Political extremism is not just a national security threat but a mental health emergency

[TexasTowelie]

The 13-minute video of the attack on the Capitol that House impeachment managers showed at Donald Trump’s second trial this week is a visceral display of the terror wrought by the rise of political extremism. Waves upon waves of enraged rioters smashed windows, rammed doors, and spit in the faces of Capitol police. Some were armed, and some were ready to kill.

Not all those who harbor extreme beliefs act out their passions with violent insurrection, of course. But the sorry truth is that millions of Americans believe at least some of the paranoid lies that conspiracy theorists have spawned and that Trump’s incendiary politics inflamed. A survey by National Public Radio in December found 39 percent believed in the existence of a mythical “deep state” working to undermine then-president Trump. The Pew Research Center found a quarter of adults believe that the coronavirus was “intentionally planned by powerful people.”

The danger of political extremism in American families today goes well beyond awkward moments at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Violent extremists, and specifically white supremacists, “remain the most persistent and lethal threat in the homeland,” according to the Department of Homeland Security. The hateful thugs who stormed the Capitol must be found and punished for their criminal actions. Five people died during the attack. But we also need to understand what drives people to radicalization and how they can be weaned away.

Groups that work with families desperate to reclaim loved ones lost to violent ideologies report surges of calls to their hotlines over the past year. For them, political extremism is not just a national security threat but a mental health emergency. Myrieme Churchill is executive director of Parents for Peace, which works with families and “recovering” extremists involved in a wide variety of political causes, from Islamic jihadists to the Ku Klux Klan. “It strikes me that even though the families spoke different languages and were from different regions and of different religions, they were telling the same story,” she said. “In every case, there is a mental health element.”

Read more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/02/12/opinion/political-extremism-is-not-just-national-security-threat-mental-health-emergency/

[MisterNiceKitty]

1. Too true

There needs to be widespread mental health diagnostic testing of population

[rwsanders]

2. Covered in a book called"Becoming Wild" by Carl Safina

The relevant section is the third called "making peace". He uses chimps as the example.
Basically a chimp that will never be alpha will try to ally himself with a potential alpha. It is all about status. So the mob mentality makes them feel powerful.
The only solution is long term, we need to start teaching kids that their self confidence doesn't have to come from being better than someone else.