The people of Ferguson are not afraid of ISIS. They are however afraid of being shot down in the streets by their own police force. Truth be told most of the good people of Ferguson don’t give a good goddamn about what happens in the Middle East. Not to the Israelis or the Iraqis or to any sub-group thereof. What they do care about is being poor with little hope of much of anything except maybe being killed by an all white power structure. So who exactly are all of these Middle Eastern oil wars being fought to protect? It ain’t the poor folks in Ferguson because most of them can’t afford to buy much gas to begin with.
Too real to be funny, but this “strip” has it exactly right. The real tragedy of militarization of domestic police departments is the “us vs them” culture. This horrible, unthinkable perversion of the role of police is the clearest domestic sign that we are already a fascist state. Of course, minorities have always been targeted and brutalized, and they still get most of the outright, murderous brutality. And it’s always about “protecting” people and property and about preserving “order.”
In the bigger picture, up to now it’s all just practice. The real payoff will come when (if?) Americans wake up and realize they are being robbed blind and oppressed by the entire rotten social, political and economic superstructure. In other words, when they start asking, “which people and what order are you protecting?”
When the “police” line up in their riot gear backed by armored vehicles and “crowd control” technology against common citizens asking hard questions, it won’t matter what color you are, what language you speak, or how peaceful your protest.
Like many others, I have taught my kids not to trust police or other authority figures, not to assume the rights they are taught in school are real, not to expect due process, and never, never to contradict or confront any person with a gun. Just like parents of black kids have been doing for many decades.
Don’t even think of telling me to vote for HRC because she’s the lesser of two evils. This didn’t happen without the knowledge and support of both major political parties.
The people of Ferguson are not afraid of ISIS. They are however afraid of being shot down in the streets by their own police force. Truth be told most of the good people of Ferguson don’t give a good goddamn about what happens in the Middle East. Not to the Israelis or the Iraqis or to any sub-group thereof. What they do care about is being poor with little hope of much of anything except maybe being killed by an all white power structure. So who exactly are all of these Middle Eastern oil wars being fought to protect? It ain’t the poor folks in Ferguson because most of them can’t afford to buy much gas to begin with.
Too real to be funny, but this “strip” has it exactly right. The real tragedy of militarization of domestic police departments is the “us vs them” culture. This horrible, unthinkable perversion of the role of police is the clearest domestic sign that we are already a fascist state. Of course, minorities have always been targeted and brutalized, and they still get most of the outright, murderous brutality. And it’s always about “protecting” people and property and about preserving “order.”
In the bigger picture, up to now it’s all just practice. The real payoff will come when (if?) Americans wake up and realize they are being robbed blind and oppressed by the entire rotten social, political and economic superstructure. In other words, when they start asking, “which people and what order are you protecting?”
When the “police” line up in their riot gear backed by armored vehicles and “crowd control” technology against common citizens asking hard questions, it won’t matter what color you are, what language you speak, or how peaceful your protest.
Like many others, I have taught my kids not to trust police or other authority figures, not to assume the rights they are taught in school are real, not to expect due process, and never, never to contradict or confront any person with a gun. Just like parents of black kids have been doing for many decades.
Don’t even think of telling me to vote for HRC because she’s the lesser of two evils. This didn’t happen without the knowledge and support of both major political parties.