"Knockout Game," Militias, the Tea Party: More that unites than separates.

So I've seen a lot of hand wringing over the alleged "Knockout Game." A lot of it coming from friends and family affiliated with the Tea Party, prepping, and NWO concerned groups. Now I'm not going to get into the whole "Is there really a 'knockout game'?" issue. There were certainly unprovoked attacks, and while I believe the notion of semi-organized game was one created by the media, that is neither here nor there.

I am here to point out the fact that the behavior of the knockout game comes from an emotional and ideological place very similar to things such as the Tea Party, militias, prepping, and doom porn apocalypse fetishization.

You see, people more and more are realizing that the game is rigged. If you weren't born with certain advantages, it is harder than ever to raise yourself up no matter how hard and earnestly you work. Upward mobility has more to do with networking, glad-handing, and favoritism than at any other point in modern history.

Now people choose to see the source of the obstacles based on their background. Those who come from more conservative backgrounds have been convinced that the big bad government is oppressing them through taxation and "excessive regulation." They have been convinced that they too can become fabulously wealthy if Uncle Sam just got out of the damn way. At the same time, many black people have been convinced that the white man is keeping them down. Incidentally, many white people think that blacks are collectively sucking up all their tax dollars through welfare.

All of these are wrong to varying degrees. If one wants to find a source for our collective oppression, one must look to the corporations and the oligarchs who run them. We have to look at the military industrial complex that eats up more than 50 cents of every dollar you pay in federal taxes. We need to look at an untenable economic model of crony capitalism that is designed to pit us against ourselves.

But that's (again) beside the point. Consider the burning, seething anger that the right feels for Obama (who while incompetent is by no stretch of the imagination any worse than either of the Bushes). Think of all the arm chair revolutionaries who talk on here about how bad-@ss they're going to be if the feds ever come knocking to take their guns away. These folks are itching for a fight and just waiting for the excuse. These are people who just want to punch someone (ideally, a "liberal") right in their smug face. These random sucker punchers feel the same way. They know the game is rigged, but they've focused in on a different target and they feel like they've already been given the excuse.

It's the exact same impulse, but I dare say that these sucker punching thugs are further down the road to revolution than any of these people I see posting "Impeach Obama" memes all over Facebook.

Think about it for a moment. If you're a hard conservative who truly believes that Obama's infractions are bad enough to, not only justify, but DEMAND impeachment and you saw one of these "knockout game" videos where instead of a scary black teenager punching some random white person, you saw a U.S. Marine knock out Obama, how stoked would you be? The video would be posted on here a dozen times 9 of which would include the words "American Hero" in the headline in reference to the sucker puncher.

People are ANGRY. And they should be. It's awful out there. Our system is broken. Yes the government is broken, but that has more to do with corporate influence on our so-called leaders than anything else. Nothing Obama does is socialism. It is crony capitalism at its absolute worst. Obamacare didn't nationalize or take over health care, it's shoveling billions into the PRIVATE health insurance market. It was written by the Heritage Foundation and the insurance companies. Yes the government is inflicting it on us, but they are acting in the interest of the oligarchs. Obama is not coming for your guns, but it sure is helpful to them that you worry about it. The hedge funds that invested in Bushmaster thank you for your support. Benghazi was a clusterfornication of the highest order. Just like every other embassy bombing and attack over the years regardless of president. The NSA's spy program is awful!!! Just as it was when it was approved under the Patriot Act in the weeks after 9/11 and when we first heard about it in 2003! Obama is an awful president, but that is because he is as much a tool of the corporatocracy as every other president since Eisenhower.

Still the anger is being misdirected. Black kids are being convinced it's whitey. Conservatives are sure it's the government. Liberals think it's corporations acting without the complicity of the U.S. government. People are lashing out in their own ways, but their anger comes from a shared suffering at the hands of a common enemy.

Food for thought.

Interesting perspective.
But sometimes an anomaly is a truth and truth is an anomaly.

Nothing is all good and nothing is all bad

There is always time and place and circumstance that is involved

Its lucidity versus rigidity and it seems lucidity is closer to the truth
Though there is a place for rigidity within time place and circumstance

the problem is finding that time

reply to post by RobertAntonWeishaupt


I really think that we as a society are suffering from a "Bunker" mentality. Bush was a divider and so is Obama. On every level, Financial, Religious, Ideology (Duh!), Race...you name it. After 12 plus years of all this, people are not just angry, but they're getting burnt out on it all and starting to become more desperate to grab hold of some semblance of normalcy. So they are withdrawing to those who make them feel more comfortable. And in the process, furthering the divide.

