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America isn't the problem, Americans are. Everyone who voted for this is to blame. From what I understand you can even vote for some of the local judges or pros
by Normati 12y ago
America isn't the problem, Americans are. Everyone who voted for this is to blame. From what I understand you can even vote for some of the local judges or prosecutors too! There's no excuse but to recognize that your neighbors are responsible for the problems due to their own selfishness. They want the police to be brutal because the drug raid isn't going to be on their home, it'll be on some poor person's home and they don't care about poor people.
This might sound harsh, but it's what most American voters do. That's why they continually vote for police violence. If they don't understand the consequences of their vote then they're as negligent as the policeman who doesn't understand the consequences of throwing a flashbang into a bedroom.
- SwellJoe 12y agoYou're partially right, though overly optimistic about the power of "democracy" in America. It's worth recognizing the power of gerrymandering and money in elections. But, that's another discussion. There is no such thing as a viable political candidate who discusses reigning in police power...not because of the voting public. In America we choose between two parties who have differences, but there are entire categories of governance on which they are in lock step. Police is one of those categories. You will never hear a Republican or a Democrat suggest abolition of the institution of police as we know it, or even demanding basic accountability for killer cops. Short of revolution, the only effective tools citizens have is to educate more people about the problems (and the cost of "tough on crime" policies), protest the clear human rights violations, film police so there are fewer invisible victims, demand accountability from city councils and mayors and police chiefs, etc. And, I do a little bit of all of these things (there's a Black Lives Matter march on Saturday here in Austin; I'll be there). So, yes, many Americans are stupid, violent, poorly-educated, racist, and vindictive, or at least support law enforcement that is all of those things. But, the number of people who support no-knock raids is surely not high enough to claim the people chose this (I don't know, but I can't imagine it would be).
- thomyorkie 12y agohttp://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/ron-paul-ferguson-militarization-police-110112.html http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/ron-paul-ferguson-mili... http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/29/ron-paul-police-manhunt-boston-marathon-bombing-su/ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/29/ron-paul-pol...
- puredemo 12y agoIt's not like there are any other countries where there isn't a drug war. Every first world country outlaws addictive drugs for the same ignorant reasons. (not harm-reduction)
- boomlinde 12y agoI think you are allowing "war" to be a metaphor for restrictive policies, where "war" in this context is literally armed conflict with a death toll.