Most of the political violence in recent years has come from the left, but I think that’s more due to ideological capture than anything inherent about left vs right.

Because the left captured all the institutions — tech, media, academia — people on the left were able to live in a bubble. They were able to avoid the unpleasant cognitive dissonance that comes with encountering opposing viewpoints. It was like being in a very large cult.

When this persists for long enough, it’s easy to become a fundamentalist of sorts, someone who views contrary viewpoints not just as incorrect but evil. It’s easy to see how this would happen — as your worldview gets ever more affirmed, it becomes ever-more painful to have it exposed to contradictions and internal incoherence.

People on the right the last few decades were constantly told they were bad and wrong by the media. It was almost impossible for them to live in a bubble. When you don’t live in a bubble, you are exposed to cognitive dissonance all the time, and you have less absolutism and fundamentalism. Less existential dread when someone disagrees with you, more rigor in formulating your worldview.

What the right should not want is to swap places with the left where their views become fundamentalism, dissent from them is verboten and their side gets radicalized when challenged.

Free speech you disagree with has to be protected no matter what. Unfortunately, I think it’s just the nature of power that it corrupts, and when the right re-takes it (they have in the US, but not entirely as the institutions are still very much leftist), they’ll probably do stupid shit like outlaw mocking Charlie Kirk’s assassination as “hate speech” or outlaw flag burning.

Reply to this note

Please Login to reply.

Discussion

A very long and detailed way of describing the manufactured pandemic of narcissism.

I’ve seen people react when you hit them with hard facts as if you’re physically hurting them. I honestly believe this is how the Nazis were formed, maybe it’s the same thing just repeated with different and more advanced tools. While the y accuse you of exactly the crimes they commit, pretty sure at Marxism as well.

Sorry for the thought vomit. 🙃

Interesting, in what way do you think the Nazis were formed that way by the way?

probably

It’s definitely cult like behaviour, my stepfather had so much contempt for me that he tried to get me falsely arrested and he testified in court to help my ex, it’s started with me not taking the vax. He was also happy I lost my job, 2 mths before my daughter was born. The things I’ve seen and personally experienced is on another level.

“Forgive them father for they know not what they do.”

Brainwashed

> People on the right the last few decades were constantly told they were bad and wrong by the media. It was almost impossible for them to live in a bubble. When you don’t live in a bubble, you are exposed to cognitive dissonance all the time, and you have less absolutism and fundamentalism. Less existential dread when someone disagrees with you, more rigor in formulating your worldview.

I was trying to think of examples of violence, and January 6th came to mind, how do you think about that?

Thanks.

who was killed on January 6?

Some cops, right? Six of them, I think. Also, I recall a video of a woman being shot by a cop after being the first through a door. Not sure.

I doubt anyone on the left thought the election was rigged, but many were convinced on the right.

Seems like a bubble there.

Or perhaps instead of a bubble, as you say, they were exposed to both sides. But, in that case, the dissonance didn’t temper the violence.

There were zero cops killed on January 6. The only person killed was a protester, shot by Capitol police.

Ah, thanks for the correction. Also just read that some cops later committed suicide.

I find it hard to believe that social media algorithms don’t put people on the right in a bubble.

Since learning about Bitcoin and using nostr, my YouTube feed has definitely shifted.

I expect most people in the right bubble avoid late night talk shows like left bubble avoids Fox News or whatever. And neither gets served that info as time goes on.

I agree that it’s probably harder for the left to inadvertently see the edge of their bubble. Especially the academic portion of it. “But the studies show” is a common refrain I hear, and explaining that money can easily influence research outcomes is not accepted. There must be a refuting study.

Anyway, I’m thinking out loud and trying to get my head around things. Thanks for engaging.

Thoughtful piece, Chris. I do think there is something inherent in the thinking of the political left and right that does affect this, which isn't talked about much in libertarian thinking circles, and that's the culture of where these interactions happen. The right is reactionary to cultural shifts, there is a case for protecting assaults on 'Chesterton's Fence(s)' (agreed rules of behavioir) that ironically allow the left and right to air their views in a civil society.

But it's a difficult needle to thread, once power is taken by either side, abuses occur, the Patriot act for the Right as an example, and the more recent examples on the Left that you gave. The US seems to have had an excellent example so far in its First amendment, but words on a piece of paper only work if the culture agrees so and power truly respects that culture.

No answers, just musings!

Do you have any sources that political violence in recent years comes from the left or is it just gut feeling? I think the data points towards the right and islamic groups to be more (lethally) violent.

The “summer of love” would be a good example lol

They would like you to believe right and islamic groups are more violent but the data doesn't back that up even though they target right wing groups.

Key Statistics and Data Points (2019-2025)

1. Arrest Data and Prosecutions (DOJ & DHS):

2020-2021 (Peak of BLM/Antifa Riots): The Department of Justice reported that of the approximately 300 federal cases brought in connection with the 2020 civil unrest, the vast majority were for crimes like arson, assault on police officers, and vandalism committed by individuals associating with Antifa and BLM ideologies.

Capitol Riot (January 6, 2021): This is the single largest incident of right-wing political violence in the period. The FBI has arrested over 1,350 individuals in connection with the event. Charges range from trespassing and parading to seditious conspiracy for a small number of organized groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.

Comparative Scale: While the Capitol riot was a singular, massive event, the violence associated with left-wing groups was far more widespread. In 2020 alone, the rioting, looting, and arson associated with BLM protests occurred in over 200 cities across the United States, resulting in an estimated $1-2 billion in insured damages—the costliest civil disorder in U.S. history.

