November 4th Conclusion: Not with a Bang but a Whine

November 4^th was described as Antifa’s attempt to start a revolution. This was a bit hyperbolic and most people understood that a revolution or civil war was not going to happen. Due to past violent actions of Antifa and their supporters everyone was going to keep an eye on this protest, even if they did not expect much. This was a perfect response, doubtful but ready.

What actually took place on November 4^th was even weaker than expected. I attended the rally in Portland Oregon to see what they hype was about. Patriot Prayer, a local pro conservative group, showed up to watch and things got interesting.

Your Side!

I stood in the crowd listening to a speaker who introduced herself as a LGBTQ person of color through a black mask over her face. Her speech lasted about two minutes, consisting of her on the verge of tears upset about Trump being president and the plight of minorities.

She ended her speech by saying you should be proud of your identity. This kicked me hard in the funny bone and my mouth, always a bit faster than my brain, opened and out came the reply, “Even white identity?”

This got the attention of a nearby Antifa guy whose head whipped around so fast that I thought he had hurt his neck. He told me to “shut the f**k up with that shit.”

I was in too deep at that point so I doubled down and noticing he was white too, I called him brother. This just made him even angrier and he told me not to call him brother. I laughed to myself and said “Of course, brother.”

This was a tame interaction compared to a few of the ‘conversations’ that were had. I noticed that the Anti-Trump people kept using the phrase, your side. They would say, your side flies the confederate flag or your side chanted blood and soil in Charlottesville.

The Patriot Prayer group had denounced and even kicked out white supremacists from their rallies, doing everything they can to welcome anyone who is for freedom of speech and liberty.

The phrase, your side, is very telling. It would suggest that the Anti-Trump people have no interest in a conversation with anyone who is conservative or a Trump supporter. It lends itself to a view of the world that sees people only in groups. Groups based on skin color, sexual preference, or some other single aspect of a person.

So if a conservative did something somewhere that was immoral then all conservatives are to blame. The Anti-Trump people have a clear world view, either you believe their ideology with religious zeal or you are a bigot and not on their side.

Crowd Size

From the excitement around the protest and the amount of planning that went into it I expected a larger crowd. The videos online make it seem like large groups of people, yet I could not help but notice that my brother-in-law’s neighborhood parties have more people at them. I had more people at my wedding, about 150, then were at this protest that was supposed to kick start the revolution that ousted the Trump/Pence ‘Regime.’ There were even more people at Trumps inauguration.

This just made all the hyperbolic rhetoric sound pathetic and empty. Half the crowd seemed to be made up of Pro-Trump people, media, passersby, and curious onlookers. The other half was made up of Antifa, bitter self-righteous old women, pro-communist/anti-capitalist, and activists.

The March

After the speeches were done a march was to begin. I waited as the march headed toward the waterfront. After it got a block or so away I followed with a group of Trump supporters. Several times on the march I was asked by people on the street what was going on.

It turns out most people had no idea what was happening and once I explained it to them they seemed disinterested. It was starting to rain and was cold so people were heading into bars for a drink and a warm meal, or were just trying to get home.

The protesters who were marching used the same old chants as if repeating a religious mantra. Most people just politely waited for the protest to go by and went back to their life.

I left halfway through the march, life called and I had other things to do. The protest was small and the general public had no idea what was going on. The revolution never materialized and in the end you just had a tiny group of people who can only see the world in terms of groups. For that I am not angry with them but feel sad that they fail to see that everyone is an individual and each person has an individual story that is just as amazing as everyone else’s.

I hope one day these collectivist authoritarian ideas loosen their hold on these protesters, but until then we much keep a watch for their spread. Freedom and Liberty are fragile things and need to be protected for future generations.