Dakota Beacon

            Top story of the year? The riots and mayhem of 2020 incited by Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Antifa under the pretext of “peaceful demonstrations.” The liberal left progressively uses the mob for leverage. Moreover, there is no equivalent tool on the right. When was the last time the media gave extra scrupulous attention to ten thousand white supremacists rioting, looting, and burning in cities?

            What we see are not revolutionaries. We see tantrum-throwing, angry adult children of middle-class and upper middle-class “boomers” still living off their parents. They are poorly educated but well indoctrinated to hate America proselytized by the likes of Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, and others.

            A French social psychologist, Gustave Le Bon, 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 themselves for 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 include persons who acquire a sense of invincible power. Sentiments and acts become contagious. The conscious personality diminishes while thoughts and feelings trend toward group-think.

            Le Bon sees a crowd (or mob) embracing overly simplistic thinking expressed as slogans. (Make Love Not War; Save the Whales; Save the Planet; and dozens of others reflect a bumper sticker mentality.) Mobs are irrational and emotional. They worship their leaders and hate their foes.

            Resistance mobs blossomed after Donald Trump’s election and fit the “crowd” category Le Bon describes. BLM and Antifa, however, already existed. Following the deaths of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks, BLM and Antifa epitomized the mob and powered the mayhem.

            BLM and Antifa share common thinking. Their roots extend back into communist/Marxist ideas and methods. As a political organization, BLM seeks to transform America by defunding police, dismantling capitalism, destroying patriarchy, breaking the nuclear family, emptying prisons, redistributing wealth through reparations, encouraging gender reassignment surgery, and promoting abortion. A 2015 video shows BLM co-founders Patrisse Cullor and Alicia Garza describing themselves as “trained Marxists.” The Real News Network with Jared Ball taped the interview.

            BLM also shares unity in purpose with Communist Cuba – erase America as we know it. On November 27, 2016, two days after Fidel Castro’s death, BLM posted their eulogy to Castro extoling his “guidance” and “integrity.” In 1967 this same Castro, praised for his “integrity,” reportedly acquired from North Vietnam 17 American POWs. None survived captivity in Cuba. They “took a knee” when executed following torture. Information came to light in the November 1999 Congressional hearings.

            Antifa, short for anti-fascist, traces its roots to Germany in the 1930s. The German Communist Party opposed Nazi fascism. In principle, Antifa always supported communist ideals. Mark Bray, a professor at Dartmouth and Rutgers Universities, wrote “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook” published by Melville House in 2017. Bray was an original organizer of Occupy Wall Street. In a Washington Post article (6/1/20) he defended Antifa’s violent tactics. “Its supporters are…communists, socialists, and anarchists” and their violent tactics are “ethically justifiable and strategically effective.” Universities subsequently became breeding grounds for Antifa-style thinking.

            Ten reputable historians, political scientists, and other scholars cannot agree on one standard definition of fascism. Antifa’s definition, on the other hand, is simple. Anyone who opposes their totalitarian world view is a fascist.

            In an oxymoronic twist, Antifa supports the same principles it opposes in fascism: intolerance toward diversity of thought, contempt for private property, loathing of capitalism, and hatred for certain social classes. It promotes hatred, rejects freedom, and resembles original fascism.

            The rioting, burning, and looting is a strange way to honor the memory of Floyd and Brooks. Mention of their names conjure visions of mayhem, bedlam, and pandemonium tolerated in Democrat-controlled cities. Their deaths were triggers for rioting, burning, and looting. Meanwhile, Democrat mayors, governors, members of the House and Senate remain curiously silent.

            By their silence Democrat leaders condone the mayhem. It’s amazing that they would sacrifice their constituents’ safety and wellbeing to gain political ends. For all intents and purposes, BLM and Antifa have inadvertently become the Democrat armed force. Certainly, the Democrats are not interested in fixing any of the social ills that gave rise to the anarchy. They could have done so long ago. Instead, they need voters who are gullible enough to believe their endless, unfulfilled promises.

            Cynically, liberals use the mob to create unrest as a means of consolidating power. “Seeking social justice” is not a plan. They are just hollow words to feed the mob, a means to an end.

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