August 14, 2014

Dehumanizing The Citizens Of Ferguson

When a St. Louis County police officer can be heard on camera calling protestors “animals,” that is a police officer who has stepped outside his professional training. He has now ventured into the dangerous territory of dehumanizing members of the community. And regardless of what those protestors were saying or doing, if they weren’t breaking the law (or even if they were), the police can never do their job correctly if they are equating human beings to animals. You cannot possibly see the point-of-view of another human being if you have extracted their humanity from your mental assessment of the situation.

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August 12, 2014

Police Department or Militant Cabal?

In the 13 years since the events of 9/11, police departments across America, from large cities to small towns, are increasingly resembling military personnel in Iraq, not the friendly neighborhood police force they should be. I mean, what the hell are small town police forces doing with MRAP (Mine-resistant ambush protected) vehicles anyway? Yes, they’ve got ’em. While we were busy worrying about our personal finances and holding on to our jobs, the police slogan “to protect and serve” was beaten over the head and dragged through the streets until it resembled something more like “to harm and harass.” And the constitutional rights of citizens and journalists are in jeopardy when the police decide they need to use force, which it seems is happening with greater frequency. Police departments are using violent force in response to events and protests, force that is not justified or equal to the facts on the ground. Is this really the land of the free? Or is this just a continuation of a shared experience of minorities in this country, since it’s founding, that now knows no racial border? Are white guys like me simply waking up to a reality that has long existed in this country for racial minorities? But even if that is true, I still feel as if something has shifted for the worse when we decided as a country to militarize our police forces in the aftermath of 9/11.

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August 12, 2014

Government Fail?

Conservatives are hung up on big government, saying government doesn’t work, government can never work. But in a segment from a while back, Rachel Maddow clarified this jaundiced attitude when she said, “Government = Bad is not a solution to our problems.” It’s much more productive knowing what you are for, instead of waging a negative campaign in search of the next thing to be against. “Government = Bad” is not a political philosophy, it’s just the unthinking hyperbole of a regressive political curmudgeon, uninterested in solving problems.

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August 11, 2014

You’re intolerable

To ascertain if a person is intolerant, you must first understand that human rights come before beliefs. If my intolerance towards your beliefs is in defense of a human right, then the only intolerance that matters in this scenario is yours.

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August 11, 2014

Violence never solved anything

Recent world events make me think about if there will ever be a time when human beings realize that war and violence never solve problems. Oh, I know what you are thinking, there goes Mr. Liberal and his utopian thinking. But even if you think that, it still doesn’t mean I’m wrong. There has never been a time when the “opposition” has changed their minds because of the use of force. So unless you are prepared to kill everyone you consider an opponent, including their children, which of course is an untenable position to hold, then war and violence never solves any problems. It’s amazing in 2014 how we still think this is a workable solution to anything.

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