Don’t Make the Same Mistake with Police that we made with Vietnam-era Soldiers

I fully support the Black Lives Matter movement.  I also believe that our nation needs to take dramatic action to improve the lives of people of color and to reduce the inequality in our society.

The role of the police in our society needs to be carefully re-evaluated, along with our long-standing high rate of incarceration and the war on drugs.   But we must avoid vilifying the individuals that make up our police force.  The vast majority of police are good people who have a challenging job for relatively low pay.  They often risk their lives to perform their job.  They are not the authors of the system that currently exists, they are simply doing the task that we as a society have asked and trained them to do.

Are there bad actors in the police force?  Of course there are!  And the nature of our current approach to crime and law enforcement tends to encourage and excuse behavior that is often racist and overly authoritative.  But the blame for this should not lie on the police as people, but rather on the institutions that have dictated how they perform their jobs.

When soldiers returned from Vietnam in the late 60’s and early 70’s they were called baby-killers and spat upon.  It was a horrible mistake to blame the soldiers for the brutality, dishonesty and carnage of the Vietnam War.  They had suffered so much in the war, and then they returned home to criticism and pariah status.   We should have embraced them and thanked them for their sacrifice even amidst our resolve to learn from Vietnam’s mistakes (which, sadly we did not, as evidenced by our Iraq and Afghanistan wars).

The same is true for the police.  We must embrace them, call them our beloved brothers and sisters, and work together with them to re-define how policing should evolve.  Let’s be clear:  We will always need the police and we must appreciate the difficult task they have.  What needs to change is how they are instructed and trained to perform that task and how that task fits into the greater questions of justice and crime in our society.  We desperately need their input and expertise to make progress.

Again, there is no doubt that America needs a new way to look at justice, policing and incarceration.  But we will fail in addressing these needs if we blame the people who are the police.  They must be respected and incorporated in our search for a better society.

Trump’s Secrets and the Sad Truth About His Apologists

Donald Trump has world class baggage.  He has so many skeletons in the closet that he needs a whole mansion full of closets to house them.  But the most revealing thing about his baggage and skeletons is what their existence has to say about his supporters.

Some of his skeletons have remained in the closet and others have emerged.  His tax records, for example, have mostly remained a secret.  Unlike all his predecessors, Trump refused to make them public.  And then there are his records from high school and college. According to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, these schools have all been threatened with legal action if they publicize any of their records for Trump.  Do his supporters believe that these records are of no importance?  Do they believe the records would show normal, healthy financial and business practices, or stellar academic performances?  Of course not!  They know that his business dealings have been highly questionable, unethical and ruthless, if not downright illegal.  And they know that he hasn't the slightest interest in educating himself.   But they simply don’t care! 

They don’t want them released any more than Trump does, because that will just be one more thing that they have to rationalize and attempt to defend.  In the end they feel that Trump is pushing their conservative policies and appointing conservative justices and they don’t really care how pathetic a human being he is. 

And of course, his supporters in political office are all running scared, knowing that any opposition to Trump will energize his base against them and they may lose their precious power and position.

It must be exhausting to be a Trump toady.  First having to defend his sexual predation and the paid-off stripper and Playboy girlfriend (and God only knows how many more there are under his ubiquitous non-disclosure agreements).  Then excusing his unbelievable number of lies, conspiracy theories and outright insane tweets.  Then tuning out his constant, almost cartoon-like bragging.  Then ignoring the fact that two of the most highly regarded conservative voices – George Will and Charles Krauthammer – wrote tirelessly warning of how incompetent and corrosive Trump is.  Then rationalizing the fact that his cabinet and advisors have been a revolving door with many of them speaking out about how horrible Trump is as a President.  Then shrugging off the impeachment accusation that he used American foreign policy support as a bribe to get a foreign government to provide ammunition against Biden (which many republican senators conceded but were unwilling to act upon).  Then somehow not reacting to the fact that even historically non-political senior military leaders have come out with very damning criticisms of Trump’s leadership and decision-making (ADM Mullen, GEN Mattis, GEN Kelly, GEN Allen, ADM McRaven just to name a few).

And now they will be forced to go to the mattresses again to find some way to rationalize John Bolton’s devastating critique of Trump. 

Any support of Donald Trump is an exercise in cynical, dangerous, political desperation.  It is a classic case of doubling down on a bad bet, of stubbornly refusing to see the writing on the wall.  Everyone, including his supporters, knows what a pathetic human being he is.  But it is hard for human beings to admit a mistake, and partisanship is a very addictive drug.  

