We are blurring the lines between soldiers and policing, and that is a huge part of the more general issue of disproportional use of force in the US.
Drug raids by SWAT teams look an awful lot like house raids in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the increase in the use of raids of this type does an awful lot to dehumanize the populace in the eyes of those participating in the raids.
Too many cops exposed to this approach to policing can begin to see the job from the perspective of soldiers operating in a hostile area, that all affronts to authority must be met with force and dominated.
Far too many incidents, involving the mentally ill (now a Supreme Court case), people of color and poorer whites (the common denominator being poverty) have come to light demonstrating excessive use of force.
Perhaps dialing back the size and scope of swat teams, ending the drug war, stopping patrols with military weapons and riot gear...and reminding everyone that the mission of a police force is not subjugation...but to serve and protect our nations people.
Maybe we can start by pulling cops in paramilitary gear out of port authority and penn station.
This isn't Afghanistan.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Wouldn't we all agree...
Wouldn't we all agree that if history has taught us anything, it's that when a very few aggregate most of the wealth, and opportunity is provided unequally, the world that is eventually created is either totalitarian as the wealthy pay soldiers to protect them, or anarchy as the population eventually rolls out the guillotines?
Wouldn't we agree that when the products of society are more efficiently shared, instead of aggregated, that the overall civilization we live in is improved? When more are educated, more educated conversations ensue. More value is had by all.
What has lead to abusive communist and socialist regimes? The prior abuses of monarchic or despotic laissez faire capitalist societies. The reactionary revolutions of the past are avoidable in the refusal to allow the excesses of the past.
Economic justice is the simple idea that it should be possible to afford a basic living - to eat and have shelter- by working any full time job.
A better world results when we don't go bankrupt and our families don't become impoverished when we get sick.
When higher education is an opportunity not ruled out by income, we create a ladder for everyone.
When education is truly a level playing field, our country is stronger from the aggregation of prepared minds capable of collaborating on a brighter future.
It really isn't that hard. And I guarantee that at a fundamental level, most of us agree that these are essentially the right things to focus on. We are so used to being spun that the reality in front of our eyes has lost shape and clarity. It's really not that complicated. We move forward as a species when we expand the knowledge and abilities of more human minds. The more of us we raise up, the more humanity rises.
Ubuntu. We are nothing without each other.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Wouldn't we agree that when the products of society are more efficiently shared, instead of aggregated, that the overall civilization we live in is improved? When more are educated, more educated conversations ensue. More value is had by all.
What has lead to abusive communist and socialist regimes? The prior abuses of monarchic or despotic laissez faire capitalist societies. The reactionary revolutions of the past are avoidable in the refusal to allow the excesses of the past.
Economic justice is the simple idea that it should be possible to afford a basic living - to eat and have shelter- by working any full time job.
A better world results when we don't go bankrupt and our families don't become impoverished when we get sick.
When higher education is an opportunity not ruled out by income, we create a ladder for everyone.
When education is truly a level playing field, our country is stronger from the aggregation of prepared minds capable of collaborating on a brighter future.
It really isn't that hard. And I guarantee that at a fundamental level, most of us agree that these are essentially the right things to focus on. We are so used to being spun that the reality in front of our eyes has lost shape and clarity. It's really not that complicated. We move forward as a species when we expand the knowledge and abilities of more human minds. The more of us we raise up, the more humanity rises.
Ubuntu. We are nothing without each other.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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