It is inarguable that BLM the organization has its philosophical roots in Marxism. That fact, in and of itself makes the movement problematic. Cal is fond of admonishing his players to know who, why, and how they are being used by those with a message. He should have taken his own advice.
As many posters have said in this thread, the BLM slogan resonates with them for what they understand it to mean. In the political forum, that resonating message seems to outweigh any concerns about the org. I presume most of those kneeling, bowing, and taking to the streets are reacting to the felt need to "take action" when they see clear misdeeds on the part of the police, but the general lack of interest in vetting BLM the organization is of significant concern to me.
Lastly, anyone who cares to look can find the data on the number of police shootings per year. It can be sorted a variety of ways, but generally speaking, the measurables don't say what BLM the org wants them to say. More whites are killed by police than blacks every year and there is roughly an equal number of those killings under suspicion of "brutality" or "negligence" for blacks and whites. Those that make the case that blacks are killed "more often" base that claim on the absolute number of blacks killed by police representing a greater percentage of the black population than is the case with whites. If you control for covariables like socioeconomic status, that discrepancy goes away.
Still, EVERY citizen that is abused or improperly killed by police deserves justice and reform. We live in an age (perhaps all of human existence was this way) where perception is reality. The perception that the US is some combination of structurally racist and that minorities have something to fear from police IS a problem that needs to be addressed. That perception robs those American's who hold it of much of the benefits of our economic and political system.
At the end of the day, I never want Marxists trying to solve my social problems as it's a good bet too many people will end up dead, imprisoned, and spending 12 hours trying to buy grocery basics. Actual justice does not exist in that soulless philosophy and the 20th century has a pile of 100,000,000 bodies to prove it.
As many posters have said in this thread, the BLM slogan resonates with them for what they understand it to mean. In the political forum, that resonating message seems to outweigh any concerns about the org. I presume most of those kneeling, bowing, and taking to the streets are reacting to the felt need to "take action" when they see clear misdeeds on the part of the police, but the general lack of interest in vetting BLM the organization is of significant concern to me.
Lastly, anyone who cares to look can find the data on the number of police shootings per year. It can be sorted a variety of ways, but generally speaking, the measurables don't say what BLM the org wants them to say. More whites are killed by police than blacks every year and there is roughly an equal number of those killings under suspicion of "brutality" or "negligence" for blacks and whites. Those that make the case that blacks are killed "more often" base that claim on the absolute number of blacks killed by police representing a greater percentage of the black population than is the case with whites. If you control for covariables like socioeconomic status, that discrepancy goes away.
Still, EVERY citizen that is abused or improperly killed by police deserves justice and reform. We live in an age (perhaps all of human existence was this way) where perception is reality. The perception that the US is some combination of structurally racist and that minorities have something to fear from police IS a problem that needs to be addressed. That perception robs those American's who hold it of much of the benefits of our economic and political system.
At the end of the day, I never want Marxists trying to solve my social problems as it's a good bet too many people will end up dead, imprisoned, and spending 12 hours trying to buy grocery basics. Actual justice does not exist in that soulless philosophy and the 20th century has a pile of 100,000,000 bodies to prove it.
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