‘It’s easier to not empathize with someone you don’t identify with.’
One thing I took from BLM is how many white people have come to identify with, and empathize with, the black community. This is due to socioeconomic barriers that go beyond race and gender to whether you identify with another individual. I realize more than ever that inter sectionalism ultimately transcends to our individual experiences and how we relate post-modernly to others. Life is a subjective experience, but our humanity is ultimately in our ability to understand the pain others feel, because we feel pain. It is one of the important reasons we shouldn’t always be happy. Suffering binds us even more than joy. In fact some of the best joy is in pushing each other through painful progress with good alliances. I don’t know about you, but I truly admire those who try to give the world a more hopeful future that fully acknowledges that society thrives on complexity as does biology.
The people made their point in the anarchy zone of Seattle. I get it’s done. So does Seattle; at least most of them. When protesters realize it’s more effective to grassroots organize towards changes in politics, law, and most importantly, policy, actual change will happen. When I studied law enforcement, I was amazed by the ‘one higher level of force’ policy the police had towards securing arrests. The military generally has a policy where they respond do protests or whatnot with the exact same level of force. There is a problem in policing where they have a policy that encourages escalation of applied violence, rather than talking someone into de-escalation and it is more commonly applied to blacks. It’s going to get worst if there are severe funding cuts to the police, not better. Escalation towards violence is quicker. They may be to busy if their short staffed and add to stress. Being short handed would not help them function with a cooler head. They’ve got guns. They need down time, but not to get so bored they start picking fights. I’m not sure even policy matters, to some degree. They need a different mentality.
Actual policy reform is definitely important. However, so is a change in social psychology as it relates to the police subculture.
It’s okay to be weak sometimes. It’s okay to not always be dominant. This allows them to relate to the often disenfranchised public they serve. There are gangs. There are people with guns trying to intimidate others. We need a mindset that won’t become one of them. Policy can help, but it needs to be perceived by the police as pragmatically and safely applicable. Good policy can at least help good cops get rid of bad cops. College is not the right path to recruitment, beyond it lets some time pass for those with mental health and/or substance abuse issues to filter out. There needs to be a peer to peer approach to criminal justice though. The police themselves need to understand these are their fellow people. They so often pick up a dark side to them. The paramilitary mentality of police is a mistake. The need to relate to the communities they protect more.
Internally, the reason I am liberal minded is because I also value personal humility. I try not to judge mistakes that are different than mine. I am not the judge. There are people who need to be in prison. Sometimes people are just not capable of handling freedom. However. addiction and mental illness ultimately are behavioral problems better dealt with by mental health care professionals, not punitive measures. The suffering of the disease itself is enough. The punishment is the cross they put themselves on. I’m at least not the man to drive the nails in. My energy is better spent working on myself than looking down on others. I see my cousins in sentience with the black community and do grasp that there is systemic racism in how people are diverted into the criminal justice system rather than the health care system. There is also racism, sexism, and classism in how one is treated in both systems as well. I’d dare suggest that some of the barriers are linguistic as well. It’s much easier to identify with someone who can communicate their story in your jargon and dialect. Now I don’t agree that cultural appropriation is inherently evil. It depends. Sometimes someone from outside a culture gains the respect of a culture by learning their post modern expressions. In those moments, we will find our peacemakers. As flawed as he is, I see value in artists like Eminem, and I think more imporantly I believe he has legitimate friendships across the racial spectrum, though perhaps it is harder to identify with women and gays for him. I have changed in cognition over the years as to how I understand and appreciate others. For one, I realize I don’t need to completely understand them, though attempts are hardly pointless. They are part of the crux of human existence.
It probably is easier for many men to not break down barriers to relate to the gender and orientations so biologically different. It’s not that I relate though, so much as appreciate those individuals who have wandered in and out of my life. I especially appreciate my wife. I see her sacrifice so much to bring over my step kids, and help her loved ones back in Kenya. I see a woman who rarely embraces herself. I love her. I respect her. I see my wife with untold human worth. I appreciate her beauty on so many levels.
I appreciate my female Christian right friend who is more familiar with the beatitudes than she is with Deuteronomy, Leviticus or even Saul’s recovery from a psychotic break, right down to his change of identity.
I appreciate Paul’s empathy as a prisoner towards other prisoners and even his jailers. It didn’t work out for him, and I’ve learned why martyrdom is a path I once felt obligated towards choosing, and now don’t. I nobody’s martyr. I’m just not. I’m too selfish and instinctively self preserving. I want to die on my own terms. I’d rather not die. I will, however I can rationally see a top down perspective of humanity as well. I do see hope. I see a future where we all work progressively together with less friction and more rational compassion and post modern sympathy. We’ve come out of a time of slavery and torture. We still have that to some extent, but looking back, I see strategy forward. Society goes through weird cycles of social break downs. It also learns a little more from it each time. A psychotic break in social psychology the comes to value the cruelty of man, and his tenancy toward punitive vengeance, often to leads to a renewed spiritual awakening of the masses. Our moral compass is often enough calibrated by our realization that we don’t have the stomach to be cruel to even our enemies. It should at least hurt the stomach to punish. A fit of paranoia, psychosis, insomnia, and/or anger can lead to a life of regret. The punishment doesn’t need to be punitive so much as reformative.
Ultimately, my politics are more a reflection of my subjective view on a reality that is objective, but that I don’t understand fully via my abstract lens as an individual and the basic limitations of being human. More importantly than I post modernly communicate my perspective is to attempt some degree of objectivity when I subjectively listen. When two people have dialogue, we debate. It’s the third party that listens in and analyzes the communication that gains the most wisdom. It doesn’t mean they are neutral. They have linguistic biases. We all have experiences that condition how we perceive communication in the way we emotionally respond to words, tone and subtle nuances. Words matter; or at least I wish they did. Actions are more important. It’s time for the protesters, and those critical of such measures, to look beyond words critical of specific actions and consider what we can all do to change those actions with policy. More importantly we need to appreciate each other as we relate beyond the faux-progressive self-expression surrounding social criticism and ideological discord. There need to be changes in social structure by looking at our individual actions, and focus less on our ability to express we are ‘anti-racist’ publicly. There needs to be a change of demographical psychology within the criminal justice system, and as a greater society, to understanding each other as a matter of compassionate action that actually has some strategic merit going forward. At the very least, it’s time to reconsider the use of lethally risky escalations of force just to apprehend suspects we’re in denial we have a complete disregard for.
Joker's Wild 