Given that the Communication Director for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Ladd Everitt, is a contributor at this site, don’t expect him to be condemning this bit of insurrectionist thinking any time soon:
I think it’s no accident that the question of self-defense has been coming up in some circles in the Occupy movement at this time. Having the discussion reflects how many people are realizing that moving the 1 percent out of the driver’s seat is a revolutionary mission. The person who doesn’t feel fear at the prospect of revolution is out of touch with their feelings. It’s only natural at such a moment to wonder if there is some way to act boldly — and at the same time stay safe.
The author even notes the history of armed resistance to the Klan and other aspects of the civil rights movement that occurred; facts that make Ladd Everitt decidedly uncomfortable. To be clear I don’t view violence as a legitimate answer to the problem of the 1%, the 3% or whatever side it’s coming from, provided the mechanisms of our Republic still largely function. But the author is at least taking a serious look at a serious topic. When we do this, Ladd is all over us for our “insurrectionism” and violence rhetoric. It just goes to show his double standard, and the double standard of all our opponents.
It just goes to ‘further’ show their dbl standards and hypocrisy noting all the violent and extremist groups they leave out of their ‘timeline’. NBPP, ‘Occupy’, the Bush protesters, etc.
I’m not comfortable with the word “insurrectionism,” since it implies a philosophy or an ideology rather than a response to actual conditions. However, I suggest that the Just War Doctrine provides a useful approach to the issue of when is armed revolt justified. I go into considerable detail about this in my recent book RESISTANCE TO TYRANNY, however, many other authors have addressed the same question, reaching much the same answers I did.