When To Give Up

It can be wasteful to remain faithful to something that no longer serves you, but it’s tragic to give up on something simply because you didn’t understand it.

Tedious Brilliance

There are few experiences more tedious than listening to someone try to convince you that they’re brilliant.

Dreams In The Key Of F

I dream in the key of F. I dream of friends, family, fun, frustration, flying, fear of falling, fantastic felonies, and the farcical foolishness of forgetting to wear my pants.

Outrage

I feel sorry for people for whom outrage is the first reaction. It’s impossible to think clearly once negative emotions take over.

Good Cops Are Frustrated

The good cops are frustrated. People are judging them for the actions of a few bad apples in their ranks. Suddenly, the police understand how it feels to be profiled.

Random Thoughts - 20200609

Random Thoughts - 20200609

It’s okay to have morning sex with a night person. They’ll be happy to rock your world at two o’clock in the morning.

When someone says, “I mean it this time,” ask them why they didn’t mean it the last time.

People who argue passionately about protecting their rights are rarely passionate about protecting yours.

When chaos hits, beware of an uptick in bullshit. It starts to come out of the woodwork.

I’m way beyond “What day is this?” I’ve graduated to “What month is this?”

If you need to be addicted to something, coffee has its advantages.

New Zealand’s Amazing Success

New Zealand is down to ZERO active cases of COVID-19. No cases in the hospitals. No one in isolation. Today (Monday, 8 June), they opened their economy completely. No social distancing. No masks. Restaurants, stores, beauty parlors, all open for business. Maybe if the United States had a female President like New Zealand does, we would be down to zero cases, too. Instead, our pathetic excuse for national leadership lied and stalled while our country rocketed to LAST PLACE in the COVID-19 death race.

Defunding The Police

As protests over police brutality and legal accountability have swept the nation and the world, some activists have floated the idea of defunding the police. So far, no one has been clear on what this means. Are they proposing to cut police budgets altogether? Such a drastic move would seem highly irresponsible. The police perform a vital function in a functioning society. 

Can you imagine spending time in an American city without a police force? Who would maintain order in such a scenario, i.e. who would ensure that stores are not looted and property is not being burned for amusement? Should the critical function of keeping the peace be left to untrained vigilantes or unaccountable, unidentified gangs of neighborhood thugs? Disorder and massive suffering would be inescapable; it would be an economic and humanitarian disaster.

That said, the United States has too many police officers. Yes, I said it, because it’s true. I you have traveled abroad, you know what I’m talking about. 

In Europe, you’ll see plenty of police officers, but they tend to be where they need to be, e.g. directing traffic or protecting important important buildings. When you drive in Europe, especially on the highways or on country roads, you rarely see a police officer unless they are tending to an accident. In the US, traffic cops lurk around every corner like spiders ready to feast upon your checkbook. 

Policing in the United States has become predatory and excessively revenue driven. Police offices see it as their duty to interrupt any person at any time, forcing citizens to explain themselves or pay a fee that towns and cities eagerly deposit into their coffers. It’s oppressive and largely unnecessary. Well-placed traffic cameras would be enough to ensure that people are driving the speed limit and obeying traffic signals. We can survive without an army of ticket-writers monitoring all of our movements in hopes of a roadside or curbside shakedown.

That said, as to defunding the police, I am against this idea on principle. It is an ill-conceived overreaction to a series of problems that cannot be solved simply by ripping up the budget. It would be like defunding hospitals just because they lost a number of patients to COVID-19. Cutting the budget is a knee-jerk reaction not going to serve the public health or the public safety. 

That said, police forces in the US should be streamlined and reorganized. There’s an enormous economic cost to having an independent police force in Every Town, USA. It’s virtually impossible to standardize procedures and coordinate training across such a vast array of jurisdictions. With more comprehensive training and clearer procedures, policing effectiveness can be increased, and some of the issues that resulted in the protests can be addressed in a positive way. 

Further, predatory revenue generation by ticketing is a practice that needs to be abolished. Police in the US have been encouraged to instigate unnecessary interactions with the public in search of a windfall. This has led to over-policing and an unnecessarily combative relationship helps neither the police or the community. It helps only the bean counters at City Hall.

How It Works

How it works.

5,000 people attend a protest. Three of them get into a fight with police. The news broadcasts video of the fight, ignoring the 4,997 citizens who marched peacefully. Video of the fight is shown over and over and over again, because the news is a for-profit business, drama is good for ratings, and ratings generate revenue.

People talk about the fight (by three protesters, not the other 4,997) because drama is exciting, and everyone wants to share the news with their friends. 

“Did you see what happened?” 

“Yes. 4,997 people protested peacefully.”

“No! Not that! The important thing!”

Clips and images of the fight go viral on social media. Opportunistic politicians make speeches about “getting tough” and “restoring order,” even if they have to curtail freedoms in order to do it. They refer to the protesters as “thugs” and “agitators” in order to gather support for a forcible crackdown.

And so your civil rights get thrown into a dumpster because the media and the politicians focused on a small number of people who caused trouble while ignoring the nearly five thousand citizens who were out protesting in a way that our founding fathers encouraged and held in such regard that they encoded protections into the Constitution to ensure that we can do it.

The question is, do you want to defend the Constitution, or do you want to give up all of your rights because a handful of rabble rousers caused some trouble while a whole lot of your fellow citizens were out peacefully participating in Democracy?

Honor The Memory

I’m not going to honor someone’s memory by doing nothing. I’ll honor them by doing my very best and hoping that it’s enough.