While I respect npr somewhat, I have to push back and say I personally don’t find it surprising that the military and other forms of institutionalized violence like the police are not prone to what the media, and by extension, the general public in the US term “extremism”.
Extremism is a relativistic term based off of what is socially accepted at the time. The less socially accepted an act or expressed thought is and the more challenging that act/thought is to the social paradigms in place, the more likely it is that said thought will be painted as extremism and thereby carry a negative connotation.
History repeatedly points to riots and militancy among protest movements as indicating symptoms of a society not representing the interests of particular communities, AND the socially acceptable means of changing their situation proving ineffective.
Militaries and police have historically AT BEST stood by while waiting for fascists/racists/homophobics/nationalists or antifascists/socialists/anarchists to throw the first blow BECAUSE their interests lie only in “maintaining order” and “preserving the peace.”
HOWEVER, I might point out that fascists are far more likely to engage in violence than antifascists. And more poignantly fascists are often prone to using the rhetoric of the police and military, often referring to themselves as wanting to restore order and claiming to only desire.
This is not a mistake. They are courting, often successfully, the police and military to their cause.
Indeed I’d argue that fascism is the immune response of capitalism dating back to its proto-inception when former white slave holders became indignant at the federal laws no longer reflecting their values, and failing to legally protect their right to their “property”. I’d expound on this, but this post is already obviously overly lengthy, so I’ll get to the point.
The police and military are the only institutions our society imbues with socially acceptable and legally defended violence. They supposedly are there to protect the people of a society and the institutions that ensure the longevity of that society, aka the nation. But I’d posit that the police and military have NEVER been in place to protect the people, nor its institutions, even from their earliest inceptions in ANY nation.
Instead they are here to protect and fight for PROPERTY, which capitalists have historically overtly seen PEOPLE as property. One might argue that it is less overt today, but even if that were true, that is a PROBLEM that capitalists want to SOLVE. Because if a PERSON claims they are NOT property, then of what use are they to the capitalist?
So when the police and military AT BEST sit idly by while fascists infect societies across the globe, in all aspects of life, and paint those who are ACTUALLY standing up to them as extremists, I personally would say that the military and police have not failed their people, but that’s only because they were never here for the people in the first place.
To be very clear, I personally think that if you’re a fascist or a fascist sympathizer, then you should not be afforded any rights under the law. Your beliefs are so toxic to society, they are a cancer, and the treatment is nothing short of a death sentence. And if the police and military are unwilling to be part of the cure, then they are part of the cancer.