Preemptive Damage Control
Can Anything Stop the Constant Threats of Violence by the Right?
I’m publishing this series of articles to share and discuss my ruminations on coping with a troubled and messy world. You can “follow” me to never miss an article.
One of the most important components of Proactive Crisis Management is not only picking up and constantly Monitoring, but acting decisively on the Early Warning Signals that both precede and announce the eminent occurrence of a major crisis. In the case of the numerous Threats by Extreme Right-Wing Groups and even members of the Republican Party in reaction to the FBI’s legally authorized search for highly sensitive U.S. Government Documents in Trump’s Florida Estate, the Signals are loud, clear, and persistent. They are ignored at our peril.
Indeed, as reported in The New York Times[i], the search has not only emboldened the Right, which labelled it a “lawless raid,” but produced numerous Threats of violence. If Trump is convicted, the fear is that the Threats will lead to actual violence.
No less disturbing are calls from Republicans to Defund the FBI. The Party of Law and Order has in effect endorsed Lawlessness. Their Distrust of the Federal Government is at all-time high.
It’s one thing to pick up on the Unremitting Early Warning Signals of an all-too-likely Crisis, but quite another to prepare for it and even better to mitigate it. Needless to say, this is one of the most critical aspects of Proactive Crisis Management.
Having worked with LAPD, I know that they’ve regularly conducted drills for Civic Unrest. But for widespread Political Violence? Sadly, after January 6, it’s no longer a hypothetical. Yes, barricades are routinely placed around the Capitol when necessary. But this begs the question as to whether the country as a whole is prepared both Physically and Psychologically for a series of violent acts lasting for days and more. Are we equipped to have the National Guard stay for weeks safeguarding major cities and Government buildings?
I know that as Dr. Gloom and Doom my messages are not welcomed with open arms. Indeed, I get no satisfaction out of delivering Bad News on an almost daily basis. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to do whatever little I can do not only to help us think about the Worst, but to take whatever responsible actions we can to lessen it’s becoming true.
[i] Alan Feuer and Maggie Haberman, “Response to Mar-a-Lago Search Highlights Right’s Violet Words,” The New York Times, Wednesday, August 31, 2022, PP. A1 and A14.
Ian I. Mitroff is credited as being one of the principal founders of the modern field of Crisis Management. He has a BS, MS, and a PhD in Engineering and the Philosophy of Social Systems Science from UC Berkeley. He Is Professor Emeritus from the Marshall School of Business and the Annenberg School of Communication at USC. Currently, he is a Senior Research Affiliate in the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management, UC Berkeley. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Management. He has published 41 books. His latest is: The Socially Responsible Organization: Lessons from Covid, Springer, New York, 2022.
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
