I feel like this is not the best way to assess political violence. Terrorism and assassinations are intended to intimidate people and influence policy.
His data is obviously incomplete. He deliberately ignores the vast amount of incidents that fall under even his own definition of terrorism, and only counts deaths.
"Furthermore, we should all at least realize how uncommon politically motivated terrorism is."
I think a key factor to keep in mind here is it's how uncommon the VERY SUCCESSFUL politically motivated terrorism is. A whole lot of politically motivated terrorism is prevented because of the massive amounts of resources invested in countering those who would do it. I so regularly write stories about police somewhere busting some guy for some low level offense only for them to find an arsenal and a hit list, or for them to stop some guy with a rifle waiting outside the house of a Jewish congressman. I certainly value the economists for their ability to analyze the numbers, but there is broader context around the numbers to consider too.
If you are only counting deaths, and ignoring injuries and property damage, then you are not analyzing "violence". It means that you have ignored massive amounts of left-wing violence committed by the likes of BLM, antifa, environmental loons, etc.
Thank you Alex. Two things I want to put on the wishlist:
1. A graph of left-wing violence alone, separated from other categories, showing no increase.
2. Comparison graphs to other countries, like Germany or the EU as a whole. That would probably take a long time, but I think this subject will continue to be misunderstood by many.
This may be true, I don’t know how to check your data or its classifications about attacks since 2020. But this begs the question if perception is true - that assassination is a far more acceptable solution among those on the left than the right? I’d be curious how those numbers bear out.
I feel like this is not the best way to assess political violence. Terrorism and assassinations are intended to intimidate people and influence policy.
You provide much-needed data-driven sanity, as always! :)
His data is obviously incomplete. He deliberately ignores the vast amount of incidents that fall under even his own definition of terrorism, and only counts deaths.
"Furthermore, we should all at least realize how uncommon politically motivated terrorism is."
I think a key factor to keep in mind here is it's how uncommon the VERY SUCCESSFUL politically motivated terrorism is. A whole lot of politically motivated terrorism is prevented because of the massive amounts of resources invested in countering those who would do it. I so regularly write stories about police somewhere busting some guy for some low level offense only for them to find an arsenal and a hit list, or for them to stop some guy with a rifle waiting outside the house of a Jewish congressman. I certainly value the economists for their ability to analyze the numbers, but there is broader context around the numbers to consider too.
Alex...according to you, none of this qualifies as left-wing violence. Did you design your study around the conclusion you wanted to draw?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXZCTHmPn0g&rco=1
thank you for this rational analysis, much appreciated.
If you are only counting deaths, and ignoring injuries and property damage, then you are not analyzing "violence". It means that you have ignored massive amounts of left-wing violence committed by the likes of BLM, antifa, environmental loons, etc.
Thank you Alex. Two things I want to put on the wishlist:
1. A graph of left-wing violence alone, separated from other categories, showing no increase.
2. Comparison graphs to other countries, like Germany or the EU as a whole. That would probably take a long time, but I think this subject will continue to be misunderstood by many.
This may be true, I don’t know how to check your data or its classifications about attacks since 2020. But this begs the question if perception is true - that assassination is a far more acceptable solution among those on the left than the right? I’d be curious how those numbers bear out.
Excellent work sir