Rising Police Aggression A Telling Indicator Of Our Societal Decline

[Binkie The Clown]

A historially common marker of failing civilizations

My first Uber lift was in South Carolina. My driver was from Sudan originally, but had emigrated to the US 20 years ago. Being the curious sort, I asked him about his life in Sudan and why he moved. He said that he left when his country had crumbled too far, past the point where a reasonable person could have a reasonable expectation of personal safety, when all institutions had become corrupted making business increasingly difficult. So he left.

Detecting a hitch in his delivery when he spoke of coming to the US, I asked him how he felt about the US now, 20 years later. "To be honest," he said, "the same things I saw in Sudan that led me to leave are happening here now. That saddens me greatly, because where else is there to go?"

It’s time to face some uncomfortable ideas about the state of civilization in the United States. This country is no longer the beacon of freedom illuminating a better way for the world. Why not? Because it has ceased to be civilized.

The recent spate of police brutality videos and the complete lack of a useful or even sane response by the police unions is shaping my writing here. But it goes well beyond those incidents and extends into all corners of the lives of US citizens now, as police abuse is only one symptom of a much deeper problem.

link: http://www.peakprosperity.com/blog/92427/rising-police-aggression-telling-indicator-our-societal-decline Continue reading at the link

I don't know why this link didn't work.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

1. Ties into my theory that while most police violence is reserved now for non whites

our day is coming, us white folk gonna get our asses beat, shot and killed soon.

It is inevitable as more of us refuse to tolerate all this shit.

[awoke_in_2003]

13. Yep, police brutality is old news

to some sectors of our society.

[Eleanors38]

17. As Malcolm X said, the Second Amendment is for all of us.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

19. He said it but nobody in white America agreed, then or now.

Maybe not nobody, crazy white liberals like me do, but then my interpretation of the 2nd amendment would disappoint you.

But if interpreted the way the NRA told the SC to interpret it, yes.

I said long ago that if the entire AfAm community was armed, we would have an interesting situation.

I said it a little rougher than that and was of course alerted on and silenced, but oh well.

[Eleanors38]

34. You've probably seen the latest from Pew Research which shows a huge...

increase in the Favorability rating of self-arming among blacks over just the last 2 yrs. This seems to comport indirectly with Gallup findings which show a significant jump in the number of armed "self described Democrats" in the space of 2 years (in this case, from 2010 - 2012).

One of the salient facts about the Second is that it doesn't matter what White or anything else America thinks.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

41. Havent seen that , not sure I understand "favorability rating of self-arming AfAm over 2 yrs"

Does this mean more AfAm are arming themselves?

If so, good.


Didn't Reagan initiate gun control when he found out AfAm were buying guns in California or something like that?

[Eleanors38]

43. Reagan probably modeled his legislation on Southern states, the font of fun control....

Most laws enacted in the latter half of the 20th Century were based on Southern apartheid models; ironic that the South has liberalized the Second Amendment the most (a friend of court brief in Heller was submitted by Georgia Carry).

The Pew study asked black respondents how they viewed self armament, favorable or unfavorable. Two years ago "favorable" got only 29%; now the results show 53%.

(In a separate story I read, the police chief of Detroit actually encourages citizens there to arm for self-defense since his depleted force can no longer respond in a timely manner, if at all. Perhaps this is a unique situation, but other cities are on the brink of similar fiscal problems.)

The Pew findings surprised me to some degree, and suggest a seismic shift in gun control politics since the governing elites in primarily Northern states & cities formed a constituency of sorts for prohibition. The other components of the gun control outlook are the near-hegemony of MSM (on a severe decline), and pockets of academia and foundation funding (both scaling back since Heller). These are significant trends which should be considered by any who wish to revitalize the Democratic Party, and by Hillary, who remains tone-deaf on the subject of gun politics.

The trends of AAs arming themselves hasn't been specifically addressed, AFAIK. There is anecdotal evidence of a significant increase overall in the number of people arming themselves, but the pollsters are a little behind the curve.

[villager]

2. Missing link, Binkie?

The thesis in the excerpt, however, seems sadly correct...

[sendero]

3. Link

http://www.peakprosperity.com/blog/92427/rising-police-aggression-telling-indicator-our-societal-decline

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. As an immigrant I see it as well.

