When is political violence justified?

[Anomalocaris]

I used to shoot people for $8.27/day. I didn't feel it was political. They were shooting at me, so it was personal.

The key to power to make what is to you but political into something personal for your minions.

[Anomalocaris]

Strong rhetoric and protest - always
Civil disobedience - always
Property damage - rarely
Political violence - rarely
Outright terrorism - never

What is outright terrorism to one is heroic decisiveness to another.   The boundary between each of these is artificial and usually finely crafted in each circumstances to give one’s own side a perceived moral advantage.

[Aegon]

Do you think violence against innocent parties (terrorism) is ever justified to obtain political goals?

Or do you stop short, and only think assassination of, or violence towards, direct political targets is justifiable?

I don't think acts of terrorism that are intended to kill innocent people is ever justified.

Violence towards specific political targets, I think, is much more easily justified. Frankly, any political ideology that propagates genocide needs to be dealt with swiftly. Fuck the whole "we have tolerate everyone even the intolerant" nonsense, a Nazi needs a bullet in the head ASAP before the ideology spreads too far.  

Of course, things get complicated when you have American conservatives who believe that mask mandates are a form of Nazi punishment, or American liberals who believe Trump is a fascist on par with Hitler. Such severe misunderstandings make it more difficult to see when political violence is justified.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Rabble rousers are fun to watch.


Until they storm the Bastille.  

If storming or bastille didn’t happen from time to time we would still be living in chiefdoms

Storming = rioting. Le Bastille was a prison in Paris.

[Anomalocaris]

i know exactly what it is.  some people would like to pretend it is nothing more than a isolated riot, but in fact it is just one of many expression of a broad based violent reaction to long entrenched social, and economic structure that is widely perceived to have iniquitously denied upward mobility to large segments of society.

Think of it as a particularly noted hurricane in a period of extreme global warming.   Whether the person tries to pretend it is nothing more than an ordinary hurricane signifying Nothing tells a great deal about his stance on global warming.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

^Just this. The Bastille was much more than a prison. It served as the focal point of people’s rage against an unjust (to put it mildly) system. Much like the rebel takeover of the GPO during the Easter Rising

Boru

[Gawdzilla Sama]

i know exactly what it is.  some people would like to pretend it is nothing more than a isolated riot,

LOL. I compared storming a site to a riot, "Nothing more" is your problem.

[Anomalocaris]

considering all of the significance lies in the circumstance, not the act, comparing it to a riot is your problem.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

considering all of the significance lies in the circumstance, not the act, comparing it to a riot is your problem.

I have a Masters in history from Purdue. I'm good with my phraseology.

[The Valkyrie]

I used to shoot people for $8.27/day. I didn't feel it was political. They were shooting at me, so it was personal.

You were paid??

For me it's kindof a hobby.