Excellent essay. I've been asking similar questions myself in the past couple of months, but in terms of European history.

If I see a conformist activist, the first thing I ask myself: In a real crisis, would this person be the next Oskar Schindler?

The answer is almost always "no".

If I see an aggressive activist, the question is: Would this person still be aggressive during an actual crisis.

In some cases, the answer is "yes". But in the majority of cases I doubt it and think they would just switch sides.

Have you been watching what's happening in Portland? Where on the spectrum do you put those folks?