OK ... i just wrote a bunch of shit which may be one of those "paid for word count" posts so let me summarize here at the beginning and you need to read no further. do unto others as you would have them do unto you. within our small, select community, lets recognize each other. treat each other with civility, respect, and if you are like me ... affection. we cannot solve everything ... but we can create a sanctuary where it works the way it is supposed to work.
// catharsis mode on
pretty simple and obvious. the only semi new thing here is the relatively recently acknowledged rights and protections afforded to legitimate protests. but i will not participate in legitimate protests, in part because i am not comfortable that the righteous goals will not be subverted. riots have more to do with the spirit of carnivalesque behavior than the objectives of legitimate protests. so, i stay away
to the point: people who have power tend to minimalize and brutalize people who don't have power. always has been that way. the good news is, as individuals .. and members of a community, we don't have to carry this with us. we don't have to see everything through this lens. we have to acknowledge the reality but we can resist and overcome the urge to react. as individuals, we can overcome.
if enough individuals overcome, it becomes the culture. good news is that this process works. i have seen it. i grew up in the 1950s and 1960s when lines were not simply more clearly drawn but were codified by the law. i see acceptance creeping into the culture as evidenced by commercials on TV and entertainment venues. elements of equality; races, sexes, religions, sexual orientation, are being codified into law.
no mistaking it. it is a sea change. but the issue of those with power brutalizing those without transcends some of the root cause and needs to be addressed and removed as a root cause, not as a cultural thing.
Americans are famous for trying to avoid paying taxes. such shirking of responsibility is praised and held out as a cultural good. maybe. but citizens need to accept shoddy healthcare, education, and civil institutions as a result (imo).
consider the police force. this (and teachers) always struck me as the last place to cut corners. good pay and benefits makes the pool from which officers are recruited larger. likely those doing the recruiting can select higher quality individuals. so lets spend money on their training and their culture.
does anyone remember mohammed noor? the black minneapolis police officer who shot and killed a white woman? police incompetence is something which needs to be weeded out and that costs money. part of this money has to be spent to inculcate the unit with the proper mission, behaviors, and values. a big part of this is, train the police to feel they are part of the community they serve. do not tolerate an "us" and "them" demarcation. we can do better
Originally Posted by dodger
