Protest is only seen as fundamentally American when those who have long had the luxury of seeing themselves as prototypically American engage in it.

While this article by Tim Wise for the San Francisco Sentinel beats its main point almost to death, it's an important point that needs to be made...and heard. 75 white boys with guns protesting the current administration isn't too scary to me, but affirmative responses to their behavior in mainstream media outlets is troubling indeed.

Trust is the prime constituent of the social atmosphere. It is as urgent not to damage that atmosphere by contributing to the erosion of trust as it is to prevent and attempt to reverse damage to our natural atmosphere. Both forms of damage are cumulative; both are hard to reverse.

To be sure, a measure of distrust is indispensable in most human interaction. Pure trust is no more conducive to survival in the social environment than is pure oxygen in Earth's atmosphere.

But too high a level of distrust stifles cooperation as much as the lack of oxygen threatens life.

Sissela Bok
Common Values (1995)