I think the message is that there's a thin line between the hero and the villain. The villain feels the same anger and desire for justice we all do. Just add a bit of delusion, and you can turn Gandhi into Hitler, or Batman into the Joker.
Violence against the powerful begets fascism. Did violence work for Native Americans? Did it work for Palestinians? Did it work for the original antifa (you know, the ones who died in concentration camps)? Violence only works if you have more guns than the other side. If you don't, stop and figure something else.
Well the causal relation there is speculation. The thing that seems odd to me is the shooter seemingly went to great lengths to avoid sending a message - hiding their identity, issuing no public statement, etc. If this was over a denied claim that they threatened over, why bother hiding their identity? It would be trivial to figure it out based on the claim.
Then you have the fact that the shooter apparently used a silencer too and cleared a jam quickly. Seems like rather than a disgruntled nobody sending a message, this seems more like someone trying to make him go away as efficiently and quietly as possible.
So alternate theory: The victim had a lawsuit filed against him by the DOJ related to an anti-trust investigation and insider trading. What if he decided to make a deal with the DOJ, and somebody else found out and didn't like it?
3 explanations, in order from what I believe most likely to least:
It could be selection bias. All communist nations originated from dictatorships, and as democracy isn't a key part of communism, any democratic ideas get kicked to the side. It may require a dictatorship in the first place for a communist revolution to occur, as democracy may lead to people feeling content enough with the system that they may not feel it needs fundamental change.
The inevitable need for concentration of power in the hands of a few. Assume that the powerful will always try to concentrate power in their own hands one way or another. Capitalist societies use wealth (a.k.a. purchasing power) to replace the concentration of political power that a dictator would enjoy. As communist societies lack such a mechanism, the powers-that-be can only use political power to force their own superiority.
The centralization of economics leads to concentration of economic power that can be used effectively to buy loyalty from would-be challengers to a dictator's power.
Then pardon Vindman, Liz Cheney, and everyone else who didn't commit actual crimes that Trump will actually take revenge on too. Or just admit this is plain nepotism.
I voted for Harris, but I'm also sick of watching Biden single-handedly prop up MAGA with his ridiculous bullshit. And we're not doing ourselves any favors by trying to justify this - the election's over, we can stop pretending we like this guy now. Replace the failed leaders, yell at them until they go into the private sector. Now is the best time.
As someone with an NPD "friend" - I have to look beyond the insults and threats and see the insecurities and vulnerabilities behind them. Most people just can't or don't want to do that and will be insulted if not scared away by the things my friend says to them. There's also a stigma associated with being friends with someone who is abusive - I keep the friendship secret from all but my closest friends, who have a hard time understanding it themselves.
"And in other news, the death figures were released today. Once again, the leading cause of death is: being a baby. Over the last year, 2,268 infants died naturally of babyness."
Everyone is in agreement: the takeaway for Democrats this election is to adopt my specific political views and eliminate any positions that I personally dislike.
Trump promised the social media nutjob faction, the corrupt billionaire faction, and the low-brow entertainment faction that they'd each get to call all the shots. Kinda awkward when they all get in the same room together.
I'd be curious about what makes him different from the others. There's been some research regarding fluid intelligence* vs. crystalized intelligence, where liberals tend to be more on the fluid side. It kind of makes sense because rather than trying to figure out what they can't understand off the bat, conservatives tend to rage against it.
As far as gifts, I dunno. Maybe a puzzle game? I don't know what's big in the puzzle game world now, if anything. The idea is make your son more comfortable with the idea of tackling novel problems instead of trying to cram them into an existing framework.
*it's called "intelligence" but I tend to think of it more like a thinking strategy. Fluid intelligence being "can I think of a way to solve this?" while crystallized intelligence is "what strategy that I'm familiar with already can solve this?"
Let's be real - all the car companies are owned by terrible people. If it's not Elon, it's some other soulless capitalist who pushed subsidies and lower efficiency standards for mega trucks that speed up global warming just as we're supposed to be slowing it down.
I think the message is that there's a thin line between the hero and the villain. The villain feels the same anger and desire for justice we all do. Just add a bit of delusion, and you can turn Gandhi into Hitler, or Batman into the Joker.