I think I wrote to the list earlier that I dredged up the Kerner Report last week--1968, and I suggest you all read it. http://www.eisenhowerfoundation.org/docs/kerner.pdf
On Wed, Jun 10, 2020 at 3:58 PM Steve Smith <[email protected]> wrote: > Glen - > > I know you weren't pulling our leg (or my finger). > > This was the post I was composing when the tone deaf joke formed and > escaped: > > My "intellectual" interest is in how self-organizing principles and > emergence operate in social contexts... on both sides of the debate here, > as is being alluded to here already. When Law Enforcement gets > significantly defunded, what fills the vacuum left by that? There are > lots of *other* vacuums/rifts/holes being formed as our culture heaves and > buckles a little under a series of shifts. I'm not sure what (if any) are > root causes and what are just cascades and reactions. Globalism, > NeoLiberalism, Authoritarinism, Fascism, Manic Hypercaptialism, Rapid > Technological Change, Hyper Connectedness, Information Overload, etc. > > Many believe that shifting funding from law enforcement (which is by > definition more reactionary than preventative?) to mental and social > services which are intended to be more strongly pro-active in preventing > the kinds of problems that the police often have to remediate down the > road, is a net gain and possibly something that could be effected very > quickly, even if positive results may lag in many cases. I don't know how > well that works for/with hardened criminals who've already been taken from > being under-nourished, under-respected, under-opportunitied youth through > a series of trainings as a gang member first on the streets, and then > inside prison for several stints, annealed and tempered by police, judges, > prison-guards and one's fellow travelers to a strong core with a > wicked-sharp edge. But maybe if her mother and younger siblings aren't > struggling to keep groceries in the fridge and the fridge running then > maybe she can mature into something a little kinder-gentler. Or maybe she > already has, but it is hard to recognize when the only interface she has is > a regular stop-and-frisking? I think we do see a record of mellowing among > aging hard-cores who survive long enough to become elders in their > communities? > > I think Jon?s suggestion that private security will fill the vacuum is > also valid. More people will gate their communities and more gated > communities will add uniformed patrols and more uniformed patrols will add > lethal weapons and training. The next George Floyd might be your massage > therapist who made the mistake of making house-calls to your gated > community while black/brown/yellow/red/poor and the next Chauvin & Co will > be guys who couldn't even get IN to the police academy but COULD buy > mirror-shades, a loaded up batman utility belt, matching chromed .45s with > shoulder holsters, an Armalite 15 and a riot-style shotgun (but not rubber > nor armor-piercing rounds, those are for law-enforcement-only) to carry in > their ominously painted and hopped up SUV with run flat tires, a > push-bumper, blinky lights and a siren. And that tricked out rig, > security "professional" included, will cost a fraction of what a *real* law > enforcement officer would BECAUSE of the lack of > oversight/training/benefits, etc. A new branch: UBERArmed? > > The above is mildy (but not entirely) the maunderings of a > frustrated/unexpressed cyberpunk novelist (me)... but oddly not that far > away in "some Adjacent Possible"? > > Personally, I'm more interested in how to use this Svaha/Liminal moment to > "Visualize World Peace"? And what is in *that* adjacent possible > (ensemble)? There is value to a Red-Team/Blue-Team analysis in these > situations, and I think *both* are necessary. Awfulizing isn't the only > thing to be doing right now. Things are shifting, vacuums are created, > playing-fields are being re-leveled... are there opportunities to "do the > right thing", or is "the right thing" so subjective that we will simply > "move the noise around"? I identify as a humanist... I don't even know if > that means what it used to (to others) or if I'm in anything like a "silent > majority" in that identification. Maybe the Anarchists and Libertarians > and Radical Progressives and Radical Conservatives and ??? all think THEY > are humanists. Or maybe it's a bad word to them? I certainly remember > my self-righteous Catholic M-in-Law spitting the words "*Secular Humanist*" > as if they were acid, leaving smoking, corroding spots everywhere they > landed. > > - Steve > > > > On 6/10/20 11:17 AM, uǝlƃ ☣ wrote: > > We have evidence of it, here: > > Olympia police unions respond to photo of officer posing with armed > menhttps://www.theolympian.com/news/local/article243401061.html > > FWIW, I think our mayor is wrong. The 3% sign isn't the OK sign, regardless > of whether any supremacists actually use the OK sign or not. But like any > tone deaf marketing message, if the symbol you adopt is *thought* to be a > racist symbol, then you should go ahead and change it. Just stop flying the > confederate flag even if it's been on your state flag for your whole life ... > just stop using the swastika even if you're (East) Indian or Native American. > > But what does lend truth to the accusations leveled against the 3% is the > lack of a public statement condemning Trump for violating the constitution in > clearing St John's. If they exist to use their piddly little guns to protect > us from the government, where were they then? Perhaps they are only > interested in protecting a particular class of people? ... or only people > with whom they agree politically? > > As for the cop in the photo, she should at least be suspended for her stupid > mistake. Don't pose with with a bunch of dudes standing in a parking lot with > guns. That's simply a stupid thing for a cop (or any professional) to do. And > if you must do it, take off your uniform first. > > > On 6/10/20 9:51 AM, Marcus Daniels wrote: > > I think the point is that are already not accountable. Protected by unions > and colleagues who will look the other way, and a culture that accepts that > certain people must consent to miserable lives. > > > On 6/10/20, 9:48 AM, "Friam on behalf of Prof David West" > <[email protected] on behalf of [email protected]> > <[email protected][email protected]> wrote: > > downside is the private militias that Jon mentioned. just like the > military that replaces soldiers with private contractors - to whom are the > latter accountable? > On 6/9/20 4:28 PM, Jon Zingale wrote: > > 1. Will the efforts to defund the police eventually meet with efforts > to build private militias? Will the future of policing in this country > follow a path similar to the shift from public to private postal service? > If so, what will accountability be? > > - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam > un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > -- Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D. President, Center for Emergent Diplomacy emergentdiplomacy.org Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA [email protected] <[email protected]> mobile: (303) 859-5609 skype: merle.lelfkoff2 twitter: @Merle_Lefkoff
- .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/
