Dakota Beacon

The liberal left progressively uses mobs for leverage. Interestingly, there is no equivalent tool on the right. When was the last time the media gave scrupulous attention to tens of thousands of white supremacists rioting, looting, and burning in cities? Mayhem of 2020 incited by Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Antifa were duplicitously classified by some media as “peaceful demonstrations.”

What we recently saw on university campuses were not revolutionaries in action. We saw tantrum-throwing, angry adult children of middle-class and upper middle-class “boomers” still living off their parents. They were poorly educated but well indoctrinated to hate America as persuaded by the likes of Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, George Soros, and an abundance of academics.

Resistance mobs blossomed after Donald Trump’s election in 2016. Following the deaths of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks, BLM and Antifa exemplified the mob that drove the mayhem.

That was then; this is now. Media reports highlight anti-Israel protests erupting at multiple universities across the US concurrently. Are we to believe that the mayhem and bedlam are spontaneous moral uprisings in support of Palestinians?

Set the scene. On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists attacked Israel from Gaza raping, torturing, burning, and killing over 1200 Israelis civilians and capturing 252 many of whom died in captivity from mistreatment. Hamas wanted to “send a message” that they wanted their own “Palestinian state” (which never existed) by eliminating Israel (which will never happen). Israel responded attacking Gaza, the Hamas stronghold, to search and destroy all Hamas leadership.

Palestinians are far from innocent bystanders. They “elected” their Gaza government, whether from intimidation or by free will, knowing full well that Hamas terrorists would establish control. Palestinians then supported that government with men, money, and material.

Israeli military operations would halt if the Palestinians surrendered the terrorist leadership for trial. Failing that, Israeli military operations will continue to seek out and destroy Hamas leadership. In the process, the destruction of Gaza becomes unintended “collateral damage” until Hamas leaders are killed, captured, or surrendered. Palestinian civilians are not the target.

Has anyone noticed that no Islamic state has willingly given up even one square foot of their territory to establish a Palestinian state or even to establish refugee centers? They do not wish to provide Hamas terrorists a new base of operations only to bear the consequences.

Not surprisingly, many Americans view the Gaza situation through the foggy lens of “Christian values” although Christianity itself in America has long ago atrophied. We are left with a nostalgic residue undergirded by minimal substance. Hamas leadership knows this but holds no such values and will play on Western emotions to their advantage.

A French social psychologist, Gustave Le Bon, once observed the characteristics and behavior of a mob. His book, “The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind,” written in 1896, was read by Hitler and Mussolini. Liberals and particularly the media have attempted to paint Le Bon as “controversial” and “reactionary.” It may be that Le Bon’s book too closely describes liberals for their own comfort.

In Le Bon’s view, a crowd is identified as people with a mental unity (Le Bon’s term) distinct from individual personality. The psychology of a crowd combines heterogeneous and homogeneous characteristics into a collective mind. Mental unity includes people who acquire a sense of invincible power. Sentiments and acts become contagious. The conscious personality diminishes while thoughts and feelings trend toward groupthink.

Le Bon sees a crowd (or mob) embracing overly simplistic thinking expressed as slogans. (Make Love Not War; Save the Planet; From the River to the Sea) reflecting a bumper sticker mentality. Mobs are irrational and emotional. They worship their leaders and hate their foes.

Which brings us back to the current situation on university campuses.

By their silence Democrat leaders condone university mayhem. It is amazing how they sacrifice their constituents’ safety and wellbeing for political ends. BLM and Antifa, and now university outsiders, have subtly become the militant arm of the Democrats. Certainly, Democrats are not interested in fixing social ills that gave rise to anarchy any more than Hamas is interested in resolving Palestinian ills. Both could have remedied their respective situations long ago. Instead, they use the misery of others strategically to persuade gullible onlookers.

Look to the future a few months from now. Mobs previously generated liberals will be on full display at the Democrat National Convention in Chicago (August 19-22, 2024). This created Frankenstein will be a classic backfire to go down in the record books! Hopefully, the rioting and bloodshed will not “trump” the Chicago Democrat National Convention of 1968.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).