August 24, 2016

A cog in the machine

Let me start off by saying I recognize Marx had fewer answers than he did have criticisms. It's always easier to complain about what you don't like than to articulate how you would things better.

Nevertheless, I have always found him a fascinating figure for ideas like the ones expounded in this video

In other words, he argues that every person takes a certain amount of pride in their work, that they would be more productive if they saw more of themselves in that final product. Yet capitalism seeks to downplay their role and continue to make the bourgeois the heroes of the day.

How often have we heard, 'Get a job you f**king slob' as the answer to someone's economic hardships? Capitalist are very good at turning productivity into a sort of character test. If you're a worker who contributes the least economically, then no matter how hard you work, you're a liability at best. But if you're a capitalist who invests a great deal of money, then how matter how little you work, you're a wonderful and infallible contributer to society.

Therein lies the genius of Marx. He is not so much praising the (partially unknown) virtues of socialism and communism, as he is pointing out that our present economy, that wonderful free market capitalism that so many people keep praising, essentially devaluates our humanity.

Capitalism does nothing but treat human workers as cold and replaceable parts in our economic machine.

August 24, 2016

Police brutality: too much militarization or a lack of education?

Many of us are concerned about the increased militarization of law enforcement, and some would even argue that this increased militarization is also responsible for the police brutality - particularly toward persons of color - that we have seen in recent years.

However, I would argue otherwise. Let's look at Europe. There's no shortage of law enforcement that is very militarized. They wear body armor and other tactical gear, cover their faces with balaclava masks, and carry with them fully-automatic weapons.

Here is an example of the German SEK, the Sondereinsatzkommandos, the equivalent of our SWAT teams.





If it were a simple problem of too much militarization, these units would easily have a higher body count than their American counterparts.

Yet the reality is, you are far more likely to be shot and killed by law enforcement during an encounter with American police than while dealing with this kind of 'military police.'

They may be armed to the teeth, yet they also pride themselves in not using their weapons, in defusing situations in a way that let's the suspects go unharmed rather in a body bag. Compare that to the American approach of 'shoot first and ask questions later.'

I bring this up because I often hear friends lament the increased militarization of American police. Black lives would matter more if more police departments wouldn't be running around with personal armor and sub-machine guns, correct?

Again, I would argue that the level of militarization plays little role; education is the only thing that matters. If a person doesn't know how to conduct themselves, how to diffuse a situation, how to subdue a suspect without lethal force, they'll still kill many more carrying nothing but a revolver than the militarized police that is also highly educated.