The US government's armed goon squad executed a 13 year-old special ed student whose hands were empty and in the air and they're telling Americans to worry about Russia and China.
Caitlin's inflammatory opening sentence leaves the impression that the deceased was unarmed and that he was "executed." My understanding is that original body camera videos were for some reason cropped and didn't show the gun he was holding a fraction of a second before he was hit with a bullet, but my purpose here is not to adjudicate his death, just to point out that Caitlin has fallen for a narrative of police oppression targeting minorities.
Neither minorities nor men are the sole victims of unjustified police killing. Calling attention to that problem and fixing it will benefit everyone in the US, so it seems if people really wanted to fix it, they would report and talk about the majority of people killed by police who are white, because there are a lot more white voters that will vote for reform than there are people of any color who would vote to abolish or de-fund the police. Yet hardly anybody even has heard of Tony Timpa, Daniel Shavers or Justine Damond, and there were no riots after their deaths. So I have to wonder, what's the real agenda behind the constant inflammatory reports of the killing of POC? The elites reporting these killing apparently aren't seriously interested in reducing the overall level of police violence.
Caitlin is falling for one of the elite divide et impera tactics. She should rethink her rhetoric, because she's feeding the "white supremacy," "white privilege," "black victim" narrative that's dividing society, especially the working class, who are in no way "privileged" or high up in the supposed "cis-gendered, heterosexual, white patriarchy."
I think more of us need to lose the blame and shame game. What a sublime waste of time an energy. Stay out of react mode, that's my motto. If something eats up a lot of my mental energy because I keep pushing it away... well, suffice it to say I have learned to pull it close, figure it out, and fix it.
Systemic racism, of which police brutality is but a small part, albeit one of the deadliest, has never been opposed by masses of White folk, because we don't feel the sting of its whip. But, I say, we can keep reacting to this grim reality, or we can get busy and fix it.
Which means, anti-republocrat, that you might work on 'fixing' things, rather than posting sophomoric drivel that completely substantiates what Caitlin wrote...
BTW, the stultifying, hierarchy-inculcating sociocultural construct we call patriarchy (and it's many rigid feedback systems--Abrahamic religious mythologies, racism, our poisonous pedagogy, militarism) is the "narrative that's dividing society." Helping people become aware of this does not mean that Caitlin is "falling" for anything. Caitlin, and all of the social media activists working tirelessly online, are quietly and effectively changing our nation's zeitgeist. (Frankly, I cannot wait for us to reach critical mass--it's the only thing that might save our species...)
Furthermore, Caitlin is documenting what we're facing, and your tepid ad hominem sounds trollish. You've such a command of the language... seems you should be doing something more constructive with your words.
You're right that people "need to lose the blame and shame game." Perhaps you should look at yourself in the mirror, because the rest of your post is full of it and a lot more.
Scapegoating is a way of transferring responsibility onto the "other" in order to deny one's own responsibility. That's what's going on here, and blaming and shaming the scapegoat is part of the process. You don't know me and have no idea what I've done in my life to try to "fix" systemic racism, so get off your high horse.
What I wrote was not an ad hominem attack, because I did not attack Caitlin personally and gave very specific objections to what she wrote in this piece. On the other hand, you make assumptions about me personally and address none of my specific objections. Did you even do a web search for any of the examples I gave? I doubt it. I gave a very specific suggestion as to how white people can be made more aware that reducing police violence will help themselves as well as POC, but the corporate media narrative and Caitlin's own writing in this case only serve to divide people against one another so the elites can have their way with us.
When I said, "The elites reporting these killing apparently aren't seriously interested in reducing the overall level of police violence," that didn't go nearly far enough. What I should have pointed out is that not only are elites not interested in reducing overall police violence, but they also are not interested in reducing police violence against non-whites. By scapegoating the white community, they are telling others that they need take no responsibility for their own actions. Thus, young men who use guns during the commission of a felony need take no responsibility for the eventual consequences of their actions. We inculcate a "victim" attitude that justifies their criminal activity and implies that others must redress both real and imagined "grievances."
