What turns normal people to political violence? A new series from The Daily Wire.

By Xi Van Fleet and Sasha Gong | Published by The Daily Wire

In Brief by Probe International

The Daily Wire’s new series, “American Maoists: Warnings from the Cultural Revolution,” co-authored by activist Xi Van Fleet, a survivor of Mao’s Cultural Revolution, and scholar Sasha Gong, explores alarming parallels between Chinese communists and American leftists, particularly in relation to political violence and radical ideologies.

Drawing from their experiences, Van Fleet and Gong reflect on the Red Terror of August 1966, when indoctrinated youth unleashed violence against perceived “class enemies,” resulting in more than 1,772 deaths. This brutality was not spontaneous; it stemmed from nearly two decades of relentless indoctrination that taught loyalty to the Communist Party and hatred for its enemies, even among family members.

“The danger of Communism is not that it comes all at once, but that it creeps in gradually,” cautions Van Fleet.

The authors argue the American Left has had even more time to cultivate a similar mindset, using education and media to sow division and animosity. While the U.S. has not faced a Cultural Revolution on the same scale, the authors assert the conditions for such violence are alarmingly present.

As political violence becomes normalized, Van Fleet and Gong warn that society risks granting a “license to kill.” They cite recent events, including the Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Antifa riots, assassination attempts on political figures, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and escalating attacks on law enforcement, as evidence of this dangerous trend.

“When a society accepts, justifies, and even cheers political violence, the license to kill has been granted,” they write.

For the original full-text version of this essay, see the publisher’s website here.

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