A friend of mine, Stephen Schier (who was the Department Chair when I taught at Carleton College), wrote a great piece in our local paper on the increasingly violent impulses that have been bubbling to the surface in American politics.
America, at least on the left, is adopting a political assassination culture.
Before you think that this is an alarmist conclusion driven by partisan suspicions, there is plenty of evidence to back up the idea that the current climate of hate is widespread, and not just the result of a few unhinged hotheads who dream of hitting the big time. Democrats are telling pollsters that they think political assassinations are at least somewhat justified, and Democratic Party Congressmen are now whispering that their constituents are demanding that blood flow through the streets.
"There needs to be blood": Democrats' voters tell them to "get shot" in Trump resistance push https://t.co/tqOWVnFshu
— Axios (@axios) July 7, 2025
Steve rightly points out that the violent impulses stem from a dangerous moralism in politics rather than its opposite. It is utopianism, not just the lust for power, that is driving the left to seek the violent elimination of "bad" people.
Political moralism can focus usefully on abstract moral and ethical principles, but that focus can lead to a view of political combat as a binary battle between the forces of light and darkness. An authoritarian impulse fuels extreme moralism – evident in the right imposing the ten commandments or the left imposing gender ideology in school curriculums.
That impulse can lead to a drive to exterminate political opponents.
We are all aware of the harsh denunciations of political opponents by President Trump and his MAGA supporters, rooted in a sense of moral superiority over their opponents. Similar sentiments are widely abroad on the political left. Minnesota features outspoken advocates of both moralistic extremes.
The researchers concluded: “These attitudes are not fringe – they reflect an emergent assassination culture, grounded in far-left authoritarianism and increasingly normalized in digital discourse.”
You read that right. It's not a few leftists who approve of political assassinations. It is over half.
To assess support for political violence, we surveyed 1264 U.S. residents, balanced to reflect Census data on race/ethnicity, gender, age, and education.4 Respondents were asked demographic information, political identity, several political and psychological scales, and questions concerning their acceptance of specific forms of political violence. A score of 1 meant that the respondent considered political violence completely unjustified. Scores from 2 to 7 indicated that they believed there was at least some justification for political violence, and, in the case of those choosing 7, that it was completely justified.The survey revealed several troubling trends. Over half of those who self-identified as left of center(56%) reported that if someone murdered Donald Trump, they would be at least somewhat justified(see Figure 1; similar proportions supported murdering Musk and destroying Tesla dealerships). Thisincludes 14.1% who said this murder would be “Completely Justified.” Similarly, half (50.2%) of those who self-identified as left of center said the murder of Elon Musk would be somewhat justified (or greater), with about 10.7% saying this is “Completely Justified” (see Figure 3). Over ⅓ of all respondents believe it is at least somewhat acceptable to destroy Tesla dealerships to protest Elon Musk’s involvement in the Presidential administration.
And those assassinations are happening. Last year, there were two assassination attempts on Donald Trump. Then we saw thousands of people pouring out their love for Luigi Mangione. Law enforcement has become a regular target of violence and even murder, and Democratic Congressmen are getting grief from their constituents about their failure to spark more violence.
The leftist impulse to foment violent uprisings is in the very DNA of the movement. Leftism is a modern phenomenon, with its roots in the French Revolution. It is based on a belief that there is no inherent human nature, and that the only thing that stands between us and utopia is "bad" people. Get rid of the bad people, and universal goodness is just one step away: kill the baddies.
A few weeks ago, @ChrisMurphyCT attempted to gaslight Americans that political violence isn’t really an issue on the left:
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) July 8, 2025
“This isn’t a both sides issue."
He is now silent as a slew of leftwing radicals are charged for attempting to k*ll ICE officers.
Where are you, Chris? pic.twitter.com/uSCaVHbvpY
This is a fundamentally anti-political trend, if you understand politics to be the mechanism we use to create societal consensus about issues. It is a reversion to what liberal philosophers called the "state of nature," where violence is the means we use to impose our wishes.
It is also a surefire way to destroy prosperity, which experience shows is directly correlated with individuals exchanging goods and services freely. This is why capitalism works and socialism fails — it's the difference between free association and coercion. In coercive societies, the way to impose your will is to kill or destroy; in free societies, one gets ahead by making others better off with your services.
The art of politics is getting collective action through consent. Unfortunately, the movement to dispense with consent and go straight to coercion is growing.
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