Extremism in America

Our current political system foments an atmosphere so intensely polarized that murdering your ideological opponent is seen as a rational option. To me, this indicates a few important things:

1. The people feel so powerless that some are willing to resort to violence in order to be heard.

2. Though hoping to bolster their ideology with drastic measures, these failed revolutionaries like Antifa, the Portland murderer, and today's VA shooter, push reasonable leftists away thus saturating the left with extremists. This trend won't end well. The extremists on the right fall into the same trap: Islamists, White nationalists, fascists, don't you read history? Extremism does not work. It has zero staying power.

3. Infotainment reality news programming is a garbage medium benefitting no one apart from its sponsors. It is intentionally divisive and dramatic in order to generate ratings. Meanwhile, it motivates extremists while producing little to no actual value for society.

4. Pretending this country is red versus blue rather than haves and have-nots is a convenient strategy used by oligarchs to distract, divide, and rule the masses, i.e., you and me.

5. Using violence to spread your message makes you look weak and reveals the impotence of your ideology.

Hitting someone over the head with a lock (Antifa), shooting a politician in the face (white nationalist), shooting a politician in the hip (progressive revolutionary), ramming people with vehicles (Islamists).
Left & Right extremists: Don't you get it? No one apart from inspired radicals, brainwashed by intense propaganda, are listening to you. You are losing and you will always fail because the majority of people are good, decent individuals who don't condone violence to achieve peace.

It is in our primate DNA to be ethical, moral members of a community. You are the result of 4 billion years of evolution. Maybe it's time to start acting like it.