Is this all a Coincidence?

 Republicans Campaign on Law and Order

Something is happening in this country. I don’t understand it, but it worries me.  The Republican Convention has just nominated as its candidate for president a well-known fake populist and would-be fascist who is running on a platform of law-and-order. He is trying to scare us into believing that we will be safe only if we elect him to protect us from radicals, communists and dangerous foreigners.  

Violence Springs Up Conveniently

At the same time, very conveniently for him, we have violence and disorder in the streets in widely separated cities in the United States. In Portland, Oregon, peaceful protests and violent ones have been going on for months. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, we have a neighborhood where public services of many kinds have been suspended because the police won’t go into the area. A bus staffed by volunteers is providing emergency health care, and volunteers from local gangs are patrolling the neighborhood to keep the peace. Meanwhile, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the shooting of yet another Black man by the police has been followed by several nights of violent protests.

This Situation Benefits Only the Far Right

From a radical leftist’s point of view, none of these situations serves any useful purpose.  This is not Russia in 1917. No one expects violent protests in Portland or Kenosha to grow into a revolution in which the national government will be overthrown.

These protests are just as useless from an American progressive’s point of view. No one expects that torching stores in Kenosha or attacking a police station in Portland will hasten the day when we have affordable health care for all, free post-secondary education, a green new deal or plenty of affordable housing.

In fact, the only beneficiary of this situation is the well-known fake populist and would-be fascist who is running for president. The disorder that we are seeing lends  “credibility to [his] otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative.” It makes it easier for people to believe him when he tells us that we need to elect him in order to be safe.

What is Going On?

Is this all a coincidence? Did violence break out in Kenosha by chance just at the right moment to give support to the Republican candidate?  Is it likely that violence in Portland has been sustained for months without some kind of outside support or encouragement? Should we believe that the police have spontaneously on their own refused for months to carry out their duties in Minneapolis? Is it likely that all of these things are happening concurrently by chance, or is something more sinister going on? Is violence being promoted by far-right groups in order to give the Republican candidate a chance to be elected?

I wish I knew the answer.