A Home Invasion

Civilization Is Fragile 

House interior, Morgantown, W.Va. Walker Evans/FSA, 1935.

It's a Friday evening. You're sitting at the kitchen table, writing a list of things that need doing over the weekend. Your spouse and children are at the movies. It's a quiet time.

And then it's not. There's a loud bang at the door. You're startled, but decide you should investigate. As you're standing up, a large man in dark clothes appears in the kitchen door. Things are happening very quickly. 

The large man punches you in the face, breaking your glasses. Then he hits you again and knocks you to the ground.

You're on your back. Your head hurts and you can't see very well. Your heart is thumping and you're having trouble breathing. You think you may throw up.

The large man is pointing a large pistol at your face, directly between your eyes. He speaks.

"Where's the money!" It's not a question. It's a demand.

Several days later, you're standing in your living room, holding a cup of coffee. There's no place to sit. The invaders used knives to rip open the sofa and the two easy chairs. They also cut up several paintings that had been done by an older relative who is not in a position to paint replacements. There is graffiti spray-painted on the walls.

The phone rings. It's the police. They have captured the three home invaders.

"So," the officer asks, "do you want us to prosecute them, or do you want us to let them go?"

Domination

Home invasions are about money, but they are also about domination. In this country, they are almost always a private affair, but, in Italy, Benito Mussolini used them as a tool of politics. I wrote about this in 2019:

"Not that we should underestimate the seductive, iconoclastic power of the fascists. Mussolini had at his disposal hit squads, or squadri, composed largely of petty criminals and wannabe thugs. The squadristi would use the manganello, a kind of billy club, to beat people they didn't like. They would also make them drink castor oil. Another favorite tactic was the home invasion, where the homeowner's furniture and other belongings would be thrown into the street. The squadri also ransacked newspaper offices. (See Caroline Moorehead, A Bold and Dangerous Family, 2017, pp. 77- 78, 129-130, 140-141, 147. For a recent article in Slate, click here.)

"Numerous judges and police officers simply loved the squadristi, and would go to great lengths to keep them out of jail, even before the March on Rome. (Moorehead, pp. 78, 82.)"

(To see the full story, click here.)

Justice

The sack of the Capitol - the People's House - was a home invasion. And now various people are saying that it wasn't that big a deal, and we should move on - no, that was a Bush-era phrase. Now it's "unify."

I say we need justice to be done first - and not just to the people who were on the ground at the Capitol, but to all those who abetted and incited, including the president.

Then we can talk about moving on and unifying. But we will never forget.

See also A Moment in Time, Reform in Head and Members.