I used to think that the US was well on its way to getting over a lot of their cultural problems, but we have taken so many steps back that it is going to take strong leaders who can work together at all levels to help heal this nation.

reply to post by RobertAntonWeishaupt

the knockout game comes from an emotional and ideological place very similar to things such as the Tea Party, militias, prepping, and doom porn apocalypse fetishization.

More partisan finger pointing.. How did you come up with this? That's pretty far from the truth. It's not a bunch of Preppers or Tea party people out punching Liberals.. The people you see playing the "knockout game" are cowardly thugs, with no respect and no morals. Likely because their parents completely failed them or don't care.

Consider the burning, seething anger that the right feels for Obama (who while incompetent is by no stretch of the imagination any worse than either of the Bushes). Think of all the arm chair revolutionaries who talk on here about how bad-@ss they're going to be if the feds ever come knocking to take their guns away. These folks are itching for a fight and just waiting for the excuse. These are people who just want to punch someone (ideally, a "liberal") right in their smug face..

Are you a writer for MSNBC by any chance?

These random sucker punchers feel the same way. They know the game is rigged, but they've focused in on a different target and they feel like they've already been given the excuse

No, there is no excuse. If you do it, you're simply a piece of garbage. It's not the Tea Parties fault, it's not Obama's fault, it's their own stupidity that drives them.

Think about it for a moment. If you're a hard conservative who truly believes that Obama's infractions are bad enough to, not only justify, but DEMAND impeachment and you saw one of these "knockout game" videos where instead of a scary black teenager punching some random white person, you saw a U.S. Marine knock out Obama, how stoked would you be? The video would be posted on here a dozen times 9 of which would include the words "American Hero" in the headline in reference to the sucker puncher.

Where do you get this idea that everyone just has this blind uncontrollable anger all stored up? Sure, there are some crazies out there, as there always has been.

People have the right to be pissed, look at our country now, look how it has declined so fast in the last 12 years. Does that mean we're all going to go punch someone? No. That's stupid.

reply to post by kx12x


I may point out that your EXTREME defensiveness backs up TDawgRex's point about division and tribalism sinking ever deeper into American culture. I wrote a post intended to highlight some common ground with regards to anger and frustration at the hands of a common enemy, and yet you choose to interpret this as a partisan attack against conservatism. My original post was intended as anything but.

You mistake my intent. I do not condone or justify these random attacks. I am simply saying that they are coming from the same place of anger as the other things I named. And like you and I both said, people absolutely have a right to be angry. That does not equal a right to punch people at random.

I likewise fully recognize that there are not Tea Party people or militia men randomly attacking people, they have far greater restraint than the thugs taking these pot shots.

As for where my estimate of seething Obama hatred comes from, I base this on the vitriol I see every single day on social media. Granted, it's only coming from maybe a 5% of the people I interact with, but the intensity of Obama Derangement Syndrome is pretty intense. And I say that as a full tilt recovering Bush Derangement Syndrome patient.

I would point out left wing equivalents of this behavior, but I can't. The closest I can come is conceding that the "urban youth" taking part in these sucker punches would most likely vote for Obama. But honestly, the most vitriolic stuff I see coming from the left wing these days are links to articles about Elizabeth Warren.

reply to post by RobertAntonWeishaupt

I may point out that your EXTREME defensiveness backs up TDawgRex's point about division and tribalism sinking ever deeper into American culture. I wrote a post intended to highlight some common ground with regards to anger and frustration at the hands of a common enemy, and yet you choose to interpret this as a partisan attack against conservatism. My original post was intended as anything but.

I don't consider myself to fit into either left or right. Reading the first part of the OP reeked of partisan thinking (at least thats how I read it). Although, I may have jumped the gun and I admit I was being defensive, but not in defense of tea party or the right, I get tired of threads on ATS that seem only aimed at pitting people against each other.

As for where my estimate of seething Obama hatred comes from, I base this on the vitriol I see every single day on social media. Granted, it's only coming from maybe a 5% of the people I interact with, but the intensity of Obama Derangement Syndrome is pretty intense. And I say that as a full tilt recovering Bush Derangement Syndrome patient.

I mentioned the last 12 years, that goes back to, and includes, Bush.
I believe that the reason people are so angry at Obama is because the Media refuses to report fairly, on both sides. It was bad with Bush, but it's just bad if not worse under Obama. It seems to be just a game to them, to throw as much mud at the "other side" as possible then ignore what "their side" does. That's where the division comes from.

I would point out left wing equivalents of this behavior, but I can't

You're right, but wait until we get another right wing president, you'll see it just like we did when Bush was president. People need to let go of the "right/left" paradigm and think for themselves. When I hear of a politician doing something I don't agree with, right or left, I don't hesitate to call it out.

