As I mentioned a few weeks ago, rioting can be fun and profitable. Aside from that, what is the end game? I think we can agree that the chief organizers of riots, Black Lives Matter and ANTIFA are the militant wings of the far left in this country, so what is it they want?

BLM was founded by self-proclaimed Marxists whose goal has been, ever since Karl Marx wrote his manifesto, to seize power in the name of some aggrieved group (or groups - originally it was the workers of the world, now it is a grab-bag of intersectionally oppressed). All Marxists want to seize power first, then remake society in their image, an image that nowhere includes God.

Depending on the country and the times, that image varies. Marxism as practiced by Bolsheviks in Russia was different from that practiced by Maoists in China, or Castroites in Cuba. It also must be borne in mind that Marxism is a subset of socialism, thus what Bernie Sanders has in mind is going to differ in some respects from BLM. All socialists, of whatever flavor, believe in an authoritarian state which will deal out justice (and punish wickedness) by whatever means necessary. Those 15% of you who are, according to Biden, "not very good people," or Hillarys "basket of deplorables" might be a touch nervous. Marxists everywhere have known how to deal with the likes of you.

Consider some of the goals being espoused here and now. One of BLMs explicit goals is to destroy the nuclear family. How that helps Black lives is not entirely clear to me, since Black nuclear families are largely gone already. So I guess that leaves white, Asian, and other non-Black families to be destroyed, although the past half century has done a good job of gradually destroying ALL nuclear families.

BLM just needs to be patient. Patience is not, however, a conspicuous virtue of rioters, so how exactly is this destruction to take place? The "why," however, has always been clear to Marxists. The nuclear family is a little state within a state, and as such is a competing power structure with the state. No competition can be allowed.

Your guns will be confiscated, since an armed citizenry is dangerous to an all powerful state. Our Founding Fathers made clear why the Second Amendment was in the Constitution. It must be removed. Likewise the First Amendment. Speech must be controlled, as many colleges and universities now put into practice. Business and industry is now following suit. Nice little job you got there, until you say the wrong thing. Then you get canceled.

Contemporary American Marxists are also green - a practice they picked up from the Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party and its founder. Wind power, vegetarianism and public transport over private cars were among those principals being advocated. Traditionally Marxists only cared about production and redistribution of wealth, which is no longer a viable political platform.

So what's ANTIFA up to? It is not an explicitly Marxist group, or indeed explicitly anything, or even an organized group. They are more than anything else anarchists. Anarchists historically (the term dates back to 1539, to mean an absence of government) have been a loosely affiliated assortment of folks very, very angry about just about everything in the society in which they find themselves. Mindless, inchoate rage seems to fit the pattern. As a result of being a movement having no goals, it has nowhere seized power.

This does not mean that anarchists are harmless as, say, anarcho-capitalists are. Anarchists like to break things and kill people, very like grownup children throwing a tantrum. This is often justified as "propaganda of the deed."

Since actions speak louder than words, assassinating prominent figures, or burning down cities, sends a clear message that defying anarchists is an extremely unwise action. President McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist, as were many members of European royalty either shot, stabbed or blown up.

Yet, it is hard for me to see clearly the specific goals of the militant wing of the left, but I am sure I'm not going to like them.

Charles Milliken is a Professor Emeritus after 22 years of teaching economics and related subjects at Siena Heights University. He can be reached at milliken.charles@gmail.com.

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After the riots, what then? - Monroe Evening News