We live in divided, chaotic times. There will be further simple and obvious truths pointed out in this article, but let's start with that one.
We are living in a time where if you say that A is true, but B is ALSO true, then somehow you are denying or minimizing the seriousness or veracity of truth A.
The George Floyd case has been a recent flashpoint and the impact of that terrible event is ongoing, and I believe that we still haven't reached the summit of the protests. However, this is a good example of where multiple things can be true at the same time.
Let's go through a few of them, shall we?
What happened to George Floyd was heinous. It was more than just murder. It was almost 9 minutes of torture which led to his murder. Derek Chauvin, the scumbag police officer that took George Floyd's life should go to prison for the rest of his life. True.
The protests which followed were unsurprising and necessary. The peaceful protests across America and in cities around the world were good to see. I will defend the right of anyone to protest publicly because that freedom is what our Western society is based on.
BUT
What is also true is that those that used the George Floyd murder and the subsequent, legitimate anger surrounding it to riot, to loot, to destroy, while invoking the name of George Floyd was disgusting. In many cases, these rioters - I will not use the word protestors to describe them - were nothing more than extremists from groups such as Antifa looking to use this terrible event as a way to push their agenda by causing as much havoc as possible.
Two things can be true at the same time.
How about another one?
I am fully behind the statement Black Lives Matter. Of course. There is no reasonable person that would disagree with the statement. There is also no reasonable person that would disagree with the fact that there are many black communities in America (and indeed in Canada) where the people that live there are behind the 8-ball from the start in terms of opportunity. I'm not smart enough to know what the solutions are, but I do know that our leaders must find a way to help these communities lift themselves up so that as a group they have the same access to opportunity and prosperity that the rest of us have.
BUT
Black Lives Matter, the organization, has time and time again supported BDA ( Boycott, Divest, and Sanction) Israel, which accuses Israel of genocide against Palestinians as well as labeling Israel an "apartheid state".
Why Black Lives Matter is involving themselves and backing an organization and a cause which has nothing to do with their own struggle and mission statement defies explanation. Furthermore, their calls to Defund the Police are shortsighted and was bring nothing but further misery to their communities.
So, while I can back the STATEMENT and the HUMAN SENTIMENT behind Black Lives Matter, I will not back the ORGANIZATION.
Two things can be true at the same time.
Want more? Building on what I stated earlier.
Policing in America (and again, in Canada as well) must change. There must be massive reforms to the way that police officers are hired, trained, evaluated, and disciplined.
The training must be much more rigorous. To become a Navy Seal you must go through over a year of formal training. Police officers in Minneapolis undergo 16 weeks of training and then further field experience and training. I believe police officers should undergo at least a year of training as well as rigorous psychological evaluation before they are even allowed to interact with the public. They should be trained in as many different scenarios as possible and re-evaluated on a yearly basis.
The police should also be "de-militarized". Police forces do not need the level of military-style equipment and weaponry that they have with the exception of very specialized units in a very limited capacity. Seeing armoured personnel vehicles rolling down the street and heavily armed police pouring out of it does nothing but amp up tensions and the idea that the police are there to do more than just serve and protect.
BUT
I believe this calls for MORE funding for the police, not defunding the police, and certainly not ABOLISHING the police.
We have already started to see what happens in the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) with the absence of police. Murders, rapes, assaults, people dying because paramedics can't get in to help because they can't enter the area without police protection. CHAZ is going to further degenerate into chaos as time goes on.
Now imagine more major American cities with a greatly diminished or even disbanded police force. Nobody should and would feel safer than they do now, and allowing the people to take the law into their own hands is a recipe for carnage.
So "Defund the Police" is a terrible idea. More funding and MUCH more intensive training and evaluation is part, although not the entire answer.
Policing MUST change, but defunding them is not the answer. Both can be true.
I am convinced that most people agree, perhaps not with my statements here, but that two things can be true at the same time and can foster discussion, compromise, or at least agreeing to disagree, shaking hands, and continuing to work out our problems. However, I am not confident that those voices will be heard because they are being drowned out by the loudest voices in the room.
Two things can be true at the same time.
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