Like Britt, I"m a “self described liberal”, but a big part of that is getting full informtion before making decisions or judgements, and making sure the information I use is ACCURATE.
I’ve also been disturbed by the “militarization” of policing over the last few decades, and it goes beyond just the more recent used armored vehicles going to police. The emphasis on SWAT type personal body armor, helmets, balaclavas to hide identies, and other “first step” moves toward hyper-agressive responses by police is driven by “conservative” value of authoritiarian controls to “protect” the social order. That is a “conservative” social order I"ve got some more problems with, like the giveaways to the 1% ers out there, at extreme cost to the taxpayers who SHOULD be receiving services and protection.
Police ARE by and large “conservative” in their politics, and attitudes toward what constititues “enforcement”. That isn’t an arguing point, it’s just a statistical fact. But as a liberal, that doesn’t mean I’m about to blanket condemn all police every time CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR gets someone in trouble for their own actions!
Recognizing that “prejudice” to some degree IS an element in ALL people, left or right, is displayed in a recent article in Mother Jones, it ain’t “political” it’s just fact, that even we who DO believe in equality for all WILL at a subconcious level STILL harbor an internal degree of “prejudice”, against those not of our “tribe” (that has many interpretations, like race, culture, nationality, etc.)
The key is for all of us to recognize that these internal drives CAN be overcome. Not everyone in the world is a “good guy” and that includes cultures or their subcomponents, and that includes OUR OWN!
ON our streets, or overseas, what WE as THE PEOPLE ask of our police, and troops, has shifted toward a far more authoritarian society, as in “my way or the highway”, and it’s important to realize that both the “right”, and the “left”, have been swept up. It ain’t just politics, it’s the reality of what we’ve become. Whether in Ferguson, NY, Afghanistan and Iraq, or in “Podunk, any state”, The attitude of my country, right or wrong, has replaced responsiblity for making sure that in all elements, we start by doing only what is ethically and morally “right” toward not just our own tribe, or species, but the entirety of the world around us.
The “golden rule” has existed in many cultures, dating to way before our current “prophets”, and it is the simple answer, “do unto others, as you would have them do unto you”.
Like Britt, I"m a “self described liberal”, but a big part of that is getting full informtion before making decisions or judgements, and making sure the information I use is ACCURATE.
I’ve also been disturbed by the “militarization” of policing over the last few decades, and it goes beyond just the more recent used armored vehicles going to police. The emphasis on SWAT type personal body armor, helmets, balaclavas to hide identies, and other “first step” moves toward hyper-agressive responses by police is driven by “conservative” value of authoritiarian controls to “protect” the social order. That is a “conservative” social order I"ve got some more problems with, like the giveaways to the 1% ers out there, at extreme cost to the taxpayers who SHOULD be receiving services and protection.
Police ARE by and large “conservative” in their politics, and attitudes toward what constititues “enforcement”. That isn’t an arguing point, it’s just a statistical fact. But as a liberal, that doesn’t mean I’m about to blanket condemn all police every time CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR gets someone in trouble for their own actions!
Recognizing that “prejudice” to some degree IS an element in ALL people, left or right, is displayed in a recent article in Mother Jones, it ain’t “political” it’s just fact, that even we who DO believe in equality for all WILL at a subconcious level STILL harbor an internal degree of “prejudice”, against those not of our “tribe” (that has many interpretations, like race, culture, nationality, etc.)
The key is for all of us to recognize that these internal drives CAN be overcome. Not everyone in the world is a “good guy” and that includes cultures or their subcomponents, and that includes OUR OWN!
ON our streets, or overseas, what WE as THE PEOPLE ask of our police, and troops, has shifted toward a far more authoritarian society, as in “my way or the highway”, and it’s important to realize that both the “right”, and the “left”, have been swept up. It ain’t just politics, it’s the reality of what we’ve become. Whether in Ferguson, NY, Afghanistan and Iraq, or in “Podunk, any state”, The attitude of my country, right or wrong, has replaced responsiblity for making sure that in all elements, we start by doing only what is ethically and morally “right” toward not just our own tribe, or species, but the entirety of the world around us.
The “golden rule” has existed in many cultures, dating to way before our current “prophets”, and it is the simple answer, “do unto others, as you would have them do unto you”.