2. Database Tracking (ACLED & TPD):

Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED): A 2021 report by ACLED found that over 90% of the riots and violent demonstrations recorded in the summer of 2020 were associated with the BLM movement.

The Princeton Bridging Divides Initiative (BDI): Their tracking data for 2023-2024 shows a continued trend of left-wing activists being the primary instigators of violence at protests and rallies, often under the banner of “antifa” or related causes.

3. Terrorism Designations and Law Enforcement Focus:

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assessments: Multiple DHS National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletins throughout 2020-2022 highlighted “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists” (a category that includes some right-wing actors) and “anarchist violent extremists” as primary threats. However, the operational activity—the number of actual violent events—has been heavily weighted towards the anarchist/antifa side.

FBI Director Christopher Wray Testimony (2021): In congressional testimony, Director Wray stated that the FBI’s number of domestic terrorism investigations had roughly doubled since spring 2020. While he mentioned a rise in investigations into “racially motivated violent extremism,” he also specifically highlighted “anarchist violent extremists” and “anti-government/anti-authority violent extremists” as significant sources of violence.

4. Analysis of Fatalities:

Murder:

Right-Wing: The most significant fatality event was the Capitol riot, which resulted in the deaths of 5 people, including a police officer.

Left-Wing: During the 2020 riots, over 30 people were killed, including federal officers (e.g., David Dorn, a retired police captain shot by looters), and numerous other citizens caught in the violence.

Assassination Attempts/Plots:

The June 2022 arrest of an armed man near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home with intent to murder is a clear example of politically motivated left-wing violence.

The targeted shooting and murder of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk in September 2025 by a left-wing radical is the most recent and stark example of escalating lethal intent from the far-left.

While both sides contain violent elements, the empirical data from 2019 to the present day demonstrates that the scale, frequency, and cost of political violence perpetrated by left-wing actors vastly exceed that of right-wing actors. The narrative that right-wing violence is a significantly greater threat is not supported by the actual data on events, arrests, and material damage. The violence from the left has been more diffuse, more destructive to property, and has resulted in a higher body count. The murder of Charlie Kirk is a tragic indicator that this trend of targeted left-wing political violence is continuing.

Only one person was killed on Jan 6, a protestor shot by a Capitol policeman.

We talking Ashley Babbit? If so I would question the veracity of even that statistic, cause that appeared to be completely faked

The videos breaking down her getting "shot" and the aftermath have probably been wiped from YT but I bet some still exist on odyssee or rumble fwiw

I saw those videos, but just speaking to normies who read “six officers died” and never followed up to find out that was false.

you are correct, that was AI generated data and I just wanted to leave that in there because thats how the left thinks and even with that they still don't compare

Spitting fire đŸ”„

"The left" encompasses both progressives and liberals. Liberalism is very civil and tolerant, while progressivism is strident and intolerant. It would be somewhat surprising to see violence coming from liberals, but not surprising from progressives.

Also, conventional blowback theory would predict more violence from the right, if that's the side being marginalized by the institutions, especially if violence is being allowed against them. However, we were in a strange place where the side holding power also believed they were the ones being oppressed.

I don't know -- most individuals of any political stripe won’t commit violence until things get really dire but A LOT of people were really intolerant of opposing views or at least condoned intolerance to the point where they wouldn’t stand against it even if it were done to a friend of theirs.

Think the majority of people just believe not what is true, but what is beneficial in their social and professional spheres. And when there is enough capture and detachment from real-world feedback, when they become absolutely convinced of their righteousness and the evils of those who disagree, you get violence.

If the right gets power in the institutions and starts to view itself as superior and righteous, there would be a reversal IMO. And it is interesting, as you point out, the dynamic of being in power and oppressed. Only possible in a cult.

Have you heard Michael Malice's theory that most people don't have minds, in any meaningful sense.

It's similar to your description of "beliefs" being entirely due to conformity.

The right will obviously use violence once in power. Traditionally, they use violence to prevent social change, while progressives use violence to advance change. Liberals are the weirdos who don't like violent enforcement of their preferences.

I haven’t heard of it, but I know people like that! I always wonder the extent to which some people are pot committed to the tribe, right or wrong, from the start and the extent to which some actually know better.

I think it is ideological as well. One worldview is individualistic, so self-defence is the only justified use of violence. The other identitarian and collectivistic, so defending your group may be a justified use of violence in that case. That coupled with "words are violence" and even "silence is violence" mean that the things that raise to the level of "justified violence" have a low bar.

Your point about bubbles is fair, but I also think it is a loss of status as they see defeat in their control of these institutions. This will be a feedback loop as more institutions fail because of the violence. I worry the violence will ramp up as a result.

I think that's fair, but imagine if the right got into a bubble wherein anyone saying “unChristian” things or living an unChristian lifestyle was bad, and they got rewarded socially and professionally for believing that for 30 years. I could see them getting violent to “vanquish” evil. It’s happened many times in human history.

I have a hard time seeing it, as most Christian bubbles are usually more peaceful than society at large (think Amish, etc). And the missionary and proselytizing culture usually looks to convert rather than destroy. I think the bubble matters for amplification, but the ideology is the root cause.

It's happened MANY times in history, but I agree right now they are the peaceful side but they have also been out of power for a long time and exposed to a ton of opposing views and negative feedback. They are not shook by criticism or dissent the way someone in a bubble would be.