One of the defining features of political conservatism is a fierce commitment to the principle that the ends do not justify the means. Whenever there is popular anger at some injustice, real or imagined, the advocates of change will try to dismiss whatever lawless deeds accompany the protest by trying to constantly divert our attention back to the original injustice: “Stop talking about what I’m doing! Didn’t you see what they did to me first? Don’t you see how gross this injustice is?” We have seen this tactic over and over in the intemperate protests by many “conservatives” against the restrictions imposed to stop the spread of Covid-19; we are seeing it now again in even fiercer tones in the often-violent wave of Black Lives Matter protests over the death of George Floyd. To be sure, the two movements are very different in their motives and their logic, and I don’t want to be careless with the analogy—or to imply a blanket denunciation of all forms of protest that might technically run afoul of the law.
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