Dystopia

Let's talk about Ferguson, Missouri. First, let's go over what we know to be fact...

Nothing

What we have is reporting and rumor. Mostly, we have reporting of rumor. We have lots of video showing riots and looting along with a bunch of policemen in camo and riding on (or in) armored vehicles. We have scenes of flash-bang grenades and tear gas clouds.

The camo and armored vehicles have given rise to concerns about the "militarization" of the local police. We have forgotten about the use of these armored vehicles by Chief Gates in Los Angeles in the 1980's to break into crack houses which were heavily armored with steel doors and such and full of men with guns. We have forgotten that we (the collective "we") clamored for the police to have these weapons and these armored cars after 9/11/2001. Now we are concerned that the police are too powerful. This fretting about police power will continue until there is a domestic terror attack. Then we will forget all about that concern we have now.

I rail against police state possibilities a lot here. I whine about people who seemingly want a single party government. Why? Because the police will be very militarized in that kind of system.

I have no idea what is actually the truth about events in Ferguson and I don't think I would have any more insight if I lived there. The first thing that happens is the truth is lost. People hear rumors and believe them to be true. Michael Brown was an "innocent, unarmed, child" except we learn that he may not be such an innocent (see the video of him shoving and intimidating a convenience store clerk half his size).  We are told he had his hands up when the cop shot him. But maybe that isn't true either. We are not getting the entire picture and we may never get it.

Because, as I always say:

People hear what they want to hear,
see what they want to see,
and believe what they want to believe.

What do you believe?