@FoxTail
Normally, I'd like to go into more detail with each of your points out of respect for your opinions. But there's so much to unpack, I just have to be brief and list my counterpoints.
1) Saying that the majority of hate is coming from the left ignores the fact that alt-right and fascist groups are also on the rise, and their hate isn't a byproduct of human nature -- it's baked into the ideology.
2) Our cities are not in nearly as much chaos as some on the right say. And what chaos there is might be justifiable given what the order there has looked like. Martin Luther King Jr. has been quoted as saying "a riot is the language of the unheard," and I tend to agree.
3) Militarization of radicals, again, ignores two things. First, right-wing radicals are much more militarized than left-wing groups. Even some moderate ring-wing people were showing up, with guns, at state capitols as a protest to COVID restrictions. The second thing is that, as far as militarization goes, the police are particularly egregious, and that would be a problem in the eyes of a group that doesn't believe the police have their best interests at heart.
4) As for the CHAZ enforcing their own laws -- would that not be ideal? I'm not saying the CHAZ was perfect at all, but aren't the people supposed to determine the laws governing them?
5) The acts of political violence you named are the acts of individual people. I don't support either of them, but I refer again to the MLK quote I have in #2; when people feel like they don't have a voice politically, violence becomes their only option. Whether or not you think they had other options, we need to ask why certain people feel the need to turn to violence.
6) I don't know what particular "extreme views" you're speaking against, but your criticism is based on the idea that "extreme = bad." And that's dependent on where you think the "moderate" views are, which, in reality, might not be so moderate to begin with.
7) The Democrats are not the radical left nor are the radical left the Democrats. Democrats have much more in common with Republicans than they do with the radical left. The Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, for example, has said that he doesn't support the Green New Deal, doesn't support defunding the police (let alone abolishing it), and has only mentioned "expanding Medicare coverage" (not even close to universal healthcare). The Democrats do not support the changes that the radical left are calling for. Why would they? The Democrats are one of the two most influential political groups in the United States right now. Why would they support any significant change if the system already grants them power?
8 ) Criticizing the left as being "Anti-American" is assuming that you both a) know what Americanism is and b) that Americanism is something worth protecting. Those two things may not be true.
9) Students are not taught a "left-wing mentality" in school. Students are taught to be independent, critical thinkers who should not just accept the way the world is as fact. If that leads to a more "left-wing mentality," then I don't have to say anything more.
10) Just because "most people" see something as true does not make it true. Propaganda can and has misled entire populations into thinking what is wrong is right, what is false is true, and vice versa. Just because a movement does not have the force of a majority does not make it less correct. Since you mention slavery (and I'll address the party thing too), most people used to think slavery was good or that it would end on its own. The abolitionists -- the people saying it was wrong to hold other human beings in bondage and that it had to end
immediately -- were a small "growing vocal group" at the time.
11) The Republican and Democratic parties are not immutable pillars of competing ideals. They change over time to maintain their support and power. I won't go into all the history behind the "party switch," but there's a reason white nationalists continue to support Donald Trump and not Joe Biden.
This is much more inflammatory than I would like, but, like I said, there was so much to unpack in your comment that I had to be terse. I hope you take these points into consideration, and I hope to see your counter-counterpoints.
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