The events in Ferguson, Missouri have continued to shed light on a massive problem within modern society. No, it isn’t a problem of unequal access to justice between minorities and whites (this is not to say such unequal distribution may exist). This problem is the loss of civility in the face of loss.
First off, it would be foolish to deny that minorities feel they are unjustly represented under the law. In the past few years there have been two high profile cases involving the death of a black teen, first in Florida and most recently the death at the hands of a police officer in Missouri. In both cases the teen was unarmed and in both cases the teen was involved in acts of violence. The question of an unjustified or unequal response has of course been brought up over and over again.
It’s understandable that many blacks and others may feel there was an injustice here that occurred. We need to remember some simple facts. Our system is different than many others in the world.
1. Here in the United States everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty under the law.
2. A grand jury is conducted using public jurors to decide if a case is even worth taking to prosecution.
3. Sometimes innocent people may go to jail and sometimes guilty people may go free, yet ours is a system of laws and it is our duty to obey those that are just and to voice our belief of injustices.
So many people may believe the Police officer in Ferguson may have gotten away with murder. Perhaps they have analyzed the evidence, though my reading is they haven’t. Regardless however many people are disappointed. Many people emotionally invested themselves in this trial and those with emotional investment are no doubt quite disappointed with the results.
We should recognize this disappointment and even the desire to protest. The perceived injustice weighs heavily on many souls, and their pain (the loss of a son, a family member, friend, or peer) cannot be measured in simple terms of justice. For those aggrieved, their pain will be worn on their sleeves and on their hearts for some time. Who could blame them?
In his play King John, William Shakespeare writes
KING PHILIP
You are as fond of grief as of your child.
CONSTANCE
Grief fills the room up of my absent child,
Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me,
Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words,
Remembers me of all his gracious parts,
Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form;
Then, have I reason to be fond of grief?
Fare you well: had you such a loss as I,
I could give better comfort than you do.
I will not keep this form upon my head,
When there is such disorder in my wit.
O Lord! my boy, my Arthur, my fair son!
My life, my joy, my food, my all the world!
My widow-comfort, and my sorrows’ cure!
The greif for those so rightfully agreived no doubt knows no bounds. As Hugh Hewitt so rightly put it in his book “The Happiest Life”, in these situations it is best to “show up and shut up”. In terms of grief those pained deserve to morn and to work through their pains, and we should not be aggravating nor shining the public light on them reigniting the injury over and over again. The pain they feel is great and understandable
But then there is the other question. The question of justice, the question of right and wrong. We must assume however imperfect our system is, that it has worked and can continue to work only with active participation within, acceptance of the system, and yes in some cases peaceful protests against that system.
This means we must educate our children and enforce an education of our system of laws on immigrants pursuing citizenship. We have a civic duty to each other to uphold the peace and indeed the law of the land amongst each other. In terms of protest our actions should be pointed and focused. What we have seen however was not appropriate.
The violence of last night is not representative of those aggrieved. Thankfully the majority of those in the public eye have called out the actions of the looters for what it is: criminal. The President, leading Democratic strategists, conservative pundits all have come together to dismiss these actions for the criminal actions that they were.
This however does beyond mere criminality. Last week groups published a list of targets. These targets included the court house, an understandable location of public ire and location for a protest (though not for violence nor of looting). The list however also included public businesses including Fortune 500 company Emerson. It keys into a deeper and more sinister side to those organizing many of these protests
Last night we watched as social order broke down. We watched as police cars, and businesses were sset on fire. We watched as justice was no longer on the mind, as pain was no longer the focus. We watched people at their most base and at their worst. These actions are not the actions of a hurt people these are the actions of criminal enterprise. The targets were the very business run by neighbors and friends. The burning buildings having provided jobs, goods, and services to the community for (in many cases) years.
There exists a mindset amongst many of our youth that in numbers they can simply do what they want. That those with strength are justified to take. That no amount of social order, that no amount of law can stand justly in the face of those who wish to take. This mindset is at the heart of those who were looting. Where was the conscience that told them not to steal, that told them not to burn down buildings, or that told them not to rob their neighbor.
That conscience is fading. We are watching a society that looks enviously upon those who work and produce things. We are watching a society that does not care for property, except perhaps their own. We are watching a society that believes that they should take what they want and leave the rest behind.
These are the weeds that have been sown through discontent. It’s a crop of thought grown with fertilizer of lies and watered by a perpetual stream of misinformation cultivated by a lazy media and apathetic teachers. We have failed much of our youth. I started observing this in 2011 with the rise of the flash mob.
These twitter organized crime sprees gave rise to a modern form of Sophistry. But of course much of this for back further than 2011. The attacks on business are rooted deeply in a hatred of success, an envy of the successful, and base Marxism. Even the violence so heavily associated with these lootings holds true to the bulk of Marx’s writing.
