When MLK was leading demonstrations, there was a clear mandate, and a cause with justice. People of disparate races were afforded unequal treatment under the law
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It's like Chris Rock said, "If the police have to go get you, they're bringing an ass-whooping with them."
Mwahahaha!
You have to ask yourself, how STUPID does a person have to be to run from a cop? Especially when you're unarmed? Idiots!
I am so sick of these fools being held up as the victims! I am 47 years old. I have NEVER been remotely in trouble with the cops! But these fools actually think that cops having nothing better to do in life than to go around picking on innocent black people? That they WANT to shoot black people for no reason - and then have their own lives ruined by the publicity, the investigations and possibly criminal charges if it is found that they did something that was not legally justified? That they WANT to lose their job and have their families endure all the hardship of that, as well as the media circus that comes along with these unfortunate incidents?
People think that police officers actually WANT to go through this? For what? All for the satisfaction of shooting poor, innocent, oppressed black people?
Please!
How about this: Don't be a violent criminal and you won't have to worry about getting shot by a cop? How about THAT?
I really hate the "If you don't want to get shot by police, don't break the law" phrasing. There are plenty of cases where the law is unjust. The holocaust was lawful, and everyone killed in it was killed for crimes that they actually had committed. Just because it's law doesn't make it right.
However, Eric garner wasn't killed for selling untaxed cigarettes, he was killed accidentally as a result of resisting arrest. Michael brown wasn't killed for robbing a cigar store, he was killed for physically assaulting a police officer. Trayvon Martin wasn't killed for walking in a hoodie, he was killed for smashing a man's head against concrete. Freddie grey wasn't killed for dealing drugs (or whatever he was being arrested for), he was killed accidentally after fleeing and fighting the police. "The law" didn't kill any of those people, their own escalations of the situation killed them. If *any* of them had behaved calmly, and reasonably, they'd still be alive.
I am going to put this here: What I think that we're looking at is at least in part, an interaction between the war on drugs, and the perverse incentives in the social safety net.
If you're on what I am going to sum up as welfare, which is NOT TANF, but instead a host of other programs that I am not going to list here, every dollar you earn at a job comes out of money you get through those programs. So, there are "perverse incentives" that mean that those seeking a "better life" have no real choice other than crime.
A young person growing up in the inner city will see the people around them. They will see that the lives of the people that relax in the social safety hammock are not different to those that work very hard at low-skilled jobs. So, when they're looking for a "better life", they look to those that have it. Over the last several decades, that has been drug dealers. That means that, de facto, those drug dealers become the "positive role models" in their lives, and gang/drug culture becomes glorified.
So... I actually DO know how to solve that issue, but there's no possibility of anyone listening, and even if they did, it'd take 2 or 3 generations to take full effect. What I still don't know is what the other sides plan is. What the rioters and their apologists want.
I really hate the "If you don't want to get shot by police, don't break the law" phrasing. There are plenty of cases where the law is unjust.
Not in these cases.
The holocaust was lawful, and everyone killed in it was killed for crimes that they actually had committed. Just because it's law doesn't make it right.
I know that. I was speaking directly about these recent cases, and all the others like them. We are not yet to the point where the entire legal system is gone and all the laws are now unjust.
However, Eric garner wasn't killed for selling untaxed cigarettes, he was killed accidentally as a result of resisting arrest.
Don't resist arrest, especially for doing something you know is wrong.
Michael brown wasn't killed for robbing a cigar store, he was killed for physically assaulting a police officer.
Don't assault a police officer.
Trayvon Martin wasn't killed for walking in a hoodie, he was killed for smashing a man's head against concrete.
Don't smash a person's head against concrete.
Freddie grey wasn't killed for dealing drugs (or whatever he was being arrested for), he was killed accidentally after fleeing and fighting the police.
Don't 1) be a criminal, 2) flee police, 3) fight police.
"The law" didn't kill any of those people, their own escalations of the situation killed them. If *any* of them had behaved calmly, and reasonably, they'd still be alive.
Exactly my point. So I don't know what your disagreement with me is.
So, there are "perverse incentives" that mean that those seeking a "better life" have no real choice other than crime.
