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Even the police can't agree to uphold their own laws in this "peaceful western world" - every time I go outside right now, I return home to news of the people I

Even the police can't agree to uphold their own laws in this "peaceful western world" - every time I go outside right now, I return home to news of the people I'm living with having been beaten while in police custody, having been arrested for reasons like "your passport proves nothing about your identity". Breaking my friends' arms, kicking them repeatedly in the back of their head and their spine. I'm scared that next time I leave, that will be me. Technology first and foremost helps those with the resources to use it. That tends to be the people with power in the first place.

SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
The modern world is big enough that you can find news of any bad thing if you’re looking for it. The relevant questions are how common it is and how common similar problems used to be.
- vertex-four 7y ago
  I'm not looking for news, thank you very much - this is happening, right now, to me personally.
  - SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
    You have that many friends that the police have beaten one of them up every single time you return home? I don’t mean to be rude - I’m sure there’s a kernel of truth here and I’m sorry to hear you’re in such a bad situation - but I just can’t believe this is true as stated.
    - vertex-four 7y ago
      I'm living in a shared house, with people I've grown quite close to. The local fascist party has recently made public their dislike of us and a call to action to "remove us"; the lead police officer on the "case" of our eviction (which has not yet been processed; we are legal residents of our house under the law here) is one of their known followers. There are multiple officers now dedicated to driving by our flat on a regular basis in order to check IDs of people attempting to visit or leave; we're watched on CCTV when we leave the neighbourhood. We regularly have our IDs checked without reason while walking to the shops (and they then arrest those who refuse to produce ID for an illegal request, then release them without charge a few hours later), or we're arrested and jailed for days (illegally, without a court order) for things like "walking a dog without a leash"; an offence which comes with an on-the-spot fine, not jail. In our list of things that have happened in a jail cell without a camera present so far, we have someone with broken ribs, and someone who was kicked repeatedly in the back of the head against a concrete floor after a failed attempt to break their arm, as well as more minor attacks. We have committed no crimes; we are legal, peaceful residents who have done nothing except for make a property management company go through a legal process to evict us, which we believe we will win. Nobody residing in our house, nor our visitors, have hurt anybody - we have taken part in no activity which resulted in anybody being hurt, and there's no reason for this violence against us other than a property management company which is upset at likely losing a multi-million euro redevelopment contract by failing to evict us. I'm honestly really glad that this isn't something within your worldview; I wouldn't wish this on anybody. But it is happening.
bonoboTP 7y ago
The US is quite an outlier in police brutality though. Either way, the quote was about different political ideologies and who will get it their way, i.e. big government, small government etc. It seems that it can be figured out in a democratic process and people aren't rioting. From a historical perspective there is stability and peace even in the US. No civil wars or large scale revolutions or chaos.
- vertex-four 7y ago
  I'm not in the US, I'm in a rich European country. The point is that people disagreeing with ethics doesn't mean the constitution or the law stops existing, it just means they ignore it. The existence of a constitution or a law usually just means that some people who our schools teach us are important decided to write something.

SpicyLemonZest 7y ago

The modern world is big enough that you can find news of any bad thing if you’re looking for it. The relevant questions are how common it is and how common similar problems used to be.

vertex-four 7y ago
I'm not looking for news, thank you very much - this is happening, right now, to me personally.
- SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
  You have that many friends that the police have beaten one of them up every single time you return home? I don’t mean to be rude - I’m sure there’s a kernel of truth here and I’m sorry to hear you’re in such a bad situation - but I just can’t believe this is true as stated.
  - vertex-four 7y ago
    I'm living in a shared house, with people I've grown quite close to. The local fascist party has recently made public their dislike of us and a call to action to "remove us"; the lead police officer on the "case" of our eviction (which has not yet been processed; we are legal residents of our house under the law here) is one of their known followers. There are multiple officers now dedicated to driving by our flat on a regular basis in order to check IDs of people attempting to visit or leave; we're watched on CCTV when we leave the neighbourhood. We regularly have our IDs checked without reason while walking to the shops (and they then arrest those who refuse to produce ID for an illegal request, then release them without charge a few hours later), or we're arrested and jailed for days (illegally, without a court order) for things like "walking a dog without a leash"; an offence which comes with an on-the-spot fine, not jail. In our list of things that have happened in a jail cell without a camera present so far, we have someone with broken ribs, and someone who was kicked repeatedly in the back of the head against a concrete floor after a failed attempt to break their arm, as well as more minor attacks. We have committed no crimes; we are legal, peaceful residents who have done nothing except for make a property management company go through a legal process to evict us, which we believe we will win. Nobody residing in our house, nor our visitors, have hurt anybody - we have taken part in no activity which resulted in anybody being hurt, and there's no reason for this violence against us other than a property management company which is upset at likely losing a multi-million euro redevelopment contract by failing to evict us. I'm honestly really glad that this isn't something within your worldview; I wouldn't wish this on anybody. But it is happening.

bonoboTP 7y ago

The US is quite an outlier in police brutality though. Either way, the quote was about different political ideologies and who will get it their way, i.e. big government, small government etc. It seems that it can be figured out in a democratic process and people aren't rioting. From a historical perspective there is stability and peace even in the US. No civil wars or large scale revolutions or chaos.

vertex-four 7y ago
I'm not in the US, I'm in a rich European country. The point is that people disagreeing with ethics doesn't mean the constitution or the law stops existing, it just means they ignore it. The existence of a constitution or a law usually just means that some people who our schools teach us are important decided to write something.