Fortunately, a growing number of non-whites are starting to see through the "shame and blame game" of victimhood, people like Daryl Davis, Gothix, Adam Coleman, Coleman Hughes or RuinedLeon. I used to assume that black "conservatives" were tokens and sellouts, used to justify right wing political-economic ideology, but I'm now realizing that many of them simply believe that people should be judged as individuals rather than members of a group. What matters to them is not the color of your skin, but the content of your character. And Daryl has shown that character is malleable. You might want to check some of them out.
You are a very patient person and I hope your effort makes a positive impact on the person you are responding to. If that happens I may need to re-evaluate my own patience with the G.I.G.O. crowd.
Tony D needs to grow up. Yes, some cops are brutal thugs but, the majority are just doing their job. If tony D thinks we don't need police, he should seek professional help.
Tony D needs to grow up. Yes, some cops are brutal thugs but, the majority are just doing their job. If tony D thinks we don't need police, he should seek professional help.
It seems to me, there is symptomatic proof of our common psychotic "management style" in the practice of electing tired old, corrupted, mostly men, to "lead" our world governments forward, when their only purpose in the present is to own more of it while ascribing responsibility to take care of it others, or avoiding it all together.!.!.!. I would vote for "Greta Thunberg" in a heartbeat, because she is uncorrupted by the stupid compromises of our current conflicted and blind governments.!.!.!..
So much of our current politics is geared toward not doing the right thing, followed by a guy with a broom behind the elephant-like propaganda machine whose sole purpose is to convince us otherwise.
Which brings us to this: A simple hurrah for mentioning the Palestinians. Recently, two of America's premier progressive politicians -- AOC and current NYC mayoral candidate Andrew Yang -- famously made damn fools of themselves attempting to justify and mollycoddle Israel.
Enough. The Overton window on Israel and the rancid power structures that support it are in need of a long overdue displacement.
Cops are sociopaths and murderers
Low level, the real monsters are the bosses, ceo's, politicians, ""leaders", etc.
When they are taught and paid to be.!.!.!.
Caitlin's inflammatory opening sentence leaves the impression that the deceased was unarmed and that he was "executed." My understanding is that original body camera videos were for some reason cropped and didn't show the gun he was holding a fraction of a second before he was hit with a bullet, but my purpose here is not to adjudicate his death, just to point out that Caitlin has fallen for a narrative of police oppression targeting minorities.
Neither minorities nor men are the sole victims of unjustified police killing. Calling attention to that problem and fixing it will benefit everyone in the US, so it seems if people really wanted to fix it, they would report and talk about the majority of people killed by police who are white, because there are a lot more white voters that will vote for reform than there are people of any color who would vote to abolish or de-fund the police. Yet hardly anybody even has heard of Tony Timpa, Daniel Shavers or Justine Damond, and there were no riots after their deaths. So I have to wonder, what's the real agenda behind the constant inflammatory reports of the killing of POC? The elites reporting these killing apparently aren't seriously interested in reducing the overall level of police violence.
Caitlin is falling for one of the elite divide et impera tactics. She should rethink her rhetoric, because she's feeding the "white supremacy," "white privilege," "black victim" narrative that's dividing society, especially the working class, who are in no way "privileged" or high up in the supposed "cis-gendered, heterosexual, white patriarchy."
I think more of us need to lose the blame and shame game. What a sublime waste of time an energy. Stay out of react mode, that's my motto. If something eats up a lot of my mental energy because I keep pushing it away... well, suffice it to say I have learned to pull it close, figure it out, and fix it.
Systemic racism, of which police brutality is but a small part, albeit one of the deadliest, has never been opposed by masses of White folk, because we don't feel the sting of its whip. But, I say, we can keep reacting to this grim reality, or we can get busy and fix it.
Which means, anti-republocrat, that you might work on 'fixing' things, rather than posting sophomoric drivel that completely substantiates what Caitlin wrote...