The Faustian bargain that otherwise sane and good people have made to keep Trump in office will go down with the support of fascist and communist leaders in the 20^th century as another chilling example of mass hysteria meeting widespread ignorance.  Let us hope and pray that it does not have the same consequences.

 

Why is the USA Unable to Do What Germany Has Done in the Pandemic?

As we approach 120,000 lives lost due to COVID-19 and our new cases each day hover at 20,000 and deaths between 300 and 1000, one might ask whether this is just something we must reconcile ourselves to, or is there another path?

 Germany, with one fourth of the population of America, has had 8,847 deaths, or approximately one thirteenth the fatalities that the USA has suffered.  This ratio will certainly increase in the months ahead.  Germany’s current ten-day average for deaths is twelve!

The USA is registering an average of close to 20,000 new cases each day.  Germany’s ten-day new case average is now in the upper 200’s, 1/100^th of ours!

Why was Germany able to reduce its new infection count to such a low and manageable number and keep its fatalities so low?  Was it a miracle?  Was God smiling on the Germans?  Are we comparing apples and oranges?  Does America have a much more challenging situation? 

First of all, I would argue that Germany is more susceptible to mass contagion than the USA in general because of a larger population density throughout the country, so any attempt to dismiss their success as due to an easier situation doesn’t hold water.

I would attribute their success  to the following:

• Excellent national leadership guided by science with support from all of the states and parties
• An early recognition of the severity of the crisis and initiation of dramatic steps to contain it.
• Massive early testing and subsequent contact tracing and quarantine
• Waiting until virus counts were at a level that they could be managed before opening the country to business as usual
• Excellent universal healthcare systems
• A population willing to listen to and believe scientists, and follow instructions

At our current fatality rate, we will lose well over 200,000 people and perhaps as many as 300,000 before a vaccine is available.  I am pretty sure this is not the type of exceptionalism that Americans like to boast about.

Shall we give it another try? 

 

 

 

 

Open Carry Must Go

It was only a matter of time before some AR-15-carrying right-wing nutcase got so worked up that he shot a protester.  It happened last night in Albuquerque as protesters were attempting to remove a statue of a conquistador.

Do we want to make America the wild west again?  There is absolutely no reason for people to be allowed to carry firearms openly.  And for that matter, concealed carry licenses should only be granted to very few people who have a legitimate need.

There is a pathological romance with firearms in our society.  Small-minded men apparently need large guns to feel secure and significant.  This sickness infects all demographics, all ethnic groups and all neighborhoods.  The guy in the 'hood who doesn't feel like a man without his piece is no better or worse than the right-wing agitator who carries his AR-15 to a protest against COD-19 restrictions.  And the pathetic idiots who wander the country selling death in large numbers at gun shows would be worth pitying, if they weren't also a menace to public health.

The idea that society is somehow safer if large numbers of people are packing heat or toting automatic weapons is simply absurd.  The potential for violent conflict, road rage or accidental shootings is increased exponentially by having powerful weapons in the hands of the general public.  It just doesn’t make any sense at all. 

Proponents of open carry laws will trot out the old canard that if ‘guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns’, or the trope of the ‘good guy with a gun’.  Any serious research into the subject (if the NRA and its congressional lackies would allow serious research) would reveal that these are weak arguments.  

If we had strong gun laws with registration of all weapons, and a serious attempt to curtail gun sales and illegal ownership, along with a very strict criminal code for any crime using a weapon, eventually the veritable ocean of guns in this country would dry up.  

And it doesn’t take much analysis to recognize that ‘good guys with guns’ in a mass shooting or crime situation would simply add fuel to the chaos and confusion of the event and do more harm than good.

One of the major reasons that police are so highly adrenalized and prone to over-reaction is because of the massive number of guns in society that make each encounter a potentially lethal one.  Efforts need to be made to dramatically reduce this number.  How this can be done without the racial profiling and aggressive police tactics of 'stop and frisk' must be analyzed, but it is certainly possible with a concerted public effort.  Other countries have done it.

America is no longer a land of frontiers and rugged individualism.  Our freedom to hunt and target shoot should remain, but our freedom to carry weapons outside of our home must be curtailed dramatically if we are to make progress in policing reform and racial reconciliation.  These ideas may seem draconian, but they are long overdue and simply reflect the approach to weapons that Europe has benefitted from for many decades.

 

 

Police Reform is Just the First Step

The BLM and racial injustice outcry in recent weeks seems to have finally shocked most of America into believing that change is truly needed.  The most immediate need is for reform of policing.  But if we only address the police issue, then we miss the bigger problems of injustice and inequality in our society and will not make the kind of progress that is desperately needed.

