Violence in the Name of Peace

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Violence in the Name of Peace

Posted in : Government and Society on by : Michael Maharrey

Apparently, some of the kids involved in the #NeverAgain campaign for gun control thought it would be a good idea to wear armbands.

Lauren Hogg came up with the idea inspired by armband protests in schools during the Vietnam War. She tweeted some photos and urged others to join her in the armband protest. Apparently, some folks thought the armbands look a little bit, well, Nazi. I searched for the tweet. Apparently, Lauren took it down. But of course, things on the internet are forever and I found a screenshot.

I don’t know about the whole Nazi thing, but I do find the armbands ironic. They feature a peace symbol, and these kids are pushing for a goal that is anything but peaceful.

They want government gun control. That will require people with guns to implement and enforce. The proposed policy will require force, coercion and violence against peaceful people.

These kids don’t want to “end the violence.” They are perfectly comfortable with the state’s monopoly on violence.  In fact, they are willing to use violence to end violence.

How ironic.

Of course, these kids haven’t thought that through. They are grieving the loss of their friends. They want to “do” something. They want to give meaningless deaths some meaning. That’s understandable. They are simply following what they’ve been taught. When you want to get something done, use the force of government to impose it.

Behind all of the moralizing, self-righteousness and emotionally-wrought pleas, what we really have is more violence in the name of peace. I wish somebody would explain that to these kids.