I didn’t make an ad hominem argument, I made a reductio ad absurdum argument. It is just as absurd to condemn the Black Lives Matter movement as Marxist because of the beliefs of a few “founders” as it is to condemn the GOP as a racist party because of the clear racist actions and beliefs of Trump and many of his close advisors. As for destroying capitalism…well, I’m no big fan of gray, dismal winters and blazing hot summers either. My feelings/beliefs about these seasons are just as irrelevant to the future of the weather as are the anti capitalist beliefs of young and naive “Marxists” are to the future of national and global economics.

Using these terms to condemn the many tens of millions of Americans of all colors and ethnicities who believe that in our country black lives don’t matter the way that white ones do is just a scare tactic. Conservatives seem to need scary “others” to fear and fight; this seems a central necessity to the formation of their personal identities. In most cases the chosen objects of their fears are overblown, over estimated, and sadly their focus on these non threatening “fear factors” diverts way too much energy and resources away from the actual threats the nation and the globe face.