Police Brutality and Racial Inequality.

Why is it so hard to stand against police brutality and the inequality of justice in our criminal systems? 

Why is it so hard to see past skin color and the uniforms and not see and hear the blatant calls for justice?

It's about a gang murder.

It's about racism and anger.

It's FEAR of deadly force in the hands of civilians, and response without rational thought, and only the compulsory part of of the brain.

It's the disrespect of our men and women who come home after serving based on skin color.

Fear.  It cannot be tolerated as an excuse for deadly force.  Our levels of fear are more often than not unjustified.  We are scared at movies, at the dark, at almost anything at any given time without any real rationale.  So fear should not be a deciding force to take a life. 

Not to mention I have my own issues of being tailgated and harassed just for working late hours, or being pulled over simply for having a black passenger.

It's not all police, there are many great ones, and from what I would gather they may well be the majority. But I'm so tired of their names being lumped with these terrible ones.  The ones that bully ANY part of the public, but especially those that do it based on race.

If we want this all to stop, we need to address the actual issue rather than beating around the bush.

I'm positive the honorable officers are tired of hearing about it, as are their loved ones. So let's do something about it.  Let's do something about the dishonorable ones. 

The truth of the matter is that there are real problems with our racial discrimination within our law enforcement establishment and that it's in our collective best interest to address it rather than continue dealing with non-issues.

Rather than continue the garbage talk why don't we start addressing the problem, and ask simple questions such as why?

Perhaps we need to revisit specific laws that allow so many criminals to be armed, something I'm sure has a measure of support from our police force.  Or perhaps drug laws and our confusion both ethically and morally on how we treat addicts from all walks of life?  How about we address the educational system in poor communities? 

I would address some of those.  Suggesting first that we end the drug war as it's currently conducted, and getting addicted people help rather than creating a larger law issue.  Opioids, cocaine, alcohol, marijuana, and more need to be re-examined by our systems and how we handle them.  I would fully legalize marijuana, similar to alcohol (though I would drop the drinking age to 18); tighten controls at the pharmaceutical level on opioids to prevent addiction. 

We need better access to help for the opioid addicts from a medical standpoint.  All drugs are bad, but the state needs to better educate and heal and prevent addiction rather than directly intervene in terms of incarcerating users.  We have created a huge black market by doing so rather than address things openly and honestly. 

Secondly, there is a real fear in any poorer area that the population will be armed with weapons.  This is kind of where it gets tricky and complex, but I would offer that we need to fund our education systems, have better gun laws, improve training for officers on bias as well as involve more community policing. 

In my view we need to have higher standards and harsher penalties on police that abuse power.  I would also offer more compensation to those that are in the field to do well to keep a financial incentive to keep standards high, and to get rid people who can't fulfill the job requirements faster. 

The position of officer should be as reputable a public position as we have.  People who serve to protect the general public.  They are there to not only enforce our laws, but they are trusted to do so equally and fairly. 

To not fear or judge based on race. 

To not fear or judge based on wealth.

To address all of the public as an equal reflection of humanity.

That is as noble a goal as I can think of.

However the job seems to have been twisted and manipulated so that there are divisions with how the laws are applied to the wealthy, powerful, and white, versus the poor, the less educated and black. 

In many ways I don't believe this is the officer's fault but how we currently have their jobs set up as a society and how we care so little about the poor and their education.

The problems are complex but I'm confident we can come up with solutions to our problems rather than arguing with each other forever over things that don't matter at all.  (The freaking kneeling debate.)

What we should not do is pretend the problem doesn't exist.  Worse still, we shouldn't give up on fixing the problem.  We should try to make a better, more perfect world if possible and not settle on the one that we have. 

That we allow a segment of our population, based on nothing but the color of their skin to not feel cared for, to feel excluded, and not have the same opportunities as someone else, is shameful.

If we want this to stop, if we want this all to become a moment we can be proud of then start coming together and finding solutions to the problems rather than get lost in a sea of divisive rhetoric while our country crumbles.

Look at our country and how angry we all are.  Meme's about "libtards", and bitching about snowflakes as well as meme's about morons, pussy-grabbers, and racists.  We are so divided in our quest to get one over on the other side we stop paying attention to the real issues.  And all of a sudden we have more. 

Instead of fostering resentment towards one another think about how we can love one another.  Become at peace with one another, and stop the horrific behavior that has led to an America where the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and one's skin still defines one's odds to live a full life.

Las Vegas and The Gun Culture of America.

It's simpler than we make it out to be at times.

Stop the selling and increase the illegality and penalties of semi automatic weapons that can be made into what happened last night. 

If you want less mass gun deaths do something.

Otherwise be content, for this is normal in America today.

Yes it's sad. 

Yes it makes me angry. 

But when push comes to shove no one ever really addresses the gun industry or the how we currently handle gun laws in this Country.
 

Guns and weaponry are largely celebrated here in America.  They are thought of as a way to birth our freedom.  A way to exert dominance.  Some are taught that we need guns to defend ourselves.  That the best defense against a gun is another gun. 

I would argue that if someone jumps you with a gun that you are likely dead no matter what.  In fact whoever shoots first is almost certain to be alive longer than the person who has to react.  Hand guns and semi automatic weapons (that allegedly a 64 year old man easily turned into an automatic weapon) have enormous killing potential, typically greater due to the ease of which one can conceal hand weapons and the incredible rate of ballistic discharge and magazine depth of more militarized weapons.

If you want events like this to stop ask those elected officials to do something rather than just hoping.  Stop encouraging fear and gun ownership.  Start encouraging a closer and thoughtful regulation to weapons industry. 

And for the love of humanity stop being so scared of one another, angry at one another, that you feel motivated towards  violence.  Go for a run. Go be creative.  Go to work or to school and represent yourself to your best.  

I have no personal use for a firearm.  Zero.  However I'm sympathetic on some level to hunters who might be doing the environment a favor to curb certain populations and the usage of the meat and hide of wildlife.   I'm also sympathetic to those that might rely on CERTAIN weapons for personal defense because of their reasoned fear of their environment or circumstances.

I believe we can build restrictions while protecting those groups I sympathize with. 

That we can limit the public's access to deadly weapons while still leaving the public with viable defenses from intruders and low level criminality. 

If we really want events like Las Vegas or Sandy Hook or Columbine to ever truly stop or slow we need to actually do something about our access to the weapons that have the easiest and greatest capacity to harm.

IF you feel similar to me, do what I've done.  Share this with your elected officials in any way you can.  (I'm sending this to my Conservative Senators and I await any kind of thoughtful conversation on the issue.)  Speak to them.  Make your voices heard.  If not, stay silent, and let the death toll continue to climb.