The closest I can come is conceding that the "urban youth" taking part in these sucker punches would most likely vote for Obama

I can't say whether or not that is true, I don't believe those kind of people even care about such things anymore. I think it stems from the mindset of society, that "on the edge" mindset, you mention preppers, it's similar, but it's not the same. It's more of a "who cares anymore, all bets are off" type of thinking, a sense of hopelessness, which is usually the opposite of how a prepper would think. Prepping may even be a form of division, unless it's community organized, there will be people who can and people who can't. Those who can, would (in such circumstances) usually think they will be up against those who couldn't or didn't prepare for disaster or civil unrest.

reply to post by kx12x


I'm glad you took the time to consider my intention. Thank you.

You also raise a good point about the media. The government control has been steadily tightening across multiple administrations to the point where the current administration seems to have the tightest control we've seen over messaging and brand-building.

You're also right that preppers have a more optimistic take on pessimism. They still see a society in collapse one with no real future in its current form, but they take the hopeless state of the current system as a chance to prepare for a better one. The nihilists who are sucker punching people have not had the opportunity, wherewithal, or resources to funnel their energies productively. They see no future for themselves or the world and are lashing out in stupid destructive ways.

All in all, I would say we live in interesting times.

reply to post by RobertAntonWeishaupt


Nice piece. You had me nodding in agreement, then shaking my head in protest.

"The knockout game" is real. Was it widespread before sensationalization? Who knows. But it have seen those types of videos circulating for awhile now (a few years).

What we need not do, however, is compare the stupid actions of unempathetic youths to the seething rage and anger of those who feel the brunt of the shrinking middle class and the resultant class warfare.

Would people cheer Obama being sucker punched? Sure...they hate him for a reason that is tangible. Not in the same league as some random schmuck that some kid thinks it would be funny to punch on camera.

Nonetheless, you can still "get ahead" in America if you have two things: personal acountability and intelligence. It doesn't matter how tightly closed the circle is, if you are smart there is always room for you. And if you have personal accountability, you realize that you control your own fate, for the most part (and bristle at the notion that you don't). The smarts thing....that is a trait you are born with and that gives you a great advantage. The personal accountability....that is the rub. That is the trait that Americans seemed to have lost in the last 30 years of receiving particpant ribbons and welfare, where we no longer focus on acheivement but rather focus on effort. This is how we got to folks actually supporting the notion that a burger flipper should make the same as the owner of the restaurant.

Ethnocentric bigotry is as old as the hills. Indeed there is little new under the sun.

Perhaps only the post modern relative freedom of woman is something that is new.

This tribalism is particularly acute within the social paradigms of the southern American culture.

The civil war, in a lot of regard, is still raging on.

It turns out every state in the old confederacy finds it in their politics to not aid its people to decent health care and all of the old rebel states have rejected the ACA

Never mind the health and welfare of the people, the old ethnocentric tribe prevails

That is the crux of the problem, imo.

We are still separate, unequal, and non communicative, and many want to accept the ideas of their old timers even though these ideas of ethnocentrism is what tore this country apart and may or is doing it again!

reply to post by RobertAntonWeishaupt



People lash out like cowards, attacking elderly, and with sucker punches.

But there is more to your post, and much I agree with,

Willtell
Ethnocentric bigotry is as old as the hills. Indeed there is little new under the sun.

Perhaps only the post modern relative freedom of woman is something that is new.

This tribalism is particularly acute within the social paradigms of the southern American culture.

The civil war, in a lot of regard, is still raging on.

It turns out every state in the old confederacy finds it in their politics to not aid its people to decent health care and all of the old rebel states have rejected the ACA

Never mind the health and welfare of the people, the old ethnocentric tribe prevails

That is the crux of the problem, imo.

We are still separate, unequal, and non communicative, and many want to accept the ideas of their old timers even though these ideas of ethnocentrism is what tore this country apart and may or is doing it again!

edit on 10-12-2013 by Willtell because: (no reason given)

The "relative freedom of woman" is not new, nor relative. In America women have quite a bit of control over their lives, and exert tremendous influene on the country and their communities.

But throughout history various matriarchal societies have flourished. It is thought by many that our first societies and cultures were matriarchal. The Venus statues that are dug up virtually everywhere hint at this.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


I have no quarrel with that at all. My point was that the freedom of woman in "this age" is relatively new.

Sure in some eras of history there may have been matriarchal societies but I am referring to this age we know of

Woman just got the right to vote in this civilization around the beginning of the 20th century.

I don’t know how you could deny that woman have been perhaps the most oppressed class for millennium.

And their freedom compared to the recent past is a " new thing"

IMO there can be a great resurgence of humanity because of the feminine nature coming into its own.

I believe that the basic issue of this world is the blockage of the feminine nature.

Willtell


I believe that the basic issue of this world is the blockage of the feminine nature.

you and me both.