We Asked an Ethicist if It’s OK to Punch Nazis in the Face – VICE

As I was saying.

President Donald Trump’s inauguration brought up a lot of fiery emotion in people, and if the left’s anger and frustration can be distilled into a single image, it’s that clip of white supremacist and Trump supporter Richard Spencer being decked by an anti-fascist protester while giving an interview on camera.

Unsurprisingly, people on the internet really, really liked this, setting the video to music and generally rejoicing in this bit of violence that was part World Star Hip Hop, part Captain America, and part, “eh, whatever, fuck that guy.”

But this punch inspired a lot of debate. If you think nonviolence is generally the answer, is it OK to hit someone if you really, really don’t like them? On the other hand, if you disagree with socking Nazis in the face, are you giving a pass to literal fascists? If you’re conflicted about all this, is it still OK to giggle at the whole thing?

To settle this, I called up Randy Cohen, the former ethicist from the New York Times Magazine, and the person I generally ask when confronted with moral quandaries.

Source: We Asked an Ethicist if It’s OK to Punch Nazis in the Face – VICE

Punching Nazis and other shenanigans

During the weekend, someone shared a video showing neo-Nazi Richard Spencer getting clobbered in the face as he was doing a television interview. Many of my friends approved of it, saying it’s always the right time to punch a Nazi. I tried to see it their way but couldn’t fully accept this. Nazis are stupid and wrong, of course, and sometimes do evil things, but resorting to violence against them only empowers them and makes us stoop us to their level.

A more useful response is to shun these losers. This drains them of power. Now, this obviously wasn’t a winning approach in the 1930s but Nazis are marginalized today and we should do all we can to ensure they stay this way. Beating them down puts us in the same league as them.

I kinda felt the same way watching another video showing former NC governor Pat McCrory getting heckled in DC this weekend as he walked down a street. McCrory was a hapless, spineless governor – a weasel who sold out the people who elected him – only now he’s a hapless, spineless former governor.

That battle’s been won, folks. No need to fight it again. McCrory can do no further damage to North Carolina. Don’t make him some kind of twisted martyr for the right by giving him even a second’s more thought or attention. The bigger fish still driving NC into the ground from their perch atop the General Assembly are the ones who need to hear from us. They can no longer hide behind McCrory. It’s up to us to hold their feet to the fire now.

On a related note, Vice talked to former New York Times Magazine’s ethicist Randy Cohen, who echoes my thoughts.