Sorry, I don't buy that "they have no real choice" routine. There are people who grow up under these circumstances who don't end up either dead, on drugs, criminals, or some combination thereof. They just don't get any publicity. The criminal ones do.
I'm a double minority - female/Hispanic. I was fortunate that I had good parents, but they weren't rich. They both worked difficult, low paying jobs in factories. Now that I'm an adult and I have an understanding of how much things cost, I wonder how they made ends meet at all! Quite remarkable, really.
I could have ended up a statistic. I could have dropped out of school. I could have gotten pregnant as a teen. I could have gotten into drugs/alcohol. I could have hung around with trouble making friends.
I had one of those types of friends. She also is female and Hispanic. She also had two parents in the home. Her life and the lives of her children are now an utter disaster - all due to the CHOICES she made.
I made different choices.
So nope, I do not and will not accept the "they don't have a choice" routine.
No one makes you drop out of school (or just fool around in school so that you barely get by), abuse alcohol/drugs, party, join a gang, get pregnant/get someone pregnant too young, or get involved in petty crime that then often escalates to much worse.
And here is another point: these several cases aren't all the same. They need to be examined and judged on their individual circumstances: the behavior of the man killed; the behavior of the police (or victim i.e. GZ); the reason the police (or victim) made contact with that person; whether proper laws/policies/ethics etc. were followed.
Of the cases mentioned, the Michael Brown case is the clearest-cut: his death is on his own head, period, end of story. The Freddie Gray case (so far as I've seen) is the most suspect: he was a career criminal and the cops may well have had a good reason for chasing him, but (a) it's unclear how he received such a devastating injury, and why the police didn't realize this and summon help for him; and (b) Baltimore city government does have a significant recent history of heavy-handedness that may have contributed to this incident and may need to be addressed further.
I don't know what to think or believe anymore. I find it hard to believe that someone who had spinal surgery just a week ago could be capable of being up and around at all. But I don't know.
What I do is that no one cares about the facts on any of these cases. Or facts on ANY issue.
And I'm losing the energy to even care at all anymore. If I could pack my bags and my family and move to some small town that doesn't have these issues, or to the middle of nowhere, I would.
Let the world burn. Why should I care anymore? That's the point I'm getting to. Sad, but true.
Mwahahaha!
You have to ask yourself, how STUPID does a person have to be to run from a cop? Especially when you're unarmed? Idiots!
I am so sick of these fools being held up as the victims! I am 47 years old. I have NEVER been remotely in trouble with the cops! But these fools actually think that cops having nothing better to do in life than to go around picking on innocent black people? That they WANT to shoot black people for no reason - and then have their own lives ruined by the publicity, the investigations and possibly criminal charges if it is found that they did something that was not legally justified? That they WANT to lose their job and have their families endure all the hardship of that, as well as the media circus that comes along with these unfortunate incidents?
People think that police officers actually WANT to go through this? For what? All for the satisfaction of shooting poor, innocent, oppressed black people?
Please!
How about this: Don't be a violent criminal and you won't have to worry about getting shot by a cop? How about THAT?
Reply
However, Eric garner wasn't killed for selling untaxed cigarettes, he was killed accidentally as a result of resisting arrest. Michael brown wasn't killed for robbing a cigar store, he was killed for physically assaulting a police officer. Trayvon Martin wasn't killed for walking in a hoodie, he was killed for smashing a man's head against concrete. Freddie grey wasn't killed for dealing drugs (or whatever he was being arrested for), he was killed accidentally after fleeing and fighting the police. "The law" didn't kill any of those people, their own escalations of the situation killed them. If *any* of them had behaved calmly, and reasonably, they'd still be alive.
I am going to put this here:
What I think that we're looking at is at least in part, an interaction between the war on drugs, and the perverse incentives in the social safety net.
If you're on what I am going to sum up as welfare, which is NOT TANF, but instead a host of other programs that I am not going to list here, every dollar you earn at a job comes out of money you get through those programs. So, there are "perverse incentives" that mean that those seeking a "better life" have no real choice other than crime.
