Goddamn.
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Goddamn. I was going to boost a post but then I got near the end where it said: "crushing to see this happen to human beings who aren't criminals...", and first of all, in such an unjust society define "criminal" for me, would ya? I'd love to hear it.
Secondly, would you think it's okay if "criminals" were kidnapped and tortured?
I assume this person primarily meant to emphasize that these are just everyday people, like your neighbors, but the implication is not good.
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Goddamn. I was going to boost a post but then I got near the end where it said: "crushing to see this happen to human beings who aren't criminals...", and first of all, in such an unjust society define "criminal" for me, would ya? I'd love to hear it.
Secondly, would you think it's okay if "criminals" were kidnapped and tortured?
I assume this person primarily meant to emphasize that these are just everyday people, like your neighbors, but the implication is not good.
Compare and contrast the murder of Michael Brown, the kid who was killed by Darren Wilson, a cop. The New York Times famously declared that Brown was 'no angel', a phrase rightly pilloried by those who realize one essential truth:
When looking for an excuse to commit atrocities, or to explain away atrocities committed, the first step is always to pretend that the victim did something to deserve it. It's the abuser's playbook once again, rewrit for fascism.
In very short order, 'this should only have been done to people who deserve it' will become 'well, they must have done something to deserve it', because that's how this narrative always goes. The presumption of guilt upon punishment (and virtue, upon reward) is one upon which these two nations, the US and Canada, were built, no matter how we try to root it out, but we can at least get it out of our own personal speech and thought patterns...
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Compare and contrast the murder of Michael Brown, the kid who was killed by Darren Wilson, a cop. The New York Times famously declared that Brown was 'no angel', a phrase rightly pilloried by those who realize one essential truth:
When looking for an excuse to commit atrocities, or to explain away atrocities committed, the first step is always to pretend that the victim did something to deserve it. It's the abuser's playbook once again, rewrit for fascism.
In very short order, 'this should only have been done to people who deserve it' will become 'well, they must have done something to deserve it', because that's how this narrative always goes. The presumption of guilt upon punishment (and virtue, upon reward) is one upon which these two nations, the US and Canada, were built, no matter how we try to root it out, but we can at least get it out of our own personal speech and thought patterns...
@theogrin
That's an important point: people struggle to see that the police state didn't start with Trump. Not by a long shot. He's certainly kicked it up a gear, & is accelerating as fast as possible, but this fight, this resistance, *cannot* simply be against Trump and his "extremes".It's a fight for a world where life is precious, and we take real care and responsibility for others. As long as we accept the premise that some people do not *deserve* rights, we will never end this.
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@theogrin
That's an important point: people struggle to see that the police state didn't start with Trump. Not by a long shot. He's certainly kicked it up a gear, & is accelerating as fast as possible, but this fight, this resistance, *cannot* simply be against Trump and his "extremes".It's a fight for a world where life is precious, and we take real care and responsibility for others. As long as we accept the premise that some people do not *deserve* rights, we will never end this.
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@BernieDoesIt @artemis @theogrin Rick #Falkvinge predicted in 2011 that the #USA was doomed to descend inevitably into fascism, and even said it had been apparent for 5 years before that:
https://falkvinge.net/2011/12/16/do-we-really-have-to-prepare-for-the-fourth-box/
He cites repressive legislation like the PATRIOT Act as a sign of the slide into fascism.
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