I hear it a lot from minority communities. There is a certain level of despair

[Surya Gayatri]

5. And there you have it...

"This country is no longer the beacon of freedom illuminating a better way for the world. Why not? Because it has ceased to be civilized."

[CrispyQ]

6. Excellent article. Wish I could multiple rec.

Terrorism is not such a common thing that we need to define our entire crowd control methods around it, but a rare thing, and is really what’s left over after a few individuals feel like every other option of redress has been stripped away. Which is why it’s practically unheard of in the US, and most other civilized countries.

But domestic US law enforcement agencies have been training and outfitting themselves as if it’s a top threat. Why is that?

There are not very many reassuring answers to that question. One is that our law enforcement agencies lack the ability to discern actual threats from imaginary ones. Another is that they envision a time when some portion of the civilian population feels as if it has lost all hope and options for a better future, and starts resorting to terrorist acts.

Either way, very poor answers.

[hifiguy]

14. Hint - It's the second one.

TPTB do not trust the uniformed military to turn on their own when the crunch they are engineering comes. They know the kkkops will massacre the citizenry if "necessary" with never a second thought.

[marmar]

31. "Why is that?"

Because I suspect they have forecasts of "what's coming" in terms of economic collapse and the effects of climate change. "Terrorism" is a euphemism for the domestic chaos they anticipate.

[CrispyQ]

33. "Terrorism" is a euphemism for the domestic chaos they anticipate.

And the chaos they created.

[calimary]

7. Very important story. VERY crucial realizations to start coming to terms with.

And there will of course be shitloads of denial about this. But I see it as being true. I wrote a column about it once, called "The Meaning of America" - as in, not what America "means" but how MEAN America has become. Just fucking MEAN. Mean-spirited. I put all the blame on the so-called "right" with their cold-heartedness, their IGMFU-"Sucks to be You" attitude toward everybody who doesn't qualify for country club membership, that is. The racists, the sexists, the jingoists, and worst of the lot - the religious extremists. They're the ones who plaster God onto the surface of all this, as if that'll somehow give it cover and wash away its sins.

[Arugula Latte]

11. God, Guns, & (our entirely bought) Government will be our downfall

[xynthee]

32. I'd like to read that!

Care to share?

[Blue_Tires]

8. "rising?"

I'd argue that it's about the same it has always been, especially in the black community...The only difference now is people are paying more attention...

[blkmusclmachine]

9. https://solomonradley.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/tumblr_lbo1swqf6x1qb50kc.jpg

[951-Riverside]

10. No, its because they are not being held accountable by a small group of self serving elites in Gov

Society is just fine IMO.

The Police Chiefs, Police Unions, District Attorneys, Oversight Committees, Internal Investigators and Judges are the problem here. They continue to refuse to hold these officers accountable for their actions and when you give a profession a license to kill without repercussion, guess the types of people you're going to attract.

[haikugal]

26. I agree. Our courts were stuffed with Bush appointees..

Has Obama managed to appoint his judges? There is no accountability, that's the problem...it's an extention of the mind set that said torture was useful, necessary and moral. Inside out reichwingers
and their warped memes. It makes us all look sick.

The question is why? Is it because our government and institutions are being undermined and dismantled by the right? The Oligarchs? I can't help but feel we are under attack from within.

[RoccoR5955]

12. Perhaps the society here in the US

but it's not like that everywhere. In Europe, especially the northern countries, the police want to have more cooperation from people, and less confrontation, so they view violence as a last tactic. They are probably better trained in non-violent tactics, as some of us peace activists were back in the day.
As a matter of fact, upon reading an article about the Dutch police, where they were involved with 33 gun incidents, and killed not a one, the statement from the public prosecutor (equivalent of our District Attorney) reads : "Forms of aggression and intimidation questions in society to appropriate enforcement action by police officers. Research on use of force by police officers with serious consequences should be carried out carefully and objectively. This is of great importance both for victims and survivors, as well as the police officers involved. Moreover, it is essential for the confidence of the society in a just and honest government police."

(Quotes are translated to English. The original Dutch can be found here )


To me it seems that the attitude there is quite different from the attitude here. They want confidence of the public of their police. Here in the US, they are just here to "protect." No confidence needed, we just obey their "commands." Not over there. You are ASKED, not commanded to do something, with a much more humane tone. This can go a long way to ending the violence, because face it, violence only breeds more violence. The only way to break the cycle is with some humanity and peacefulness.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

21. Instead of the classic, "What's all this then?" it's "BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!,......FREEZE!!"

