To my eye, society is fraying apart. People are confused, angry, isolated, and increasingly willing to fight each other. Formerly peaceful resistance is turning into violence. Our baser emotions like fear, anger — rage, even– are now bubbling at the surface.
It’s entirely reasonable for people to be experiencing such emotions right now. But in most cases, their anger is misdirected.
One of the main purposes of this site, and of our work in the world, is to provide the essential context you need to avoid being blindsided by events. We want you to at least know why key events are happening and, if we’re able, to provide guidance on what you should do about it.
In case you missed it, a very telling and emblematic set of protests (or riots depending on your point of view), recently occurred in Berkeley CA:
Berkeley protests of Yiannopoulos caused $100,000 in damage
Berkeley, California (CNN) Protests that erupted at UC Berkeley ahead of a planned Wednesday appearance by right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos caused $100,000 worth of damage to the campus, the school said Thursday.
The university blamed “150 masked agitators” for the unrest, saying they had come to campus to disturb an otherwise peaceful protest.
Two Berkeley College Republicans “were attacked while conducting an interview” on the campus on Thursday, UC Berkeley also said in a prepared statement. The attackers, who were not affiliated with the university, were taken into custody by UC Berkeley police.
Administrators decided to cancel the Wednesday event about two hours before the Breitbart editor’s speech. UC Berkeley said it removed him from campus “amid the violence and destruction of property and out of concern for public safety.”
(Source)
These recent Berkeley protests are deeply ironic. On the surface, a lot of unhappy people assembled to protest the imminent appearance of the speaker, Milo Yiannopoulos, who is admittedly both very conservative and purposely provocative. Many of his statements fly directly against the PC(political correctness) culture dominant on liberal college campuses like Berkeley.
An argument of the protestors was that Milo should be banned from speaking; that he did not deserve the right to free speech because he espouses hate. In other words, that the first amendment no longer applies because of the type of speech involved.
by cmartenson 
