When thugs lead businesses such as United Airlines to expect the their help in confrontations with the public, they encourage companies to treat the public harshly.

United's policy decision to order Dr Dao off the plane to make room for a pilot was wrong, but it was the thugs that started the violence on that day.

However, at a deeper level, it is the political influence businesses have gained over what should be democracy is the reason that thugs are there encouraging businesses to use thugs to intimidate the public.