Don’t Be the Useful Idiot They’re Praying For
A hard look at why calls for violence feel righteous, fail historically, and get innocent people crushed
Don’t Be the Useful Idiot They’re Praying For
A hard look at why calls for violence feel righteous, fail historically, and get innocent people crushed
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #750: Saturday, January 24th, 2026.
A man is dead in Minneapolis today…shot and killed by a federal immigration officer during an enforcement operation.
And right on schedule…the internet filled up with the dumbest advice on Earth:
“Hit back.”
“Get violent.”
“Only way to stop a bully is to punch him.”Let me say this so plainly nobody can pretend they misunderstood me:
If you’re promoting violence as the answer…you’re not resisting. You’re volunteering to become their excuse.
You’re handing them the headline.
You’re handing them the pretext.
You’re handing them the “emergency” they’ve been trying to manufacture.That isn’t bravery.
That’s amateur hour.
Yes, your emotions are real
Anger? Real.
Hate? Real.
Fear? Real.
Outrage? Real.Those reactions are biological. Your nervous system is built to surge when it detects threat. Your body dumps chemicals into your bloodstream that scream: DO SOMETHING. NOW.
That’s not weakness. That’s wiring.
But here’s the part the keyboard-warriors never say out loud:
Those chemicals are not a strategy.
They’re an alarm system.
And…if you let an alarm system drive the car…you don’t get “justice.” You get a crash.
What the pros understand (and the amateurs don’t)
The amateurs think “action” means theatrics.
The pros know action means leverage.
Because there are only two kinds of “pushback” in the real world:
The kind that makes you feel powerful for 30 seconds
The kind that makes them pay for 30 years
Violence belongs to category #1…and it usually ends with you in cuffs…somebody else in a hospital…and the machine you hate getting more money…more authority…and more sympathy.
And don’t miss the cruelest part:
The people screaming for violence online are almost never the ones who pay the price.
Other people do.Communities do.
Families do.
The vulnerable do.So…if you’re serious…if you actually want to stop what’s happening…then stop taking your cues from ignorant amateurs who confuse adrenaline for leadership.
Quick in-app check
If you’re reading in the Substack app, comment one word: DISCIPLINE.
Not because it’s cute. Because it’s the dividing line between serious people…and useful idiots.
“But what are we supposed to do?”
Good. Now we’re talking like adults.
Here’s what you do when you refuse to be baited into helping them:
You demand receipts. And you attach consequences.
In Minneapolis today, officials said the fatal shots were fired by a U.S. Border Patrol officer during a targeted operation…and the incident sparked major protests.
That means…right now…before the narrative hardens into whatever PR script they want…the only winning move is: force facts into the light.Not vibes. Not “trust me bro.” Facts.
Receipts look like:
Body camera policy + footage status (what exists, what doesn’t, who controls it)
Use-of-force reports
Names and chain-of-command
Timeline from dispatch to shots fired
Independent investigation with real subpoena power
Because here’s the ugly truth about power:
Power doesn’t fear your anger.
Power fears documentation.Documentation is what gets lawsuits filed.
It’s what gets budgets questioned.
It’s what gets agencies dragged into hearings.
It’s what gets careers ended.Violence makes them bigger.
Receipts make them fragile.The “bully” analogy is childish
People love to say, “The only way to stop a bully is to hit back.”
That’s something you say in a school hallway when you’re 14.
We’re not in a hallway. We’re in a country where the state has:
Badges
Budgets
Prosecutors
Prisons
Friendly media pipelines
And the power to label anything “insurrection” when it’s convenient
If you give them a violent image…you give them the easiest propaganda win in history.
And…then you’ll watch the same people who dared you to “hit back” vanish into the ether…while you and your community deal with the aftermath.
Here’s the real flex: controlled, relentless pressure
You want to know what toughness looks like?
Toughness is watching something horrifying happen…and refusing to hand your opponent the one thing they’re begging for: a justification.
Toughness is staying calm enough to build a case…keep your coalition…and apply pressure where it actually hurts.
Because “hit back” is emotional candy.
It tastes good.
Then…it rots your teeth.A disciplined strategy is vegetables.
Not sexy.
But…it keeps you alive long enough to win
.This is how serious people think
If you’re reading this, I’m going to make an assumption about you:
You’re not one of the amateurs.
You’re not here to perform rage for strangers.
You’re here to protect people and force accountability.That means you don’t mistake feelings for instructions.
You treat your anger like fuel…not a steering wheel.
And…you understand the difference between “making noise” and “making them pay.”
Because if the question is: What stops a bully?
The answer isn’t “swing wildly.”The answer is: Remove the bully’s power.
Legally. Financially. Politically. Culturally.That takes discipline.
And discipline…is exactly what separates the people who win…from the people who become a footnote in someone else’s press release.
