Want to know what progressive activists are like in Portland? Here’s an interview with one: Adam Egelman.

Adam Egelman of Safe Street Rebel is referred to as leader of “a new breed of tactical urbanism that has sprung up across the U.S. and is transforming city streets without the permission of city governments.” “Direct action gets the goods,” reads the title of a panel Egelman participated in. The group participates in confrontation and illegally blocking and modifying roads without working with city transportation permission. One of the activities they were involved in was disabling self-driving cars in San Francisco with traffic cones.

Other quotes:

“Safe Street Rebel is explicitly anti-police.”

“We say ‘bullying works.’ “

“It can be tense with…people who favor car access, or, you know, [people that] oppose safe streets”

I have a serious problem with people like Egelman. They like to break the rules when it suits them, then go running to the cops when it doesn’t go their way. The behavior encourages people to break laws, make their own decisions about what everyone else should do, silences other voices, and…well…as he says: bully people. This works great when others follow the rules – but as we’re seeing right now in our country – it creates an environment in which ‘might makes right’ and rules and laws are just for chumps.

Society only exists because we have collectively agreed to participate and abide by it. If we stop agreeing to participate in it; there is no way for a government or police or military to bring it back. We’ll descend into violent chaos.

Activists like Egelman encourages others to see following laws and rules as pointless. If people like Egelman can do whatever they want, then I’ll do the same. What Egelman doesn’t realize, but what we saw during the 2020 Portland riots, is that it encourages equally extreme people on the other side of the spectrum to the same acts.

It’s the common way of thinking for both extremist left and right groups such as the Proud Boys.

Bullying is an act of violence and behavior that unquestioningly harms individuals, harms communities, harms cities, and harms progress and society. We don’t accept bullies at schools. Nobody likes working with bullies. Bullies destroy the best ideas coming out. Bullies don’t listen to others – they silence dissenting voices. We should stand up against bullies and for those oppressed by bullying.

It’s an incredibly arrogant stance to think your opinion is far more important than scientific evidence, community discussion. It’s a profoundly damaging thing for social structure as a whole. It teaches people to ‘do whatever you want’.

It’s the classic ego trap common with activist.