Published April 19th, 2010 by Future Atlas
Is US Stability at Risk?
The AP reported last week that some “Tea Party” leaders and Oklahoma legislators are discussing forming a militia to defend against encroachment by the federal government.
There are other indicators that extremism is finding new purchase.
In February, a man used his light plane to launch a terrorist suicide attack on a government office in Austin, Texas. He appeared to be a troubled man acting alone, but that is the case with many people who are also political terrorists, such as the Fort Hood shooter Major Hassan. Stack invoked politics directly as a motive:
I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt; it will take nothing less. I would only hope that by striking a nerve that stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction that results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are.
Stack is citing classic insurgency theory as well: trigger an overreaction that fuels a rebellion.
His manifesto is also highly reminiscent of much of the rhetoric emanating from factions of the Tea Party movement, which brings us to the question: is that movement symptomatic of a threat to American stability? There are a number of worrying signs:
- Scale: There has been a right wing of this ilk for decades, but this incarnation seems larger and has more tendrils into the “mainstream.” If even a tiny fraction of turned toward violence, they might number in the tens of thousands.
- Celebration of violence: Tea Partiers have formed ties with “militia” groups that have preparing for violence as their central activity.
- Lack of restraining mechanism: In the past, mainstream media and the Republican Party provided dampers on the spread of right-wing radicalism. Now, extremists can confirm their views with them own media (which includes some corporate media entities as well). And the most of the Republican Party is either silent in the face of extremism, or actively panders to or reinforces it.
- Irrationality: The strong role of anger, and the strange visions of socialism and / or fascism, are also worrying. One could have a perfectly rational (or at least reality-based, if passionate) movement that favored radically downsizing government, but this doesn’t seem to be that movement. Many seem to have headed straight for the black helicopter rabbit holes.
Foreign terrorists can do the US harm; domestic extremism is orders of magnitude more dangerous, as it can undermine fundamental stability.
And the danger does not have to involve violence: a competent and trusted government is rare in the world, and one’s of America’s biggest competitive advantages. Destroying that trust and dismantling that competence would deal a severe blow to American prospects.
Matt Warren Says
This is intriguing. I recently wrote about the Tea Party phenomenon (http://longgame.org/2010/03/tea-party-counterfactual/) because it’s a force that’s been slowly building in the background of our culture for a while.
My *hope* is that the emotional energy driving this thing will collide with its lack of policy and fizzle out. The movement needs more than incoherent rage to be anything but a political sideshow.
I would add to this list that Demographics are a big unspoken driver of this movement. Most Tea Partiers would not claim to be racially motivated, but there is clearly angst that white Christians aren’t as dominant as they once were. Whether in reality or the popular imagination.
Apr 30th, 2010 at 1:34 am
Future Atlas Says
It could fizzle out, mature into real politics, or it could radicalize. A mature tea party movement might end up stripping the Republicans of the small-government faction, leaving it with the anti-immigrant and Christian right culture warriors.
Demography is likely a factor. Race can be a driver with no real conscious racism.
May 21st, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Craig Young Says
This article is a smear on the Tea Party. One of the main tenets of the Tea Party is Gandi-type approach. Brains over Bullets.
Jan 2nd, 2011 at 6:30 pm