And other warning signs…. by RL 2018-02-17 16:43:34

I’m not too surprised to learn Nikolas Cruz displayed extreme Right Wing
tendencies–note the MAGA cap, the “antifa” rants, and other dead giveaways in the article RL linked to.

The scene of the shootings, the town of Parkland, is an upscale community in the extreme NW of the urbanized portion of Broward County. They even have their own real estate magazine showcasing their gracious lifestyle. The kids there, who have been getting a lot of exposure on local news here, are clean-cut, articulate, preppy types. A list of the victims and interviews with the survivors shows an ideal profile–college bound kids, good grades, solid athletics, community service, and they all seem well-groomed and dressed and good looking–not at all like the low-life troublemaking duck-tailed greasy haired rednecks and punks I went to high school with.

Although I have no idea what the actual political preferences of these kids or their parents might be, I can imagine how a mentally disturbed and troubled youth might have a hard time fitting in with his peers there, and dismiss them as “stuck-up”, Liberal elitists, not exactly the populist, hard-working, salt-of-the-earth, ideal that the Trump followers often see themselves as embodying.

Am I relying too much here on stereotypes? Of course I am! But that’s how these people often think, and knowing that about them is sometimes helpful in understanding how they operate and act en masse. Are all Trumpers vindictive, murderous and envious thugs? Certainly not, not any more than all anti-Trumpers are civilized and refined humanists. But the stereotype does contain a germ of truth…
The mind-set that glorifies the tough-guy rebel who “don’t put up with no shit” is bound to create its own legend whether it deserves it or not.

Besides, it might be of value for Conservatives to reflect on how the habit of thinking in terms of stereotypes, a subtle form of racism (or tribalism, if you prefer) can really sting when someone applies it to YOU. Next time you make generalizations and broad-brush comments about Muslims, or blacks, or Mexicans, Libtards or “the antifa” you might want to keep that in mind.