BTW, the stultifying, hierarchy-inculcating sociocultural construct we call patriarchy (and it's many rigid feedback systems--Abrahamic religious mythologies, racism, our poisonous pedagogy, militarism) is the "narrative that's dividing society." Helping people become aware of this does not mean that Caitlin is "falling" for anything. Caitlin, and all of the social media activists working tirelessly online, are quietly and effectively changing our nation's zeitgeist. (Frankly, I cannot wait for us to reach critical mass--it's the only thing that might save our species...)
Furthermore, Caitlin is documenting what we're facing, and your tepid ad hominem sounds trollish. You've such a command of the language... seems you should be doing something more constructive with your words.
You're right that people "need to lose the blame and shame game." Perhaps you should look at yourself in the mirror, because the rest of your post is full of it and a lot more.
Scapegoating is a way of transferring responsibility onto the "other" in order to deny one's own responsibility. That's what's going on here, and blaming and shaming the scapegoat is part of the process. You don't know me and have no idea what I've done in my life to try to "fix" systemic racism, so get off your high horse.
What I wrote was not an ad hominem attack, because I did not attack Caitlin personally and gave very specific objections to what she wrote in this piece. On the other hand, you make assumptions about me personally and address none of my specific objections. Did you even do a web search for any of the examples I gave? I doubt it. I gave a very specific suggestion as to how white people can be made more aware that reducing police violence will help themselves as well as POC, but the corporate media narrative and Caitlin's own writing in this case only serve to divide people against one another so the elites can have their way with us.
When I said, "The elites reporting these killing apparently aren't seriously interested in reducing the overall level of police violence," that didn't go nearly far enough. What I should have pointed out is that not only are elites not interested in reducing overall police violence, but they also are not interested in reducing police violence against non-whites. By scapegoating the white community, they are telling others that they need take no responsibility for their own actions. Thus, young men who use guns during the commission of a felony need take no responsibility for the eventual consequences of their actions. We inculcate a "victim" attitude that justifies their criminal activity and implies that others must redress both real and imagined "grievances."
Fortunately, a growing number of non-whites are starting to see through the "shame and blame game" of victimhood, people like Daryl Davis, Gothix, Adam Coleman, Coleman Hughes or RuinedLeon. I used to assume that black "conservatives" were tokens and sellouts, used to justify right wing political-economic ideology, but I'm now realizing that many of them simply believe that people should be judged as individuals rather than members of a group. What matters to them is not the color of your skin, but the content of your character. And Daryl has shown that character is malleable. You might want to check some of them out.
You are a very patient person and I hope your effort makes a positive impact on the person you are responding to. If that happens I may need to re-evaluate my own patience with the G.I.G.O. crowd.
I expected better from Caitlin Johnstone.
Tony D needs to grow up. Yes, some cops are brutal thugs but, the majority are just doing their job. If tony D thinks we don't need police, he should seek professional help.
Tony D needs to grow up. Yes, some cops are brutal thugs but, the majority are just doing their job. If tony D thinks we don't need police, he should seek professional help.
It seems to me, there is symptomatic proof of our common psychotic "management style" in the practice of electing tired old, corrupted, mostly men, to "lead" our world governments forward, when their only purpose in the present is to own more of it while ascribing responsibility to take care of it others, or avoiding it all together.!.!.!. I would vote for "Greta Thunberg" in a heartbeat, because she is uncorrupted by the stupid compromises of our current conflicted and blind governments.!.!.!..
Caitlin, your description on the back of your book says it all, so why the book?
By the same token, I find your essays too long and repetitious.
Why fall for the popular idea that "the more words the better--and maybe some will stick"?
IMO brevity, clarity, and simplicity are better.
You are quite good with the latter two.
I request more brevity, please.
So much of our current politics is geared toward not doing the right thing, followed by a guy with a broom behind the elephant-like propaganda machine whose sole purpose is to convince us otherwise.
Which brings us to this: A simple hurrah for mentioning the Palestinians. Recently, two of America's premier progressive politicians -- AOC and current NYC mayoral candidate Andrew Yang -- famously made damn fools of themselves attempting to justify and mollycoddle Israel.
Enough. The Overton window on Israel and the rancid power structures that support it are in need of a long overdue displacement.