Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

police departments are accidentally making good cases for further community investment that's not toward them. can we do that kind of reform?

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

It didn't work the last hundred times we tried it surely it will work this time.

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

I'd say I'm down for revolution but I don't want to buy a gun

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

Just an honest question from someone who has never set foot in the US: do you really believe that every cop in a 300 million people country is violent, racist, corrupted or something along these lines? I've seen a lot of extreme generalizations made during these protests and i'm curious to know if what was said in the heat of the moment is an actual opinion people have of their own law enforcement.

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

what you think "all cops are bastards" means?
what do you think about the "extreme generalizations" made about protesters?

given the incidence rate of domestic violence from cops is anywhere from 20-40% (the actual stat is most likely higher), I'd say that a good number of them are at the very least violent
https://www.theatlantic.com/national...riends/380329/
http://womenandpolicing.com/violenceFS.asp

racism is baked into the system, our entire country was built using one of the most racist institutions the world has ever seen. don't forget that racial discrimination "ended" in 1968, less than 60 years ago. you can't get rid of racial discrimination in a single generation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualified_immunity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_wall_of_silence

not every cop is violent, racist, corrupted, etc. but every cop is complicit, and they will actively punish any cop who goes against the grain and speaks out about police brutality.

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

^More reading on that last part, be sure to check the references since this is wikipedia! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_wall_of_silence

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

:thinking emoji:
all cops are literally bastards i guess?

In my country the protests were covered in a pretty neutral way, showing many accounts of police brutality, vandalism from the rioters and looters but also a lot of peaceful protesters with legitimate reasons to protest. I don't make generalizations and don't agree with them, especially seeing how they were strumentalized to justify the use of force.

This is legit disgusting, only heard and read partial informations about these things before. But even then, being detached from the actual events I feel it's not really helping when you make a blanket statement about a whole category. It just further divides people into polarizing positions. Which if we wanna see things from a broader perspective is a big problem in the digital age. I would feel better about it if the slogan was against the system instead of the people.

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

the blanket statement of "all cops are bastards" doesn't mean "fuck all cops" or "kill all cops" or whatever, it means "all cops are complicit in some way, shape or form." if some cops decide to put 19 rounds into a black kid (this has actually happened), those cops are absolutely bastards. but the quiet secretary who works solely at the precinct who sees the report and goes "huh yep this is okay," they're a bastard too.

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

atlanta prosecutor seems like a good person

we found out in philly that the decision to kettle and gas protesters on 676 came all the way from the top, so that's fun. next escalation i bet they break out the IEDs

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

I, at risk of inviting criticism, refuse to believe all cops are bastards

one of my friends was a cop until last year (maybe a bit ago) EDIT: maybe a bit more than a year ago*
the very reason he quit was his disillusionment with the internal politics
was he a bastard up until the moment where he quit?
was he a bastard while he was on the force?

I can't seriously answer yes to these questions. I refuse to make a generalization that broad. There are good cops out there.

I cannot refute that the system is very, very bad. Not everyone involved is a bastard.

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

Assuming your friend was in Alabama just going off your location, what would he do / have done if he found someone was in possession of cannabis for personal use?

(e: looks like both my posts here are about drug laws and I don't mean to detract from the issue at hand of police brutality, I'm just using it as a convenient wedge for questioning the ethics of being a police officer, even with good intentions)

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

The problem is that he was complicit until the moment that he quit.

But even if we want to say that your friend is a great person, anyone who is a decent person is either disillusioned, bullied out, fired for nonsense, fired for being a whistleblower, etc. The institution is built so that good people can't exist within it. These people are temporary cops imo

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

I personally like saying "fuck cops" 'cause it kind of implies "current and [especially] lifelong cops"

but really I'm just following the lead of little leftist circles I've started hovering around while I work on doing the bare minimum of educating myself in the background, lol. btw get the new humble bundle with 100% of proceeds going to helpful orgs y'all!!!!!

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

replace "cop" with "SS soldier" and you'll understand pretty quickly

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

I live in Georgia (edit: now), not that anything has really changed from this side of the state border.

I... don't actually 100% know what he would've done. When he was still a cop, people there talked about smoking weed in front of him and another person who usually there was also a cop, and still is as far as I know.

If he were on the job, he probably would've """""done his job""""""
which I know is a bit of an ominous thing to say. I could ask him next time I see him what his stance is/was, and I probably will now.

Even if he believes in it, I still don't think it makes him a bastard.

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

To us it is an ominous thing to say, and something that people can have a "stance" on. To other people, mainly minorities and poor people, it means months, if not years behind bars for non-violent drug offenses

It's not just "ominous" when it is real people's lives being affected.

also if he "believes" that people who own cannabis for personal use deserve to be denied their personal freedom because of that, and actually has the power to enforce that belief, then he is a fascist bastard I'm really sorry

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

If he says he would have done his job i.e. arrest them, often for incarceration, do you think that's that's an acceptable thing for him to do, especially in a way that is disproportionately harsh on people of color, especially when a few states over the same drug is so important it's declared an essential business during a pandemic?

Re: George Floyd 2: Electric Pigaloo
 

I can't say this about him

I obviously don't agree with it, maybe his stance isn't what I think it is, even if it is, I can't call him a "fascist bastard"