Police are in Need of a Muzzle

Image: fivethirtyeight.com

The last few months have been some that have a tremendous amount of cases coming out about police brutality. In the United States compare to some other places *cough China*, the country as a whole has had a pretty easy time of being able to speak their mind. There where times where this whole notion was challenged and at times took the lives of people exercising their rights. What we are seeing now is not only a resurgence of this former culture war, but we are seeing a much uglier face on it this time around.

The vast majority of police departments in America are trained (in theory) to act as mediators more so that say Black Water. In the great plan set forth by the Neo-Cons in the early 2000s, much like on of the issues with gun control, untrained irresponsible parties where able to get their hands on weapons that are extremely dangerous. The crime in the nation has been dropping, yet the amount of tactical and surplus gear being sold and in some cases given to police departments is on the rise. So more or less we are now giving that ass clown who treated every one like shit new toys that will make feel even more superior than he really is.

While watching not just the case in Ferguson unfold but as well as the sheer volume of brutality cases on the rise it makes me wonder if humans as a whole are really that rational of a life form. We have allowed for a system to be put into place that is the perfect breeding ground for this kind of immoral and unethical behavior. In the fall of 1971 an experiment was conducted that was lead by Professor Philip Zimbardo. In this two random groups of people where given two parts to play; the prison guards or the prisoners. The space that was used was modeled after the current standard prison system. After only a few days those who where guards began abusing the subjects who where prisoners. This effect was so powerful that even Professor Zimbardo got sucked in and assumed the persona of the warden. When he came to this realization he ended the experiment determined that the environment one is in can have a great impact on the behavior they will use.

So what does this have to do with the current state of the police? Well they where given equipment that is used when people tend to say invade a small country. Even the tactical response gear is made to be used in an environment when combat is going on. A gun battle and a protest are not remotely the same thing and require different tools and methods to go about handling both. America is a country that hasn't had to deal with a full on enemy attack on it's soil for some time. Before some one says 9/11 I will explain, terrorism is a business nothing more. Al Qaeda and groups that are similar need conflict to stay in business. If the US loses or their side loses the business is lost.

Now when ever something like this happens the darker side of our culture come out. Fox News which is really nothing more than a pack of lap dogs for the far right have been using this term race baiting as an excuse as to why this tragic list of events unfold. Race baiting is really a bull shit way of trying to win an argument. It's one thing when you have only one or two random cases but when a clear pattern is literally kicking in your door armed to the teeth than it is something a little bit more. When people use this term what it ends up doing is holding off on people have a real debate about race. While some may claim this is gone the truth is it still exists. After all Mississippi did just recently out law slavery. 

Now besides the whole bull shit race baiting argument another trend that might be more disturbing made itself know. That trend is the people who are defending the police. Social media sites which really are just use less pits full of all the stupidity the human race can master, have been filling with false equivalencies and hipster doucebaggery. For example, "I've been pulled over before and nothing bad happened!". Well good for fucking you. Was this in the context of before or after they become a group of cocaine addict cowboys playing GI Joe?

When you are an over privileged little Pratt it is easy to not understand what is going on. You can not dress people up like soldiers and tell them to protect their own lives at all costs. A person who is armed with a knife doesn't need to have 30 rounds pumped into his chest let alone even pointing a gun at an unarmed person. By backing the current state of the police you are saying that it is ok for some one who is a "trained professional" to decide when the proper time to execute a citizen is. When an old racists scumbag was stiffing his bill redknecks from all parts of god's country came out to back him. Yet when a group of unarmed citizens are being viciously attacked by thugs dress up like Rambo they jump to race baiting? The thing you should keep in mind is when it comes to the right wing there is a history of violence that comes from them. You can see this not just in the United States but a look at world history will show you what happens when it's ok for cops to attack citizens with no punishment.

The country does not have a logical mind. It is filled with pseudo intellectuals who at their very core of understanding lack the ability to examine the information they are receiving. Right wing activists tend to showcase this more so than other groups. The lack of real conservative ideology they showcase should be a strong hint that propaganda is the real main talking point. When a group like the Tea Party makes more of a deal about keeping Jesus in public schools but doesn't speak up against a police force that's growing more into a foreign occupation force it shouldn't be difficult to see the true rise off a sim going on. The truth is racism is still well alive and corporate interests are taking over while building a private army to keep what this ideology, a feudal system growing.

To kill an infidel is the path to heaven!

Image: http://www.mark-shea.com/

In these day and age religion has become something that is something like a run away train. While most people can't seem to understand a connection with violence to certain belief systems the correlation that exists is pretty outstanding. While the Muslims protest over cartoons, Christians in the United States have become to behave in a similar manner. Many people may have seen the meme that went around showing an american Christian holding the bible and rifle and along side it a picture of a Muslim woman doing the same. How if religions are meant to drive goodness and morality could such an image such as this come in in this fashion?

If you're a religious person and you don't bother any one than that's a good thing and you deserve a very special reward. How ever the cases of extremism we have been seeing recently could come from a fact that has largely gone ignored. That is the turning of religion into a weapon.

Before the war on terror we got ourselves stuck in a different kind of mess; the Cold War. This brilliant move on the part of the superpowers not only lead to a dollar being put onto everything in existence but it also created a brand new industry. Today there is nothing that can compare to the amount of profits made from this line of work.

When the Soviets decided to expand into smaller countries who by no means can compare to the might of an industrialized nation a new weapon was used to counter this progress. The holy warrior which at one point was a cultural norm faded out with the progression of classes in society. It was brought back and twisted into a machine of destruction.

Resources and geopolitics play a huge role in this new found evil, however a quick look into the histories of the nations that have turned into the breeding ground for these views it's not hard to trace the roots back to the great blunder of the 20th century.

With this issue growing more and more by the day it's kind of hard to gauge what the landscape is going to look. Religious and political movements the world over are becoming more and more extreme. The peaceful religion of Buddhism as many may think it is, has lead to great suffering in places like Burma and Sri Lanka. Many people would argue that being religious doesn't lead violent or anti-social behaviour. I personally see the evidence pointing towards a system that no matter the face that it wears more than likely gives an excuse for totalitarian regimes to take hold.

One argument that gets put out is that spirituality differs from religion. That a person who has a core belief in the metaphysical that differs from the major religions they are on some more high ground. This however makes little sense. The vast majority of new age belief systems in which you find in the category take and borrow from the already established religions in the world. While for many this may at face value seem different than the main stream the truth is it succumbs to the same pitfalls of the more popular superstitious systems. The same flaws that exist with major religions exist as well with the spirituality crowd, and very well go become as bad as the major religious crowd  on the aspects of rejecting logic and it's militancy to those on the outside of its circle.