The Galtung Triangle and the Capital Riots - Charlie

     Although I'm sure this conflict will be used by 90% of the class, there is no better way to shine a light on the capital riots than through the Galtung Triangle, so therefore I will join the masses in analyzing it. Although Donald Trump definitely holds some of the burden for orchestrating the riots, the tale of the capital riot lies in its contradictions. These contradictions are the underlying conditions that lead to the capital riots: runaway income inequality, a distrust and disbelief in government, and racism. 

    It has been 48 years since wages stopped keeping pace with productivity, and since then, wages have flatlined while productivity has continued to soar.

Forbes

During this time, the supporters of Donald Trump have seen the effects of this. Stagnant wages have made recent generations the only ones to not see an increase in the standard of living over their parents, and income inequality has become one of the nations biggest issues. While this is happening, largely due to Republicans attacks on unions, tax cuts for corporations, and gutting of workers' protections, conservatives have blamed immigrants and minorities, and their supporters believed them. This created a dynamic where Americans believed that their economic woes were entirely due to the actions of other Americans, rather than the systematic disenfranchisement of poor people and the middle class. While this was unfolding in the 1970s, the Vietnam War was created widespread distrust of the government and its ability to do good work for its citizens. The G.O.P latched on to this distrust, and to this day Republicans believe that any action by government, especially to interfere with the capitalist market to create higher wages for the poor and middle class, is not only bad, but dangerous. The explosive combination of a strong distrust in government, an economy working against Main Street, and deep rooted racism created the contradictions necessary for the capital riots.

    The attitudes and assumptions of the rioters also contributed to the capital riots. Although racism was one of the primary contradictions, it was also one of the primary attitudes. Photographs show that many of the rioters clothing displayed hateful messaging towards various minority groups. Along with racism, victimhood drove the rioters to storm the capital. They believed that they were the victims of a conspiracy to steal the presidential election from Donald Trump, and this attitude was one of the primary motivations behind the capital riots. 

    It was also spurred on by the initial behavior of Donald Trump and his associates. Trump told rioters he would march with them to the capital, and that they would "stop the steal" and that "you'll never take back our country with weakness." That prompted the true behavior of the day; the rioters stormed the capital looking for lawmakers, erected nooses outside of the capital, and brought zip-ties with them to tie up their captives. Luckily, there were no deaths that day, but America came very close to allowing a fascist insurrection to topple democracy.

    An analysis of the capital riots utilizing the Galtung Triangle shows the dire consequences of allowing poor economic conditions, disillusionment with the effectiveness of government, and deep-rooted social injustices to fester within a country. If the United States wants to prevent another capital riot, they need to first deal with the contradictions that allowed it to happen in the first place. 

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