A young person growing up in the inner city will see the people around them. They will see that the lives of the people that relax in the social safety hammock are not different to those that work very hard at low-skilled jobs. So, when they're looking for a "better life", they look to those that have it. Over the last several decades, that has been drug dealers. That means that, de facto, those drug dealers become the "positive role models" in their lives, and gang/drug culture becomes glorified.
So... I actually DO know how to solve that issue, but there's no possibility of anyone listening, and even if they did, it'd take 2 or 3 generations to take full effect. What I still don't know is what the other sides plan is. What the rioters and their apologists want.
Reply
Not in these cases.
The holocaust was lawful, and everyone killed in it was killed for crimes that they actually had committed. Just because it's law doesn't make it right.
I know that. I was speaking directly about these recent cases, and all the others like them. We are not yet to the point where the entire legal system is gone and all the laws are now unjust.
However, Eric garner wasn't killed for selling untaxed cigarettes, he was killed accidentally as a result of resisting arrest.
Don't resist arrest, especially for doing something you know is wrong.
Michael brown wasn't killed for robbing a cigar store, he was killed for physically assaulting a police officer.
Don't assault a police officer.
Trayvon Martin wasn't killed for walking in a hoodie, he was killed for smashing a man's head against concrete.
Don't smash a person's head against concrete.
Freddie grey wasn't killed for dealing drugs (or whatever he was being arrested for), he was killed accidentally after fleeing and fighting the police.
Don't 1) be a criminal, 2) flee police, 3) fight police.
"The law" didn't kill any of those people, their own escalations of the situation killed them. If *any* of them had behaved calmly, and reasonably, they'd still be alive.
Exactly my point. So I don't know what your disagreement with me is.
So, there are "perverse incentives" that mean that those seeking a "better life" have no real choice other than crime.
Sorry, I don't buy that "they have no real choice" routine. There are people who grow up under these circumstances who don't end up either dead, on drugs, criminals, or some combination thereof. They just don't get any publicity. The criminal ones do.
I'm a double minority - female/Hispanic. I was fortunate that I had good parents, but they weren't rich. They both worked difficult, low paying jobs in factories. Now that I'm an adult and I have an understanding of how much things cost, I wonder how they made ends meet at all! Quite remarkable, really.
I could have ended up a statistic. I could have dropped out of school. I could have gotten pregnant as a teen. I could have gotten into drugs/alcohol. I could have hung around with trouble making friends.
I had one of those types of friends. She also is female and Hispanic. She also had two parents in the home. Her life and the lives of her children are now an utter disaster - all due to the CHOICES she made.
I made different choices.
So nope, I do not and will not accept the "they don't have a choice" routine.
No one makes you drop out of school (or just fool around in school so that you barely get by), abuse alcohol/drugs, party, join a gang, get pregnant/get someone pregnant too young, or get involved in petty crime that then often escalates to much worse.
Reply
Of the cases mentioned, the Michael Brown case is the clearest-cut: his death is on his own head, period, end of story. The Freddie Gray case (so far as I've seen) is the most suspect: he was a career criminal and the cops may well have had a good reason for chasing him, but (a) it's unclear how he received such a devastating injury, and why the police didn't realize this and summon help for him; and (b) Baltimore city government does have a significant recent history of heavy-handedness that may have contributed to this incident and may need to be addressed further.
None of this justifies the riots though.
Reply
Well, that's the whole problem! No one seems to care about the facts. Before the facts are even in, the idiocy starts!
And when someone takes the time and effort to look at the facts and try to think a situation through in a reasonable manner, they are ignored!
Reply
http://thefourthestate.co/2015/04/breaking-freddy-gray-had-spine-surgery-just-one-week-before-arrest/
Reply
What I do is that no one cares about the facts on any of these cases. Or facts on ANY issue.
And I'm losing the energy to even care at all anymore. If I could pack my bags and my family and move to some small town that doesn't have these issues, or to the middle of nowhere, I would.
Let the world burn. Why should I care anymore? That's the point I'm getting to. Sad, but true.
Reply
We have to keep fighting to try and make it so we still have places to go they haven't ruined yet. :-P
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