The decision by prosecutors to increase the prosecution of police while voiding the prosecutions of looters is going to prove disastrous.
2021: 38 homicides
2020: 27 ""
2019: 24 ""
2018: 33 ""
2017: 22 ""
The stats for overall police deaths, higher obviously than deaths by homicide, are at the link.
This is combined with cultural fragmentation, which is being pursued intentionally by the Federal government not only under the leadership of the current administration but by the bureaucracy even in spite of the Trump administration's attempt at pushback. The result is, inter alia, that this weekend when Juneteenth celebrations collided with Puerto Rico Day celebration, a couple was dragged out of their car and executed in the street. (The video at the link ought to be shocking, but it would be a good idea to watch it to prepare yourselves for what is coming in this country.)
Atlanta's mayor has an answer: the Republicans lifted COVID restrictions too early and also Georgia has lax gun laws in her opinion. They are the same gun laws Georgia has had, though, in what was until recently a two-decade halving of the violent crime rate. The spike in violent crime doesn't appear even to correlate with the lifting of COVID restrictions, but more with the imposition of them. Even that correlation is probably not causative, as the real issue is unrelated.
Readers know that I love the absence of the police locally; there are none, and I want none. That's an effective solution in an environment like this one. Citizens can self-police effectively, free of onerous government regulations and irksome petty laws.
Cities are another animal. They're an objectively worse place to live, albeit with theaters and better restaurants. Who wants to go to the theater in a war zone, though?
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Or attend professional development meetings. I had the opportunity to go to professional development training in the Denver area. No. I will find one in a smaller location, preferably in Texas or Oklahoma, because of safety concerns. Large cities need police forces. If the Powers That Be will not allow laws to be enforced on all people, rather than only on select groups of people, then I will not spend my money to support those PTBs.
LittleRed1
As AVI sometimes says, these are defensive responses. At some point, we're going to have to do more than 'not go to your city' or 'not spend money with you.'
Although the "defensive responses" do create space for action. We need our own lines of supply and communication that can't be shut down by the enemy, and choosing where we spend our money and where/how we communicate helps do that.
Offensively, what are the options?
Elections, of course, securing and winning them.
Also the counter-march through the institutions. I've often thought that universities, and especially departments of education, are key ground. But that is a long-term goal.
So what timeframe are we looking at?
Clearly, where Democrats run the system, things can go sideways very quickly now. I'm not sure what offensive ops would look like in places like Chicago or Portlandia. I would just get out; those positions are overrun.
Or if I couldn't get out, try to organize a militia with the neighbors and create our own unannounced autonomous zone.
This are just off-the-cuff; what do others think?
Creating informal militias is also defensive, but a good idea. But you don't have to go that far. Figuring out which of your neighbors are the right kind of people for that -- I mean as much that they're level-headed and not excitable, as much as that they're on your side politically -- is well-done now. You can talk about formalizing such things later. For now, figure out who you'd want, and build relationships such that they might consider it when you ask.
Likewise it's a great time to get involved in your community in a fuller way. That's also defensive, but it's a very good idea right now. Make sure your neighbors know who you are, and that you're a reliable member of the community whom they're glad to have around.
Another defensive idea that you can do now that's wise is to work out some local food supplies. If you can't plant a garden, find out if there's a community garden. Maybe you can plant some things in pots on a patio or in windows. Supply chain disruptions around food will only increase next year. China's crop has failed for the second year in a row. Brazil's is failing, and ours is having drought issues too. China's buying up every source of protein it can.
I understood from one account that the Puerto Rican flag they were flying was perhaps misinterpreted as the Stars & Bars. If so, another point or two to our educational systems.
What our esteemed, de-constructionist leaders seem to have missed is that there's a Charles Bronson gene in all of us. When the police are de-funded and arbitrary street crime takes root and spreads, so will citizen rage and eventually, vigilantism. After all, with no police, there is no judicial process, no system of justice. People won't misinterpret that.
The causes the mayor of Atlanta identified were entirely predictable. Lack of Common Sense gun control ® causes climate change, obesity, and erectile dysfunction, I'm sure.
I recall reading an article by a South American years ago who insisted that in a societal meltdown, your best preparation will have been a network of friends.
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