Thoughts on Riots, Protests, Police, etc.

I know that this is a little late, and will be completely dated in a week, but I feel this needs to be said:

I support good cops who are honestly trying to keep people safe.

I think there are cops out there who became cops so they could boss people around. I think they are a small, but problematic minority.

Police should be held to a very high standard of conduct, no matter a person’s skin color.

I think that an “Us vs Them” mentality is going to show up in police departments. This is natural. This is also very dangerous and must be gotten rid of as much as possible.

I support the people protesting police brutality.

I think that the looters should be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and I support the use of force to keep a person’s life and livelihood safe.

I think that the rioters are a different group than the protestors, and are using the protestors as camouflage. Literal wolves in sheep’s clothing.

I think that desecrating a memorial to people who were murdered by a terrorist, because a different person was murdered, is hypocritical in the extreme.

I think that there are agitators and provocateurs out there. I don’t know if they are working for the far left or far right, but they do not have your (and mine) interests in mind.

I think that rioters and looters make everyone look bad. They make the honest protestors look like thugs, they make the honest cops trying to get control of a situation look like thugs, the rioters reveal themselves as thugs, and the power hungry cops who overreact also reveal themselves to be thugs.

Finally, and most importantly, saying that all cops are bad because of the actions of a few is the same thing as thinking all the protestors are rioting. That is the same false mentality, just applied to each side.

Final Thoughts

The world is complicated. There is no “Us vs Them”. There is no united front of enemies. There is infighting in what to you and I looks like one group, and there are hundreds of subdivisions within that group, with varying alliances. Each of those people think everyone else is against them, too.

The key is to see that everyone only wants what is good for them. Most people believe that cooperation is in their interest. Some people want to watch the world burn, but even they believe that to be to their benefit.

See things from the other person’s side. Realize that you aren’t so different from them, and be ready to see new subdivisions of groups you used to think were homogeneous.

Stay open minded, and I’ll see you next Friday. -S_S