5 ms·

I live in Portland. I don’t live downtown where most of the videos you see are coming from, but I do live in a neighborhood very close to downtown. Over the pas

I live in Portland. I don’t live downtown where most of the videos you see are coming from, but I do live in a neighborhood very close to downtown. Over the past few months there have been a bunch of smashed windows (and presumably theft) at many of the businesses on the main street, graffiti is out of control, theft appears to be increasing as well. This is all just in my neighborhood. There are also the fires being set downtown and other violence between various battling groups. I can’t say for sure that putting more police on the streets would solve all these problems, but we need to do something. We are not headed on a good trajectory but for whatever reason it seems like our political leaders are in support of this destruction. We do need help.

scribbles99 6y ago
Keeping right wing terrorists out of the city would be a start.
- jococo1 6y ago
  The body count is currently higher from the left wing militias so...
- salmon30salmon 6y ago
  You mean like the guy who murdered an opposing protestor in cold blood? Oh wait, that was a self-proclaimed antifacist. What's more fascist than using violence to force your belief on others?
  - rudiv 6y ago
    > What's more fascist than using violence to force your belief on others? Many things. Using violence to spread your beliefs is not the sole preserve of fascism and is not the primary identifier of fascism either.
    - nicky0 6y ago
      Can you give some examples of those many things?
      - shadowprofile77 6y ago
        Many hard left movements (and sometimes even soft left groups) have used both mass violence and thuggish targeted violence to promote their agendas and intimidate rivals. The practice has a long, long history that predates even the soviet union and the Bolsheviks (who were extremely fond of vicious violence to edge their way into power). Claiming that violence for the sake of forcing one's beliefs on others is a uniquely fascist habit is historically ignorant or just biased and dishonest.
        salmon30salmon 6y ago
        That was my point. The violent actor in the above referenced incident was a self-described leftist. The post I was responding too laid blame for the riots on the right wing protestors
        deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
        nicky0 6y ago
        At this point people throw around the word fascist at the drop of a hat. Commonly used these days to mean using violence to suppress, intimidate and silence. I'm sure there was a more nuanced historical meaning once but that is being lost.
      - rudiv 6y ago
        I don't know about whether this is an accurate summation of the source material, but the source material is a pretty good definition of fascism (Umberto Eco's writing on ur-fascism) http://www.openculture.com/2016/11/umberto-eco-makes-a-list-of-the-14-common-features-of-fascism.html http://www.openculture.com/2016/11/umberto-eco-makes-a-list-...
salmon30salmon 6y ago
We must live near each other. For privacy I won't say where, but I am within two miles of downtown East of the river. The neighborhood has changed for the worse in the past 6 months by an insane amount. I don't feel safe and I'm a fit young male.
- markkanof 6y ago
  Yup, sounds like we are in pretty much the same neighborhood. I wouldn't yet say I feel unsafe, but it sure doesn't seem like the city is moving in a positive direction. It makes me sad because I love this city and maybe I'm naive but I would like to believe that there are ways that we can address injustices that have been perpetrated against some of our neighbors without burning everything to the ground.
  - salmon30salmon 6y ago
    Unsafe is relative. I don't think I'll be assaulted, but I do think I could be robbed, or my property stolen. There is also the constant risk of folks in mental health crises or high as fuck being unreasonable or aggressive. Stay safe, Portland is a good town at times, just it's 2020 you know?
kstrauser 6y ago
That's fair. And seriously, now I can say I have heard of Portlanders wanting help.
OzCrimson 6y ago
I live in Portland, too. And we do need help. But facial recognition is unreliable. I'd hate to be the one who's misidentified but, overzealous law enforcement keeps insisting it's me. Or, maybe I'm shaking hands with some random person and then facial recognition is used to make it look like we're buddies, and accomplices in some mess he's in. And I've seen enough unreliable technologies hit the market and marketers don't talk about the flaws or limitations in a responsible way. They highlight when the tech has done something miraculous. With all of this kind of stuff I ask: what happens when the tech is wrong? Who's accountable? Who makes the victim whole? Too often the answer is nobody is accountable.

scribbles99 6y ago

Keeping right wing terrorists out of the city would be a start.

jococo1 6y ago
The body count is currently higher from the left wing militias so...
salmon30salmon 6y ago
You mean like the guy who murdered an opposing protestor in cold blood? Oh wait, that was a self-proclaimed antifacist. What's more fascist than using violence to force your belief on others?
- rudiv 6y ago
  > What's more fascist than using violence to force your belief on others? Many things. Using violence to spread your beliefs is not the sole preserve of fascism and is not the primary identifier of fascism either.
  - nicky0 6y ago
    Can you give some examples of those many things?
    - shadowprofile77 6y ago
      Many hard left movements (and sometimes even soft left groups) have used both mass violence and thuggish targeted violence to promote their agendas and intimidate rivals. The practice has a long, long history that predates even the soviet union and the Bolsheviks (who were extremely fond of vicious violence to edge their way into power). Claiming that violence for the sake of forcing one's beliefs on others is a uniquely fascist habit is historically ignorant or just biased and dishonest.
      - salmon30salmon 6y ago
        That was my point. The violent actor in the above referenced incident was a self-described leftist. The post I was responding too laid blame for the riots on the right wing protestors
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
      - nicky0 6y ago
        At this point people throw around the word fascist at the drop of a hat. Commonly used these days to mean using violence to suppress, intimidate and silence. I'm sure there was a more nuanced historical meaning once but that is being lost.
    - rudiv 6y ago
      I don't know about whether this is an accurate summation of the source material, but the source material is a pretty good definition of fascism (Umberto Eco's writing on ur-fascism) http://www.openculture.com/2016/11/umberto-eco-makes-a-list-of-the-14-common-features-of-fascism.html http://www.openculture.com/2016/11/umberto-eco-makes-a-list-...

salmon30salmon 6y ago

We must live near each other. For privacy I won't say where, but I am within two miles of downtown East of the river. The neighborhood has changed for the worse in the past 6 months by an insane amount. I don't feel safe and I'm a fit young male.

markkanof 6y ago
Yup, sounds like we are in pretty much the same neighborhood. I wouldn't yet say I feel unsafe, but it sure doesn't seem like the city is moving in a positive direction. It makes me sad because I love this city and maybe I'm naive but I would like to believe that there are ways that we can address injustices that have been perpetrated against some of our neighbors without burning everything to the ground.
- salmon30salmon 6y ago
  Unsafe is relative. I don't think I'll be assaulted, but I do think I could be robbed, or my property stolen. There is also the constant risk of folks in mental health crises or high as fuck being unreasonable or aggressive. Stay safe, Portland is a good town at times, just it's 2020 you know?

kstrauser 6y ago

That's fair. And seriously, now I can say I have heard of Portlanders wanting help.

OzCrimson 6y ago

I live in Portland, too. And we do need help. But facial recognition is unreliable. I'd hate to be the one who's misidentified but, overzealous law enforcement keeps insisting it's me. Or, maybe I'm shaking hands with some random person and then facial recognition is used to make it look like we're buddies, and accomplices in some mess he's in. And I've seen enough unreliable technologies hit the market and marketers don't talk about the flaws or limitations in a responsible way. They highlight when the tech has done something miraculous. With all of this kind of stuff I ask: what happens when the tech is wrong? Who's accountable? Who makes the victim whole? Too often the answer is nobody is accountable.