Why are leftists so violent and intolerant?

Trying to make sense of recent and current events

This video is a discussion between Stefan Molyneux and Dr John Paul Wright, Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati and the author of Criminals in the Making: Criminality Across the Life Course. It was published two weeks ago and is extremely relevant to current events.

Leftists have been involved in a great deal of lawless violence recently, claiming to protest against fascism, racism, Islamophobia, sexism, anti-environmentalism etc. while starting fires, destroying property, beating people up, bearing sharpened sticks and bats, and even shooting someone because of nothing more than a political disagreement. There was also a plan to shut down an inaugural ball using butyric acid.

In my upcoming book The Big Step, I argue in quite some detail, or indeed warn Muslims in the Anglosphere against getting cozy with the left. These people are generally not mentally healthy or stable and their sweet words about Muslims, or immigrants or minorities, are not to be taken seriously. These people want control and power and minorities are simply pawns in their game. Study the works of Thomas Sowell or Walter E. Williams to learn what the left has done to the black community, and especially the black family, in the United States over the past fifty years.

Acting and thinking like a victim is completely disempowering. If you believe that your lot in life is someone else's responsibility or fault and never your own, it is highly unlikely that you will value and respect the society and the people around you. Rather, you will view the people around with envy and resentment, especially those who are better off than you, and this stems from the belief that life is a zero-sum game, i.e. no one gets richer unless someone else gets poorer.

Assuming personal responsibility is thoroughly empowering. Yes, as believers we rely on Allah and believe in His decree and predestination, but we strive and work hard to make something for ourselves and of ourselves. To put it simply, we do our best and Allah does the rest. We don't wallow in depression and self-pity. Instead of being victims and whiners, we are supposed to be winners, grateful to Allah and confident in His mercy and His success. Life is a positive-sum game. Allah says that if we are grateful, He will increase us.

The message of the left is the opposite. They want Muslims, like every other minority in the Anglosphere, to feel sorry for themselves and to feel that the system is against them, whatever it may be: the establishment, the patriarchy, white supremacy etc. This is an absolutely defeatist mentality and it will fill your life with dread and pessimism. This is not a healthy way to think or live and it is certainly not how a believer should think or live.

Yes, there are billions of people out there who don't like, and indeed passionately despise, Islam and Muslims. Some of them actively engage in activity to undermine Islam and Muslims. So what? Is this anything new? Does this contradict anything that the Lord has told us in His Speech?

“The Jews and the Christians will never be pleased with you until you follow their religion.” [al-Baqarah 2:120]

“You will be tested in your wealth and in yourselves and you will hear much harm from those given the Book before you and from those who are idolaters. But if you are steadfast and are godfearing, that is the most resolute course to take.” [Āl ʿImrān 3:186]

“That is because they hate what Allah has sent down…” [Muḥammad 47:7]

Islamophobia is complete and utter nonsense, a notion invented by the left, just like the slogan "Islam is a religion of peace". Islam is not a race or culture either, and should never be regarded as such. Regardless of our behaviour or actions, even if we were all super-righteous and super-generous, unbelievers are supposed to dislike us and what we believe. Did this stop the Muslims of the past from founding massive empires, building the best institutions of learning, the best hospitals and the most impressive libraries? Did this prevent Muslims from producing great scholars and scientists in just about every field? 

The message of the left is a lie and fraud. Success and achievement do not depend on whether people like you or say nice things about you. Rather, they depend on you: your mindset, your diligence and your reliance on Allah alone, for with Him is every success.  

Further reading:
Political ideology predicts involvement in crime