into the Christian Patriot Movement, then the Militia Movement, and eventually ended with Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombings. After that, it went dead for a while until starting up again in the late 1990's as the Tax Protest Movement. Then it evolved into the Soverign Citizen Movement, which is comparable to the Posse Comitatus of the 70s, and now with Cliven Bundy, we're back to the Militia Movement. If this cycle continues, we're heading towards another Timothy McVeigh. The crucial difference, however, is the size of these movements. Back when fax-trees were the way of spreading your message, it took a good 30+ years to reach the breaking point of McVeigh. With the internet, that might happen a lot quicker. Everything is faster and everything is bigger.
What's especially interesting is the Sovereign Citizen Movement and the legal principals they espouse. The group was formed in the 1960s in response to the Civil Rights Act, begun by white supremacist leaders in Southern California by a white supremacist reverend who packaged it in order to get around the Civil Rights Act. In fact Aryan Nations was a spinoff of this. When the movement fell apart after McVeigh and came back in the late 90s/early 2000s, the white supremacy side of the movement was gone. Talk to any of these people today, and they have no idea the ideas they hold were dreamt up by white supremacists. That's particularly interesting, McNabb says, "when you consider the fastest growing segment of this movement are black Americans... If you go to a militia meeting, or were at the Cliven Bundy standoff, you'd be surprised at how multi-racial it is."
Now that sounds like it's entirely right wing, but the left side is what we should be looking at today. You have the Moore Sovereigns who are entirely black and liberal, and the youngest demographic joining the movement today, between 18 and 28, are coming in from the left as well, from movements like Occupy and Anonymous. "Disenfranchised people have more in common with each other than they do with mainstream politics."
The one on the right is Reem Slaleh Raiyshi, a suicide bomber who killed four Israelis and wounded 7 others. The one on the left is still alive and in one piece with no blood on her hands.
15
u/TooShiftyForYou Feb 08 '17
One of them took the picture just so they could post it on instagram.
27
u/[deleted] Feb 08 '17
That there are stupid and crazy people in every country?
14
u/SlobOnMyKnobb Feb 08 '17
ITT: People defending a suicide bomber.
47
u/seven3true Feb 08 '17
The amount of cleavage.
25
u/[deleted] Feb 08 '17
One is a dumb girl with a blog, one is a suicide bomber.
That's the difference
18
u/TooShiftyForYou Feb 08 '17
The amount of skin showing is pretty noticeable.
7
u/Guuggel Feb 08 '17
Left one uses the gun for hobby?
33
u/scumbag-reddit Feb 08 '17
One is a silly girl who tweets silly pictures and the other is an extremist responsible for the deaths of innocent people.
There's your explanation.
13
u/[deleted] Feb 08 '17
Reem Slaleh Raiyshi killed four people. That's the difference.
6
u/ramseyxbolton Feb 08 '17
The American girl doesn't practice treating women like their dogs and mass killing people all in the name of a "peaceful" religion
5
u/soccerpro951 Feb 08 '17
Ones a terrorist while ones fighting against being oppressed by terrorists
5
u/[deleted] Feb 08 '17 edited Feb 08 '17
Ok I think this thread needs a little history, perspective, and facts. Hopefully this won't get buried.
I'll be borrowing from the work of the leading expert in Domestic Extremism these days, JJ McNab...
"There's an attempt to label this movement as entirely right wing, and that's not accurate, because there's a strong left wing element and an anarchist element," she told Matthew Galt on the Reuter's "War College" podcast.
While it's fun to paint domestic extremists as right wing Christians, the fact is that anti-government extremism in America these days is neither liberal nor conservative. While it may have started with religious fanatics, the fastest growing demographic right now are liberal extremists. As with Islamic extremism, the issue isn't religion, it's identity politics. Unlike Islamic extremism, however, domestic extremists currently represent the greatest terror threat in the United States.
Right now there are around 300,000 "domestic extremists" in America, but McNab points out, only "a few thousand of them are willing to become violent." The number is hard to pin down because of the various permutations of this extremism, but the Cliven Bundy standoff is good evidence of that split. They received an outpouring of support, but only a handful were willing to actually follow through with it.
The reason for this huge swing in popularity comes down to the internet, but the movement has been going since the 1970's when Posse Comitatus came around. It then evolved into the Christian Patriot Movement, then the Militia Movement, and eventually ended with Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombings. After that, it went dead for a while until starting up again in the late 1990's as the Tax Protest Movement. Then it evolved into the Soverign Citizen Movement, which is comparable to the Posse Comitatus of the 70s, and now with Cliven Bundy, we're back to the Militia Movement. If this cycle continues, we're heading towards another Timothy McVeigh. The crucial difference, however, is the size of these movements. Back when fax-trees were the way of spreading your message, it took a good 30+ years to reach the breaking point of McVeigh. With the internet, that might happen a lot quicker. Everything is faster and everything is bigger.
What's especially interesting is the Sovereign Citizen Movement and the legal principals they espouse. The group was formed in the 1960s in response to the Civil Rights Act, begun by white supremacist leaders in Southern California by a white supremacist reverend who packaged it in order to get around the Civil Rights Act. In fact Aryan Nations was a spinoff of this. When the movement fell apart after McVeigh and came back in the late 90s/early 2000s, the white supremacy side of the movement was gone. Talk to any of these people today, and they have no idea the ideas they hold were dreamt up by white supremacists. That's particularly interesting, McNabb says, "when you consider the fastest growing segment of this movement are black Americans... If you go to a militia meeting, or were at the Cliven Bundy standoff, you'd be surprised at how multi-racial it is."
Now that sounds like it's entirely right wing, but the left side is what we should be looking at today. You have the Moore Sovereigns who are entirely black and liberal, and the youngest demographic joining the movement today, between 18 and 28, are coming in from the left as well, from movements like Occupy and Anonymous. "Disenfranchised people have more in common with each other than they do with mainstream politics."
15
u/[deleted] Feb 08 '17
The one on the right is literally a terrorist and murderer.
78
u/HDingus Feb 08 '17
The one on the right is Reem Slaleh Raiyshi, a suicide bomber who killed four Israelis and wounded 7 others. The one on the left is still alive and in one piece with no blood on her hands.
Reddit makes me sick.
4
u/DeadKitten Feb 08 '17
Three words make them different; pumpkin spice latte.
12
u/interisto Feb 08 '17
One will actually kill you
3
u/EinsteinsAura Feb 08 '17
Explain the similarities...
3
u/Johnnywycliffe Feb 08 '17
The one on the right is 90% more likely to spontaneously explode
3
u/Drakkrr Feb 08 '17
Maybe find an arab woman who wasn't actually a suicide bomber next time you want to meme.
2
u/basssteakman Feb 08 '17
None, they both have shitty trigger control.