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> nationwide riots That wasn't what was happening. Suppressing protest with soldiers - which is usually justified by dictators with the excuse of 'order' - is
by mmooss 2y ago
> nationwide riots
That wasn't what was happening. Suppressing protest with soldiers - which is usually justified by dictators with the excuse of 'order' - is extreme and anti-freedom.
- cynicalkane 2y agoThat was what was happening. In Minnesota, the governer and future Democratic VP candidate, Tim Walz, sent in the national guard to stop it. The paradox of government force, and the need to manage that paradox, has been one of the foundational questions -- the foundational question to some -- of liberal philosophy since its first writers. Freedom isn't just freedom from the government, it's also freedom from others who might hurt you and destroy the place you live. It's worth pointing out the Minneapolis police department completely abandoned the city to let burn.
- krsdcbl 2y agosupposedly idealistically opposed parties doing something that is in the sense of the argument doesn't prove the argument. Walz might very well have been just as wrong
- rayiner 2y agoThere were riots. Every store window in my wife’s office block was broken. During the Freddie Gray riots Governor Hogan called in the Maryland national guard and it was the most popular thing he ever did: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/04/27/402639082/seven-officers-hurt-in-clashes-with-baltimore-police https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/04/27/402639082...
- mmooss 2y agoA few smashed windows is not a riot, nor nationwide riots, nor requiring doing what Cotton advocated. Popularity is certainly not at all a reason to suppress liberty. I witnessed some of the 'riots'; what I saw was perfectly safe except for a very small physical area - maybe spots of, very approximately, 50 sq ft - and even there you were probably safe. There was no danger to the public, some danger to some windows. I've seen worse in team victory celebrations. I saw much worse at the Capitol, where they were beating people and some died.
- whatwhaaaaat 2y agoCan you really make these claims when streamers for months were showing people looting? What about chop? What about that federal courthouse in Portland? My city had 100s of stores ransacked with groups of cars with 100s of people all working together. Say what you want about opportunists - riots happened.
- mmooss 2y ago> chop ? > federal courthouse in Portland What about it? Did it burn down? How many were injured? > streamers for months were showing people looting It's interesting that people criticize the professional news media, then believe whatever they see on social media. > riots happened I expect some did, depending on the definition of riot, but that's not 'nationwide rioting' and a call to use the military to suppress the great majority of peaceful protests.
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- rayiner 2y agoThere was rioting in many major cities and it was absolutely appropriate to call in the national guard to put a stop to it. My family didn’t leave Bangladesh to put up with third-world behavior like that.
- mmooss 2y agoProtest isn't third-world behavior, and part of being in the US is not restricting other people's liberties - regardless of your personal preferences and outrage. If they are harming others or causing significant material damage, that's another story, but even that is a matter of degree (especially the latter).
- rayiner 2y agoDestruction to the built environment is an offense against society. 25 people were killed in the riots and there was $2 billion in property damage. My neighborhood in Baltimore never recovered after the Freddie Gray riots. Our fro-yo place had the windows smashed in and closed. The coffee shop on my wife’s office block never reopened. The harm to the public lasts long after the rioting is over. You didn’t see worse at the capitol, because that was a riot at a government building and private sector people were not at risk.