I call myself both an anabaptist and an anarchist. With the news going out over the last two days, I can't help but feel myself getting fired up. I can't/won't/don't condone any form of violence, but I can't help but say, "What do you expect?" In the story of Philando Castile, he allegedly did everything he was legally supposed to. He was licensed to carry, he told the officer that when he got pulled over, he told the officer where the gun was... yet he's dead because he tried to obey the officer's orders. When people follow the rules and they still end up dead, what are you supposed to do? What do you say to the friends and families of victims? "I know this looks nasty, but violence isn't the answer." Sure, I could say that, and I would/will say that. But I'm intelligent enough to know it won't be that easy. When people are getting murdered for doing exactly what they're told to do, what can you do?
The worst part is, we can take a step back and see it's not as simple as cops killing people, it's the whole system. People like Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden fear for their lives because of things they did with government documents. Edward Snowden, as just one example, can't even return to his home country for fear of his life, yet a big-name government official can be accused of the same kind of thing and still get up in front of thousands of people at a time to make a bid as being the leader of the United States! The whole system is just so messed up and I've gotten to the point that I just don't know how to not be angry at it. I had felt I was getting jaded for a long time; Like I could just ignore how messed up it is and climb into a cozy corner with those dear to me, but I can't. I can't read about how ridiculously people are treated by the ones who are supposed to protect them. This is a big part of why I am both an anabaptist and an anarchist. These two positions converge on both the sanctity of human life and the pointlessness of centralized authority. People were made to take care of themselves and each other. That's not what's happening.
I still believe violence is never the answer. I honestly believe killing people will ever stop people from killing people will never, ever work. I don't have the answers for how to deal with the epidemic. The only reaction I can ever come to is violence, but I can't accept that it's really the only way. I'd love to tell people to just do what the police say, to behave... but it's been proven that doing so won't stop you from being shot or strangled by them. What do we do? All I can say is we need to make sure everyone knows the faces of every person who is murdered by the badge. As people get more and more familiar with how easy it is for a badge to kill you, they'll be more suspicious of a badge. With that in mind, I'd also suggest that anyone who is a police officer and objects to the murders being done by cops that they turn in their badge. I don't mean that as a warning even though I'm sure it could be taken as one, but what if you are a "good" guy and you're now at risk of becoming a victim because of retaliatory violence? I'm sure there would be other issues as well, like cops picking on you for leaving the fraternity, but come on. If every cop that really took issue with what's been happening decided to quit, just maybe that would send a shockwave through the system.
I don't know if this actually makes any sense. I'm typing while I'm at work and had to stop to take care of a customer while I was doing so, but I just had to get this out. I'm so frustrated and hurt by the things I read and see in the media, and I feel like I have absolutely no way to help...