[onethatcares]

15. once the american public

accepted torture as a norm, all sense of higher morality went out the window.

when bribes called campaign contributions became the norm, all faith in our laws took a dump

when an election was stolen and no one from the losing side protested loudly, our electoral system was no longer trusted.

there's more, but I just downered myself.

Good luck.

[haikugal]

27. Good post and a I downer myself all the time...

[Spitfire of ATJ]

16. I believe it's white panic.

[Eleanors38]

18. Actually it might turn to White Riot (The Clash). Good lyrics.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

20. When you look up race riots that's the history....

White people grab up the guns and start shooting black people on sight.

Later it's justified by claiming it's the white people that are the REAL victims.

[Binkie The Clown]

23. I don't recall the source, but

I remember hearing once that virtually all race riots in the U.S. came about as a result of police violence.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

25. Or a black guy is accused of doing something to a white woman....

That was plenty to cause white males to go insane.

[Eleanors38]

35. I believe the last "race riot" was in Jacksonville, FL, in 1960. A black man caught

up in the melee later was elected sheriff of Duval County. Not only has the culture changed from enacting risk-free pogroms, but there is a realization that if you attack the black (or any other) community, you will take casualties.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

36. It's tougher to get a race riot going after the kids have been raised together.

[Eleanors38]

39. This is true. FL has its history with racism, but the establishment here also has a

history of trying to stop this crap, if for no other reason than its tourism dynamo. Since the late 50s, while other state governors went to the annual Southern Governors' Conference, Florida declined. Even Claude Kirk (r) declined.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

42. Florida gets a lot of retirees from northern States too...

Many would gladly land in California if they believe Florida is becoming South Alabama.

[Eleanors38]

44. Florida went for Obama twice, and for Gore. But the Party (as elsewhere in many states)...

has collapsed, and effectively ceded the field to the far right (there really is nothing else, politically). Incidentally, Central Florida area has the biggest concentration of Puerto Rican-Americans in the nation, outside of NY. And they trend Democratic.

No one is speaking for any philosophy other than Far Right junk. This is the undeniable problem: The Democratic Party runs from its past, and from any label, and from any belief system; therefore, it CAN'T have anything to offer, can't recruit, and can't talk back. And this is all over.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

45. There's still a teaching moment that's ongoing between FDR Dems and a new generation of Liberals.

[99th_Monkey]

22. Societies With Little Coercion Have Little Mental Illness

http://www.madinamerica.com/2013/08/societies-little-coercion-little-mental-illness/

This comes as no surprise to me, and it seems germane to your OP.

[GliderGuider]

24. Martenson hits another one out of the park. nt

[Jesus Malverde]

29. Uber is a sign of our decline

A disruptive, unregulated service that skirts the law ignoring well established regulated taxi services.

[marmar]

30. Yep. The militarization of police forces is a big red flag.

As Chris Hedges says, the forces used externally are now being used internally -- a mark of an empire in decline.

[randome]

37. "Ceased to be civilized" isn't much of an answer.

That just puts the question off another level. Why are we "uncivilized"? I say overpopulation is at the root of most of our society's ills. 300 million Americans? Far too many.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]The truth doesn’t always set you free.
Sometimes it builds a bigger cage around the one you’re already in.[/center][/font][hr]

[Binkie The Clown]

38. Supply and demand.

The supply of people far outstrips the demand for people, so the value of people goes down.

In short, too many people. I agree with you.

[The2ndWheel]

46. Overpopulation is the petals of the flower

[Trillo]

40. The difficulty here is that it has been going on for a long time.

Folks have been screaming about police brutality for decades, since the 1960s at least, through the 70s and 80s. These voices were always marginalized, discounted, and treated as invalid by those who mattered. Oh, they're just a bunch of hippie druggies.

The difference now is the cameras and microphones.

The article offers an interesting solution, but is it just an effort to keep insurance from having to pay out?

My solution is simply this: every time a police department loses an excessive force or wrongful death case and has to pay out money, that money should come from their local police union’s pension fund. And by law, these losses cannot be refilled with taxpayer funds.