When non-violence works
There’s been some some intense commentary on left-wing and liberal websites and social media ever since this video was released of an unidentified attacker punching white supremacist Richard Spencer in the face during Trump’s inauguration in Washington.
Almost everything about this has probably already been said. One thing so noticeable about the reaction to the video was the willingness of a broad section of otherwise liberal people to justify punching Spencer as a laudable act of justice against a nazi.
The incident even inaugurated a new website, https://isitokaytopunchanazi.com/, which runs on eternal loop and promises any visitor that it’s always and in every circumstance okay to punch nazis. A variety of new versions of the punch video have also been produced, set to music, turning this attack into some kind of isolated entertainment that’s supposed to be celebratory rather than brutal and sickening.
The irony of celebrating this as an act against a Nazi is that, shortly before the incident occurred, Richard Spencer was heard on video saying that he was not a nazi. His words and those of the black people around him are rather haunting, in fact, as he’s asked if he likes black people — ‘yeah sure’ —and when earlier he refers to entering a ‘new world’ of left-wing protesters. This new world may in a way have been inaugurated by the unidentified attacker.
Whether this protester was attempting to silence Spencer’s politically incorrect speech acts, or this whole incident was some kind of alt-right stunt to gain more attention, we’ll never know. The conversation instead turns to whether it is okay to punch nazis.
For the liberal media, who either excused or warned against the incident, this act was not the inauguration of a new world. We’ve seen this all before: there’s supposedly a long tradition of punching nazis that might make this latest act rather understandable.
This is in no way to excuse Spencer’s vile rhetoric, but the alt-right’s particular brand of white nationalism in 2017 is obviously a different thing to nazism. Of course, the alt-right and nazism share similarities. Setting up stormtroopers and paramilitary brigades to punch political enemies was thankfully not one of the similarities they shared.
That is, until this punch. It’s only now that Spencer has begun advocating for alt-right vigilante squads. That the left is continuing to celebrate punching nazis at this this point in history is not a little alarming.
It’s occurring while Trump is trying to ram his presidential agenda past civil society and the constitutional and legal limits that are among the most effective barriers to his unfettered power. Weakening civil society and democratic legitimacy at this point in favour of vigilante protest is actually one of the most dangerous things the left could try to achieve.
The alt-right is in many respects symbiotic on the campus left, as Jason Willick has argued. The failure of Bernie Sanders to win over the Democratic party and bring a mass of followers along with him to support Hillary Clinton has left a dangerous political vacuum.
The left that’s left on campuses and the alt-right that torments it are in many respects united in opposing civil institutions and the legitimacy of the state. They also resort to all kinds of tricks and attacks rather than reasoned debate. In this situation, the alt-right will continue to thrive on a kind of symbiotic trolling of the alt-left.
The question at this point is not, whether it is okay to punch nazis. It’s what is the most effective way to protest against democratic fascism?
In the days and months to come, there will be the need to protest Trump’s actions. There will also be the need to present reasoned opposition to his supporters, men like the freshly aggrieved Richard Spencer.
In considering how to protest, the arguments of political scientist Erica Chenoweth should be compelling. She has undertaken significant research into protests and strategies, and her book Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict is well worth reading.
Chenoweth’s arguments in this TED talk are that non-violence has become much more effective in today’s political landscape than violent protests. Her ideas are summarised in the Washington Post.
Non-violent protests since the 1980s have become more and more effective at actually achieving the most important outcomes, such as toppling tyrants.
What is surprising about Chenoweth’s research is that non-violent protests are much more effective. The critical success factor she has identified is a large scale: just 3.5 percent of the population to be mobilised in a sustained way over a few year to have a chance to change a political system.
It appears that so much in our political reality has become mediated and has a social dimension that was not previously been broadcast. It’s therefore much more important than before to gain followers and mobilise feeling and support through cultural production.
Petty violence supported risks ending and imperiling mass support, and protesters have to realise that their every act is, somewhere and at anytime, being broadcast. And there’s no doubt that enemies and tyrants will be using anything filmed and streamed.
So we’re now back to the question: is it okay to punch Nazis? Of course ethicists will weigh in and tell you, no.
Some perspective will also suggest that punching imagined low hanging nazis based on ideological criteria could get extremely messy. Deciding it’s always good to punch any suspected nazi based on your own ideological decision is committing to a very toxic public space. We’re getting into a situation where left and right no longer commit to reasoned or even passionate debate.
A pragmatic reason to punch nazis is perhaps the best to pursue. But here the time for punching nazis is more and more receding. Non-violent protest combined with a reasoned support for the state and civil society is more and more needed.
We must learn together as people or perish as fools.
