Politics Are Unbelievably Dirty, Rotten and Ruthless: How To Fight Back Peacefully

The Norway tragedy has really fixed in my mind just how dirty, rotten and ruthless politics have become.  Someone once said that "politics is war by other means," and the left and the Democrats have taken that concept to a new level.

Jared Loughner, a deranged individual, shoots and kills people in Arizona and his crime is blamed on conservatives and Republicans.  However, conservatives and Republicans had nothing to do with it.  The left, displaying a level of cynicism and ruthlessness beyond anything I've seen previously, exploit a tragedy to smear their political opponents.

Now Anders Breivik, a deranged individual, shoots and kills people in Norway and once again, his crime is blamed on conservatives and Republicans and Islamic scholars who have written about Islam.  Not only do the standard party rank and file repeat these smears, but they are printed as editorials in leading liberal newspapers like the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.  If Breivik agreed with something an author wrote, then that author is responsible for Breivik's shooting spree.  Of course, Breivik also agreed with (and quoted) articles in both the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, but this is not mentioned.

Breivik stated that he had become convinced that debate and democracy no longer worked, that violence was the only option for stopping the left's destruction of western civilization.  In this, he was partially correct:  debate and democracy only work when there is a fair and objective discussion of issues and alternatives.  When one side is as dishonest and as ruthless as the left/Democrats, when the well of public opinion is constantly poisoned by smear and the politics of personal destruction, then democracy doesn't work so well.  It is easy to see how many conservatives might despair at the current political environment and consider fighting fire with fire.  However, in order to fight evil, one must not become evil himself.

This is where Breivik was wrong was in his solution.  His mass murder and violence, over and above being evil, immoral and insane, only strengthens the left by giving them new propaganda to disseminate. Radical solutions may become necessary to escape the tyranny of socialism, multiculturalism and Islamization, but there are non-violent ways to do that.  Further, such solutions must be undertaken by large groups of citizens and their legislative representatives, not by individuals perpetrating violence.

State nullification of unconstitutional laws can be pursued. Secession of states and countries from unions like the European Union (and even the United States) can be pursued; companies can be moved to freer economies, taking their jobs and tax revenues with them; and by mass demonstrations (e.g. the Tea Parties) and even civil disobedience.  We, as private citizens, can simply refuse to go along.  That was the concept in the novel "Atlas Shrugged."  Those who produce and thereby feed the statist monster can starve the monster by refusing to produce.   There is much we can do to effectively fight the left and its propaganda, and none of it requires violence.