We Are Better Than This

A short time ago, an 18-year-old girl slashed a tire on a man’s SUV at the Paradise Valley Mall. When caught and arrested for this crime, she said she vandalized the vehicle because there was a red MAGA hat on his car dashboard.

We are better than this.

Progressives do not need help from people like this misguided brat who defiles a person’s property like a Neo-Nazi vandalizing a synagogue all because of what that person believes. She deserves the fine and jail time she is eligible to receive.

That man with the red MAGA hat has every right to have his political views as does any other person in this free Democratic Republic. People, like this man whose vehicle was vandalized, is like any American who is trying to live and make ends meet for him and his family. While we may disagree with his (and those who share them) political views, he wants to live in a safe, free, and prosperous country for his family and himself.

It is just as wrong to assume that all people with MAGA hats are racists, reactionaries, nativists, and xenophobics as it is wrong for Trumpists to believe that all Democrats are socialists who want unsecured borders. People need to remember that there is a substantial number of people who voted for Barrack Obama at least once and then Mr. Trump. 

It would have been better to win this person over by the power of progressive ideas and convincing him of the validity of progressive positions. Vandalizing his property does not convince him on the merits of the progressive cause. It just hardens his support for the perspective he holds and makes the vandal more like those reactionary nativist zealots people should steer away from.

We are better than this.