tyler blog- gultang


Using the Galtung conflict model, I want to analyze the January 6th Insurrection of the Capital.  The Galtung model is shaped as a triangle and has three vertices - Behavior (what you saw), Attitudes (Why it happened) and Context (How it happened).  

I want to first talk about the Attitudes and basically why I think it happened.  Over the past many years, probably more than I have lived, there has been an increasing level of distrust of our federal government.  Because of this, Donald Trump used this distrust as a platform to get elected in 2016. In fact, during the 2016 election, Trump used sayings like “drain the swamp,” “crooked Hillary,” and MAGA “Make America Great Again” to further remind voters of the distrust of government and its officials.   In addition, the racial mix of the US population is changing. The white population is declining while minorities are increasing.  Additionally, the use of social media has increased where misinformation and conspiracy theories are published and shared like the “Big Lie,” that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.  Social media companies are using algorithms to give its users the information they want to read which is only one view of the issue at times.  Thus, our politics are becoming more and more polarized and differing opinions are less tolerated.  With this background, extremist groups on both sides - liberals and conservatives - have flourished.  

The Behaviors that we all saw on January 6th was a crowd of Trump loyalists storming the US Capital, putting many of our Representatives, Senators, their staffs and the Vice President in harm's way.  The crowd stormed the US Capitol after listening to a fiery speech from the then President Trump and others as they talked about election fraud.  At times, you could see that several insurrectionists were working together as if this was planned.  Since January 6th, we have found that many of the insurrectionists have a military background and are members of White supremacists groups like the Oathkeepers, the Proud Boys, etc.  

If you put this together contextually, the conflict is that Trump and his followers believe that the 2020 election was fraudulent and that he won (i.e. the Big Lie). Trump continues to spew this conspiracy theory over social media and to anyone who will listen.  Trump tried the case in over 60 courtrooms and never could prove the fraud even in front of Trump picked judges.  The other side believes that the election was just and fair.  Since Jan 6th, Trump has become the first President to be impeached twice but not convicted.  This gives Trump the power to continue to spew the “Big Lie” and pass on misinformation.  (445 words)


Using the Galtung conflict model, I want to analyze the January 6th Insurrection of the Capital.  The Galtung model is shaped as a triangle and has three vertices - Behavior (what you saw), Attitudes (Why it happened) and Context (How it happened).  

I want to first talk about the Attitudes and basically why I think it happened.  Over the past many years, probably more than I have lived, there has been an increasing level of distrust of our federal government.  Because of this, Donald Trump used this distrust as a platform to get elected in 2016. In fact, during the 2016 election, Trump used sayings like “drain the swamp,” “crooked Hillary,” and MAGA “Make America Great Again” to further remind voters of the distrust of government and its officials.   In addition, the racial mix of the US population is changing. The white population is declining while minorities are increasing.  Additionally, the use of social media has increased where misinformation and conspiracy theories are published and shared like the “Big Lie,” that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.  Social media companies are using algorithms to give its users the information they want to read which is only one view of the issue at times.  Thus, our politics are becoming more and more polarized and differing opinions are less tolerated.  With this background, extremist groups on both sides - liberals and conservatives - have flourished.  

The Behaviors that we all saw on January 6th was a crowd of Trump loyalists storming the US Capital, putting many of our Representatives, Senators, their staffs and the Vice President in harm's way.  The crowd stormed the US Capitol after listening to a fiery speech from the then President Trump and others as they talked about election fraud.  At times, you could see that several insurrectionists were working together as if this was planned.  Since January 6th, we have found that many of the insurrectionists have a military background and are members of White supremacists groups like the Oathkeepers, the Proud Boys, etc.  

If you put this together contextually, the conflict is that Trump and his followers believe that the 2020 election was fraudulent and that he won (i.e. the Big Lie). Trump continues to spew this conspiracy theory over social media and to anyone who will listen.  Trump tried the case in over 60 courtrooms and never could prove the fraud even in front of Trump picked judges.  The other side believes that the election was just and fair.  Since Jan 6th, Trump has become the first President to be impeached twice but not convicted.  This gives Trump the power to continue to spew the “Big Lie” and pass on misinformation.  (445 words)



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