Rob Murphy

I love the US and I have at least some understanding of it. And I didn't even vote for Trump, have never voted for him.

My brief explanation- people feeling downtrodden for years. Finally find someone from outside the system and elect Trump. Spend 4 years hearing his supporters they are racist and have white privilege, often from the very wealthy people in power. Watch Trump be attacked non-stop for 4 years. In the past year, lose their jobs, or watch their business be shut down and possibly looted/burned, with almost no one punished. Hear how people can march for BLM, but not for church or school or businesses to reopen. Watch incredible corruption, and the very rich get richer while the downtrodden get almost nothing. Try to re-elect Trump, for him to lose amidst at least somewhat credible accusations of fraud. Watch the media and big tech censor and mock them. After watching democrats fight Trump for 4 years, be lectured how the Trump supporters need to instantly fall in line with the Dems. They no longer believe the elections are legitimate and that there is no real way for the common man to have ANY influence over the government.

Add it all up, and I'm not surprised the pot finally boiled over. They feel government neither represents them nor protects them, so they feel no loyalty to it. Instead, they find a personality to be loyal to.

As JFK said:

典hose who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

That's my 2 cents. What does the history teacher or others think?

Jon, I suspect Rob will ignore your comment, which is what I should do. But I’ll send one and only one response since you asked a direct question. I think your comment reads like an apology for domestic terrorists and insurrectionists. These actions cannot be rationalized - and certainly not justified - based on generalized angst or some completely misguided and bastardized constitutional right. This was one of the darkest days in our country’s history.

You should not quote JFK after being an apologist for today’s anarchy.

Goodnight.

Wesley,

Trying to understand why something happened is not to excuse it or justify it. I condemn all violence, including the violent acts today. But if we do not try to understand the root of this and work through the underlying issues, it will only fester and worsen.

I believe if you truly try to understand why people act the way they do and see things from their perspective, we often find we would act the same way... or at least empathize. Labeling groups of people (especially large groups of people based on the actions of a very small minority) isn't helpful. But people aren't good at that distinction- how many Americans think all Muslims are terrorists, for example? Even in a country like Iraq, it's a very small portion of the population that uses violence.

Seek to understand and listen to all sides of a story, and let them feel understood. When people feel understood and that they have control over their lives, emotions normalize. Especially with something as drastic as what occurred today, we are missing an opportunity if we do not learn from it. Life is complicated, never straightforward. This was mob violence, similar to what occurred in many parts of the country this summer. There's been a lot of effort to understand the underlying issues from the summer (BLM, etc). Should we also not try to understand here?

Even the language we use can condemn- such as saying domestic terrorists, insurrectionists, or calling their complaints as completely misguided and bastardized. That's not language that will lead to understanding and open dialogue/resolution.

Not trying to stir up contention. Just trying to give perspective and invite people to open their mind, and the understand. I see it daily in my kids with their frustrations (which are very real to them, even if I think them trivial)- when I listen and they feel I understand their problems and they have some control over their lives, they are much happier and better behaved. Let's try that on a national scale.

Jon

Sorry for hijacking your blog, Rob.

Agreed, some people do feel downtrodden and left behind in life and so might identify with Trump, and that seems natural. But what is going on right now is not natural, It is like Trump has a cult following that he is whipping into a frenzy, purposefully. This isn't natural, and it's dangerous, and resulted in the assault on our Capitol and our democracy today.

Trump's contentious and continuous claims (both before and after the election) about rigged elections are the reason his followers think the election was stolen. This is the Illusory truth effect: if you repeat something enough, people will remember it and start to believe it, and will also think it is the popular opinion. Trump does this all the time - it's called perception management.

I'm a Republican, but don't think there is any credible evidence of massive election fraud (zero actually). I do think Trump has done a big disservice to our country with all his claims of fraudulent elections, hoaxes and witchhunts.

And I'm not super jazzed about Biden, but I applaud him for at least trying to work with the Republicans, our country has a lot of healing to do.

Yup- Strange times we live in. But I think Trump is the symptom, not the disease. People's dissatisfaction existed before they had Trump to follow. Cure the disease.

Excellent commentary on all sides. Some empathy is definitely needed.