During more times that I care to mention, I've been exposed to very violent situations, especially during my youth (I'm middle age now). Sitting at some nightclub talking to friends, and all of the sudden over here by your right you get a glimpse of some guy yelling in anger, while grabbing a beer bottle, smashing it's end on the table, and lounging to attack somebody... Chairs and tables flying all over the place; pandemonium. They take it to the street; there is snow on the sidewalks, and the street is icy... One guy runs to the car, pulls out a shotgun, the other runs towards him and stabs him in the leg with a knife.
I've seen so much violence--especially in my youth. Weird stuff... Like this tough looking guy, big, muscular, loud mouth picking a fight with this other tiny, skinny guy. All of the sudden, the very short, skinny, scrawny guy (but not less of a tough guy) leaps--almost like a deer--and takes a swipe at the big guy, knocking him out, and putting him in daze, while holding on to his bleeding mouth and nose.
Although I've managed to stay out of trouble with the law during those formative years, one thing I learned is that violence is real. It really happens. I've seen it many times. And one thing I've learned, especially in very tough environments is that verbal threats of violence that go unanswered can often lead to actual violence against the unresponsive, weak, and scared party.
Because of those experiences I developed two very important principles: Never threaten anybody with bodily harm; Never allow anybody to threatened you.
So as I matured, and as I followed those two principles, I learned to, as they say, stay out of trouble. You learn to conduct yourself in a way that avoids provoking potentially violent situations.
But most importantly, you learn the value of making sure anybody that interacts with you knows that you will not tolerate being threaten--in any way. That in itself is extremely valuable, and in the end may contribute to the prevention of violence or abusive behavior against you.
So in any environment, whether social, work, politics, etc., when I interact with people I can deal with disagreements, tough negotiations, even acrimony, personality conflicts, office politics, people getting emotional, even insults, and many other things that we all have to deal with from time to time. But one thing that stops everything on its tracks is the utterance of a threat--of any kind. Once someone issues a threat, I take it very (extremely) seriously, and deal with it head on, right then and there--a confrontation.
And it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be a hot head and start shoving someone on the shoulder. It means that you let the threatening person know that a threat will not be ignored. If someone threatens you with bodily harm, you immediately report that to the police, and you make a big deal. You tell people about it; you file a lawsuit; you immediately leave if you are a woman being threaten by an abusive guy; you get a restraining order. And if you must, you defend yourself by any means necessary.
But you never, ever let a threat go unanswered. Because in the end, it's worst for you. Not only did that person threatened you, which was unpleasant at the moment it happened, you now have to think about the possibility that that person may follow through with that threat--and then you have to live in fear. Appeasement of bullies just means giving them license to abuse you. It's that simple.
That is why I find it extremely disheartening and disconcerting to witness the passivity with which progressives react to the drumbeat of threats by what is clearly an increasingly emboldened fascist right in this country.
I don't know what else can these bullies do to tell you they're coming after you. There is a constant drumbeat on right wing hate radio and TV demonizing liberals and progressives. These thugs running for president on the Republican side, like Rick Perry, and Michelle Bachmann, talking all kind bullshit with allusions to violence, and in some cases acting on it by having their staffs push, shove, and manhandle reporters.
Fascist wingnuts intimidating women seeking reproductive health services all over the country; the killing of doctors who focus on reproductive issues. Hate-filled bullies bringing all kinds of weapons to rallies, and using violence-provoking signs and banners.
The Left needs to be better organized with regards to these things. I can't emphasize enough how important the concept of "show of force" is.
It should be understood by the Right or anybody else, that the Second Amendment does not belong to them alone. It should be understood that any threat of violence or incitement to violence by a loud-mouthed millionaire radio talk show host, or TV religious fanatic, or ignorant-loving politician, will be taken seriously and confronted, and dealt with immediately and forcefully.
Any act of violence by the staff of any politician should be dealt with immediately; there should be very, very serious consequences once someone crosses the line into violence--especially in the political arena.
Any act of intimidation should not be ignored.
And anybody who actually opens his mouth to act as a tough guy and issues violent threats against any group of people in this country, should be immediately confronted.
And aside from all this, and most importantly, anybody who thinks that they can intimidate other people with veiled threats of violence and bodily harm must know in no uncertain terms that if they decide to cross the line of civility, that at that point their own viability in this world is compromised.
There is a difference between being a bully, or being somebody who seeks to intimidate others with threats of violence, or seeks to impose religious dogma on society by force, or actually uses violence to get what they want, and those who defend themselves from such societal miscreants.
The appeasement of such groups or individuals is irresponsible. It only leads to more intimidation, and hasten the day when actual violence will happen against targeted groups.