Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson appeared on local news, refused to condemn looting in Chicago, and then pivoted to Social Justice™ talking points about systemic racism and whatever.
This looting-as-political-protest narrative is a prevalent refrain of the left — one that, upon examination, falls apart.
In theory, arguably — heavy emphasis on arguably — the case could be made that arson is a form of political protest, an act of destructive rage with no other legitimate outlet.
Related: Why Isn’t ‘Gun Violence’ as Bad in Indianapolis as Chicago?
Arson is inherently destructive. So, if a group has an aim to inflict massive shock and awe and financial damage on the people and the property of those people it perceives to be guilty of whatever injustice, arson is one way to go about that, as is interpersonal violence.
In V For Vendetta, for instance, the protagonist blew up the Old Bailey in a huge spectacle to direct attention to a very specific political agenda — namely, fomenting popular revolution. The 9/11 hijackers had a very specific brand of Islamic fundamentalism to peddle. They got the attention they wanted.
Looting, though, is nothing like arson or racialized mob violence or political terrorism. It is inherently about personal gain. There is nothing political about it except that it is given rhetorical political cover by people like the Cook County commissioner.
People loot because they want free stuff.
The people who loot during racial riots under the fog of war provided by racial riots are the lowest of the low. They co-op and delegitimize any legitimacy that the political movement might have had to begin with — all so they can get a new set of sub-woofers or a Gucci™ belt or whatever nonsense because they have been conditioned to have an addiction to mindless consumerism by vapid pop music and Instagram influencers and endless advertising.
In the meantime, their Gucci™ belt that called their name from behind the Target™ window right before the brick flew through it costs the credibility of the whole racial grievance industry they pretend to advocate for as they rebrand their petty retail theft as an act of moral righteousness in the storied tradition of Martin Luther King, Jr. himself.
What would Malcolm X think of what has become of his black liberation movement?
These people have no idea what their real name is.
What has become of that movement is Al Sharpton dressed to the tee on MSNBC with a multimillion-dollar contract and a comfortable seat next to Slay Queen Jen Psaki.
What it’s become is Hobbesian state-of-nature carnage passed off as a civil rights campaign.
It’s BLM ripping off its own supporters and leadership buying up million-dollar properties for themselves with all the money they collected in the aftermath of the passing of George Floyd.
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