I love Friday night high school football games. There’s nothing better than being under the lights in the cool fall weather. The bands playing at halftime. The concession stands staffed by volunteers. The kids on the field giving it all they’ve got for the chance to play a sport for which no one gets paid. Team pride. Community.
A few years back, I attended a playoff game pitting two closely matched teams. Tension rose in the stands with seconds left in the fourth quarter. It was fourth and goal. One final play was stopped by the home team’s goal-line stand! But a flag was thrown on the defense, giving the visitors one more chance. With no time left, the offense converted for a game-winning touchdown. Was the home crowd angry? Of course.
But then one of the parents came out of the stands, ran out on the field, and punched the referee right in the face. Knocked him flat in front of God and man.
Lots of folks were angry. One man acted on his anger and took it from angst to crime.
We are watching this scenario play out writ large across the country. The latest example is a group calling themselves “Indivisible.” Fueled by grants of over $7.6 million from George Soros’ Open Society Foundation, “Indivisible” stokes anger, agitates emotions, and incites protestors to act on their baser emotions.
Organized factions of the “Anger Industrial Complex” like Indivisible live, breathe and raise money on nothing but anger. Their online presence is filled with words like “demands,” “anger,” “outrage.” They organize events and insist that elected officials show up so they can be shouted at.
Being a public servant is not the same as being a public whipping boy. The simple fact that someone is an elected official does not remove them from the bounds of simple human decency. But when all you live for is the next burst of anger … well, that’s all they’ve got.
All too often it is innocent people who are the victims of those who manufacture and foment anger as a means of pursuing their goals.
Black Lives Matter (BLM) became the modern model. Given a free pass in the 2020 “Summer of Love,” BLM had free reign to conduct angry mayhem in a coordinated multi-state swath of destruction. Axios found that insurance claims for damage by BLM mobs came in at over $1 billion, and most notably, 25 people died.
Don’t get me wrong. I love civil discourse, and to some degree, I appreciate civilized civil disobedience. The fundamental freedoms we enjoy as Americans – such as the freedoms of assembly, speech, religion, movement, the right to earn a living – are fundamental human rights. And it’s not just here – they’re enshrined in virtually every free society. Whether or not they are enacted by the black letter law of the society, these freedoms are nonetheless upheld in the natural sense by God, nature or reason. They should be spoken for. They should be defended.
But there are limits. Violence, mayhem and threats are where we draw the line. Civil disobedience should be just that: civil.
The U.S. is the greatest free speech zone in the world. The right to public discourse is enshrined in our founding documents and protected in our courts.
But when angry people yell angry words, their anger can spill over and the “Anger Industrial Complex” is counting on it.
Indivisible has been organizing their latest anger outing with “Tesla Takedowns.” Across the nation, the new variant of Trump Derangement Syndrome is manifesting as Musk Derangement Syndrome. Elon Musk has suddenly gone from being the darling of the left to its public enemy number one. Smack in the middle of it all is Indivisible, leading the charge for the charlatans that raise money for the Anger Industrial Complex.
The deep irony is that Musk is the world leader in producing electric vehicles, supposedly one of the super-causes among the progressive left. He is also lauded for removing censorship and freeing up public expression in his social media platform X. But since aligning himself with Trump, the Musk Derangement Syndrome has resulted in gunshots and Molotov Cocktails at Tesla Dealerships, cars burned, Tesla charging stations destroyed, and a rash of individual vandalism on innocent Tesla owners’ cars. Most notably, Musk says that there have been threats on his life.
That’s not angry speech. That’s angry criminal activity.
You don’t like Musk? Fine. That does not grant your anger a physical outlet. Life, limb, and property are being threatened, and at some point soon, there will be actual deaths caused by this spillover from the Anger Industrial Complex.
It is important in some form of civil sense, with civility, that civilians find their means to conduct civil disobedience. Civilized civilians conducting civil disobedience civilly. That’s where it is supposed to be.
Every once in a while, the powers that be need to hear “no.” But anger-fueled riots and destruction destroy the balancing act between civil disobedience and criminal activity.
When the angry left decides that it must destroy opposing views by all means necessary, society begins to break down. That is NOT free speech. That is criminal activity. The sooner we put a stop to it the better. The Anger Industrial Complex is real. Law enforcement needs to wake up.
There is no free speech in burning a Tesla.
To contact Phil or request him for a speaking engagement, go to www.rightsideradio.org.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
