An Open Letter to the Young, Who Are Being Sucked into this Chaos

Contrary to what you post on social media, I DO understand how you feel.

I was you, once. Young, compassionate, eager to see justice done to oppressed people.

Seeing today's protests/riots, I'm reminded of that young person. Who saw the protests, and sided with them against the police. Who once emerged from radio silence after a day's work, and was momentarily freaked out by the sight of armed soldiers - in real life, not bronze - surrounding the Cleveland Soldiers and Sailors monument in Public Square.

Who gradually moved from supporting peaceful protests (marching, chants, signs) to excusing those that threw bottles, rocks, and smashed windows.

Whose first thought, on hearing of the Kent State Shootings (May 4, 1970) was to side with the students and their Leftist allies.

It's hard to remember just when I started to evolve my thinking.

• Was it when I moved to a strange city, and could no longer call Dad to pick me up if a 'protest' turned bad? Understand, I was never involved in them much (too young, too busy working). But, now, when the mob action made it hard to follow my normal route home, I had to detour through iffy neighborhoods, where I might get into truly sketchy situations.
• Was it when a business that was targeted shut down permanently, reducing my options for fresh food or needed supplies without having to drive there?
• Was it when people I knew started getting a criminal record, making their future questionable? Those were people without connections, unlike the Leftist Elite, who smoothly sidestepped career suicide. For them, it made supporting themselves difficult.
• Was it when the drug use - many Leftist organizations partially supported themselves with drug sales - destroyed the life of the supporters? The Leftist Elite seldom took many chances with actually getting their hands dirty - that was for the peons who put THEIR bodies on the line. BTW - please read that article linked in this paragraph - it's horrifying, but true.
• Was it when the Leadership put the non-connected (mostly poor Whites and Blacks, but also women - "chicks to the front" was the cry at the 60s protests) in front, to get the brunt of the police action, risk permanent injury or death, and, almost certainly, get arrested. The Leftist Elite bailed out quickly. All the while advising the rank & file to "fill the jails". Different standards for different castes.
• Was it when I challenged the conventional wisdom of the Protest Era, and started asking inconvenient questions - prompted by first-person accounts like this one.

The riots will have a lasting effect on your life - IF you live through them. Not everyone did.

You can't honestly expect people to regard "just property damage" so lightly. They will bring in government to stop the chaos. AND prosecute those that were a part of it.

Property damage changes a community - and, not for the better. Homeowners will find that their insurance costs go up - a LOT. Businesses will have to add the increased cost of that insurance to their prices - giving them a reputation for price gouging, which leads to more shoplifting (which, then, raises prices). Eventually, the businesses cannot stay open, and the inner parts of the city have empty storefronts (which become a magnet for drug use and gang activity).

So, the lives of the people, far from getting better, get worse.

Don't react as though this was a random set of events, that just HAPPENED to escalate - that is never the case. The racheting up of events is planned, coordinated, and meant to cause harm. That harm brings in (hopefully) more naive protesters, who will then be lead to further damage - to themselves and others - ad infinitum.

There’s a distinct pattern when society breaks down, and as our society becomes more desperate, poverty-stricken, and lacking of moral compass, this trend will become more obvious. Note that the “lacking of moral compass” part doesn’t just refer to the thugs rioting and looting, but also to the cops who think that their badges give them permission to behave like street thugs, too.

Here’s the pattern:

• An outrage occurs.
• Good people react and protest the outrage.
• Those perpetrating the outrage try to quell the protest because they don’t think that the outrage was actually outrageous.  (And whether it was or not can fluctuate – in some cases, force is necessitated, but in more and more cases, it is flagrantly gratuitous.)
• Others react to the quelling and join the protest.
• A mob mentality erupts. Thugs say, “Hey, it’s a free for all. I’m gonna get some Doritos and while I’m at it, beat the crap out of some folks for fun.”
• All hell breaks loose.
• The military gets called in.
• The city burns, and neighborhoods get destroyed, and no one in the area is safe.
• Cops act preemptively, out of fear, and for a time, there is no rule of law.
• If you happen to be stuck there, know this: you’re completely on your own.

That process seems to be organic - spontaneously occurring - but, in fact, can be manipulated by just a few individuals who can change the outcome to meet their ends. They know this. They've trained to do this.

Here's how it work:

• A peaceful protest is organized in response to a crisis. Those that attend are largely sincere, motivated by their conscience, and intend to memorialize the injured or dead.
• A few more hysterical/emotional people act in an agitated way - screaming, moving towards any police or other officials that might be present. They may use words that indicate they would be happy with a less peaceful response.
• A few people, usually not the leaders, but someone who has a connection with those in charge, will embrace the heartbroken people, they will let them vent, but also calm them down. They may remove them from the rest of the group, and spend extended time together.
• This action is vital - it allows the Left to identify those that can be counted on to over-react, without concern for their own safety. They are the ones that can easily be provoked to ever-greater response, until they initiate the violence.
• The next protest will have a greater number who urge more action, and less peace. "It's time to change what we're doing" and "The only thing that will stop this violence is fighting back". There may still be no physical aggression at this time - but the group is gradually being desensitized to expression of anger, and violent words. It's going to be only a short step to action, which will inevitably involve physical violence.
• Inevitably, something will be thrown. It likely will not be AT the police (not yet) but it will cause some damage or trash in the street. Again, the desensitization is the point. People will become used to the idea of acting out in the protests.
• Each time, the pull is away from peace, and towards violence. After each protest, the Leftists will spend time talking with the protesters, and getting the idea across that the only way to progress is to "get down and dirty". In this, the Leftists will be echoed by favored acolytes. People are validated the more that they fall in line with the group; many of those who provide the bulk of the protesters are outsiders, those that have not generally had many friends.

The end result is violence, followed by more enmeshing of the ground troops into the group dynamics.

Sheer chance plays a role in the outcomes - if something happens to interfere with the free flow of people, as has happened before, there will be an increased likelihood of a violent incident. That's a large part of what made the Kent State's shootings almost inevitable. The action that preceded the corralling of students into the parking lot was intentional; whether or not the Left planned to time it so as to coincide with a built-in changing of the classes. The numbers of students exiting the buildings at that critical time contributed to the "fog of war" that triggered the shootings.