My Response to Their Terrorism
In the past couple of days, I have restrained from writing anything because every topic I came up with ended up being a philosophical analysis of our fragile humanity, and I wanted to find a topic that was jolly so that we could say goodbye to the holidays with a smile on our faces and the hopes for a better year, but then all of my social media platforms were overwhelmed by the news of what happened at the Capitol Building today. If you don’t know what I am talking about, Google it, I don’t have the energy to explain. I even debated writing anything at all because last summer when I tried to speak up about our sociopolitical situation, I was called a hypocrite and told I would go to hell for refusing to support the republican party. Not to mention that the posts I make about philosophy and politics barely get any reads.
I would like to begin by reminding everyone that I do not belong to either the republican or the democratic party, I personally believe that the two-party system is outdated and should no longer exist. There are good and bad things from both parties, and it is far more important to consider the people each party endorses than however they describe themselves on paper, because if the last presidential term taught me anything it is that some politicians are very quick to forget their values for the sake of maintaining power. And don’t even get me started on party loyalty, because that is the laziest way of saying “I don’t give enough of a fuck to even reconsider whom I am voting for.” After all, it is easier to keep bad habits than it is to change.
I don’t think there is any way in which we can talk about what happened today (January 6, 2021) in terms other than privilege, abuse of power and hate. Why? Because the people that raided the Capitol building today did it because they don’t want to lose the power and privilege they possess under an administration that encourages racism and sexism. And I know you are about to say, “but those things already existed before Trump” and you are right, they did exist before Trump. But think about it, it wasn’t until five to ten years ago that people began fighting white supremacy in way that actually threaten its existence. When Trump rose to power, he brought with him the promise that white supremacy was going to be restored to its former glory, and today we have seen the biggest prove that he has sadly obtained his goal.
Last summer when the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement had protests on DC, Trump threaten to have the military present to ensure no violence would take place, with his now famous quote “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Hundreds of people were tear gassed, beat up and arrested. Today, a mob of I-don’t-know-how-many-people walked into the Capitol Building bearing arms, destroyed property, took selfies while stealing and terrorized the people inside. Why was there not the same preemptive military presence today as there was on the BLM protests? The mob didn’t appear out of nowhere, it was there hours before security was breached, police officers were already struggling to keep the peace long before there were people climbing the walls to get in. Why did they not get reinforcement from the beginning? There are reports (perhaps speculations) that the reason why barely anyone was arrested, was because the police lacked manpower to keep control and arrest at the same time. I refuse to believe that there isn’t a system in place that deals with a coup or attempt thereof, with enough manpower to stop the threat and detain the responsible people.
Who makes the calls? Who decides what resources are used to control mobs? Who determines what is or isn’t a threat? I don’t know, but is this a case of “we didn’t realize they were a threat until it was too late” or rather a case of “we did little to nothing about it because they were on the side of, and encouraged by, the president”? I don’t know.
What I do know is that, whether we compared this to the BML protests or not, what happened today was an act of terrorism (aka civilians creating fear/terror to obtain a desired result from the government). And it truly terrifying to think that they were encouraged by the president, who told them not accept defeat, and then told them he loves them. It really makes you wonder, what are people willing to do to maintain power?
Also, just for the record, I don't care what the fuck they say, this isn't christianity.