I was planning on writing about the unbelievable amount of misinformation in the scientific community surrounding a bunch of issues that are affecting us in the present day including the COVID-19 virus and global warming. But recent events have unfolded that will cause me to delay this blog for another day.
As everyone knows, riots (I am sorry mainstream media, but these are more than protests) are breaking out all over the country in at least 20 cities so far. I ended up in the middle of one on Friday evening. While picking up my daughter from her Uncle’s house where she was babysitting her cousin, there were around 300-400 protestors in Rancho Cucamonga appealing for justice. I got stuck in the middle of the protests and was confronted by a protestor about my “thoughts” on what happened in Minnesota. For people who know me, this response should not be a surprise. I told the young man, “The police have it coming. This behavior has been going on my entire life.” He shook my hand and let me pass through the chaos. You can read about these protests here. Apparently last night, there was a second night of protests in the same area that turned violent. Read about that here. In various suburban cities throughout the Los Angeles area as well as the city itself, there has been widespread violence, looting and protesting. For anyone who seems ‘surprised’ but what is happening, you have not been paying attention. I feel that if the military gets involved to tamper down these riots in the near future, we are going to be looking at a dangerous and violent situation that resembles many similar situations we see in other countries. If the military starts killing rioters or protestors, then I can no longer defend my own government. It will be revolution. In terms of the police, I am one of those individuals who never jumped on the “military and police” hero worship that has infected our country since 9/11. The police and firemen who were involved in 9/11 were heroes. Many of them due to the toxins and pollution caused by the towers collapsing have succumbed to cancer and other medical conditions over the past decade. Despite this, the post-9/11 climate created by this event was manipulated by our government to create a police state on this nation. Many of my friends know that I protested, blogged, and generally opposed the actions of the Bush administration during the buildup of lies that led to the Iraq War and our tech surveillance culture. Obama, like Clinton before him, did nothing to change this status quo and got us involved in other countries like Libya and Syria that had nothing to do with the American interest. Even if you take race out of the equation (Which is impossible since the poor are generally affected more by police brutality and the poor are usually minorities), the police have been turned into a seventh branch of the military and have been trained to become more desensitized to our populace. If you want to know how we got to this point, we have to reflect on ourselves and what we have allowed to happen over the past four decades. Anyway, here is a brief summary of things that we have allowed to happen that only a small minority of our population (Including myself) ever seemed to show any interest in preventing: Out of Control Military Budget where money often just appears out of nowhere to pay for whatever the Pentagon wants. 5% of the world’s population, 25% of the prison inmates. Many of these people are in prison for non-violent crimes. We also have too many regulatory laws on personal behavior. There is something wrong with a country when a speed limit drops from 40 to 25 in a “speed trap” and the cops are there to give you a 40 MPH in a 25 MPH speeding ticket that will cost you 400 dollars. Plus, the system is set up to punish the people who can not pay for their own freedom meaning that the majority of the individuals incarcerated are poor. Allowing corporations that are excluded in the Constitution to create the surveillance tools that our government uses for its own benefit. Local police that are increasingly using military tactics and weaponry to deal with the American citizenry. To not account for this factor is to overlook one of the key changes in our culture over the past 20 years. Finally, there are the violent wars. According to the Trump administration, there are seven right now. In 2019, we had bases active in 80 nations around the world involved in some sort of training or operation. So, knowing all this information, are you surprised that these protests have turned violent against a police force that has been engaging in this type of behavior since way before my birth? As a final comment, I am personally opposed to looting. Any time a riot evolves into personal property damage (Except against the agitators of the riot where you can legitimize it), the protest loses its purpose. Watching many looters break into banks, cell phone stores, and grocery stores takes the attention away from the powerful message being portrayed and puts it onto the people that are taking advantage of the situation for personal gain. I will never accept this logic. Please be careful out there. Times are a changing. Let us hope that this leads to some positive changes.
2 Comments
5/31/2020 02:03:15 pm
Well written, thoughtful, truthful observations... Also many facts taken from eyewitness accounts (Dan Evenich), who personally experienced riots up close and personal when he worked in Los Angeles. how many people did we see on local la channels, carrying furniture down the street or looting shoe stores or stealing from the grocery stores. That has nothing to do with racism. Everyone is more than welcome to go into stores and purchase things... No companies are prejudiced about you buying at their stores. Like you said looting or stealing takes us into another direction because now thugs and criminals are running the show. I always wondered where the police were protecting people's businesses? They seem absent..Also, the medisimedis manipulating a new distraction. Well done, Crispin.
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Quell Archae
5/31/2020 07:54:12 pm
I have to think there's more to the story of how the bent knee of Derek Chauvin ended up causing riots. The media is selling an inflammatory yarn and people line up to buy it. You have to ask who gains from this? It's all a manipulation. As to when protest goes from rage against specific targets to random looting, all restraints are off. Anyone with a looted TV or cell phone still in it's box, out after 2000 hours, is a target for the armed militia and deservedly so. Society should (will) give a pass to shop owners who repel looting by deadly force. They should be remembered as good people putting down opportunist animals. But what do I know?
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