The ever-increasing disparity in income and wealth across our nation is a key underlying factor in all of our social ills.  Attacking this problem directly is problematic because it impinges on sacred cow principles of capitalist and market doctrine.  Perhaps it would be more expedient and successful to tackle the consequences of wealth disparity as basic social problems and thus achieve some transfer of wealth by the back door.  By providing important basic necessities of life for all citizens, we would significantly reduce the negative effects of income disparity.

Besides police reform, there are six major areas in our society that need dramatic overhaul to reduce the impact of income disparities and the legacies of slavery and poverty:  Healthcare, Education, Childcare, Transportation, Housing, Addiction/Mental Health and Incarceration.  There are models for improvement in all of these areas in other developed nations.

Our police appear to have increasingly been trained to embrace a military style, us-versus-them approach to policing, rather than a collaborative, neighborhood-development form of policing.  A national effort to transform policing into a true ‘hearts and minds’ public service instead of an adversarial, authoritarian relationship would be a great first step.  Police budgets should increase police salaries and decrease the purchase of military-style weaponry and gadgets.  Police forces should not be utilized as a means to supplement city and county budgets, which has historically created a chasm between the police and the public.

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the ugly truth of our failed healthcare system, despite the heroic efforts of healthcare providers.  We need basic universal healthcare.  Private insurance systems can continue for more affluent citizens, but every citizen should be given basic medical help and preventive care.  In the long run, this may actually be less expensive than our current system, as we currently spend more per capita than other developed nations who are providing universal care.

Every American should be given an education sufficient to prepare them for a job, either through vocational or university training.  This is the case in most EU nations, where even medical school has only a nominal fee.  The current student debt problem in the U.S. is particularly pernicious in underserved and minority communities.  

Early education through secondary must be carefully analyzed and improved to allow marginalized populations the opportunity to break out of poverty.  Teachers should be paid more to ensure that a high quality of training is achieved.  

Free or subsidized childcare should be provided for low-income families.  The single income family is no longer feasible in a low-income household, and the cost of childcare for working parents is a huge chunk of their net pay.  Again, European nations provide free or heavily subsidized childcare for all citizens.  There is no excuse for the U.S. to be the outlier in this basic social service.

Car ownership is a very expensive luxury for low-income families.  Transportation systems providing economical means of moving around communities must be extended and improved so that automobiles are not necessary for most families.  Ride-sharing options may also be helpful.  This is also a quality of life issue, as low-income citizens often spend hours of their day traveling to and from work through inadequate public transportation systems.

Low-income housing is a complex topic and has proven to be a stubborn and challenging obstacle to improving low-income neighborhoods.  It also impacts education, as schools are tied to neighborhoods.  Ideally, neighborhoods should be built with a mix of housing levels, but this has not been achievable except in rare cases in the past.  The problem of decent housing will have to be studied and may only improve as other social programs take effect.

Addiction, mental health, homelessness and incarceration are inter-related issues that plague America much more than other developed nations.  Justice reform efforts are underway and should improve the incarceration rate in the near future.  Prisons need to begin to focus more on rehabilitation, which will require more reform and a more enlightened attitude about crime and punishment.  Addiction and drugs must be viewed primarily as social problems and not as a ‘war’ to avoid the long term negative consequences that we have experienced to date.  Social services and facilities for mental health must be expanded significantly to rescue many of our homeless from the streets and give them a chance to recover their lives.

If we dedicate ourselves to using some of our vast wealth to address the problems described above, then we will begin to move toward a healthy, more egalitarian society.  It won’t be cheap.  It will require a willingness for the more affluent to part with some of their accumulated treasure and a change in the way that we budget our nation’s expenses – less toward defense for example (we already spend more than the next 8 nations combined!!)

The alternative is a sad, steady unraveling of our social fabric, which is already showing clear signs of distress.  New space programs, tech start-ups and stock market run-ups are lovely, but for America to truly be exceptional we need to quickly turn our attention to creating a better America for all of its citizens.

 

 

 

Lessons for America in Babylon Berlin

It was a time of cultural experimentation, a time of great wealth disparity, of the ostentatious rich and the wretched poor, of the radical left, the radical right, organized crime, and the reactionary old guard and aristocracy.

The television series Babylon Berlin stunningly portrays late 1920’s Berlin in all of its contradictions.  It is fascinating to watch, and it has many parallels in today’s America.

In Berlin, the armed and violent margins of society have running gun battles while the police cynically play them off one another and apply their own aggressive brand of violence and corruption.  The poor and the workers attempt to march peacefully in the streets, demanding the change that is so desperately needed, but they are ruthlessly exploited by both left and right radicals for whom violence is the only solution to any problem.

And then the stock market crashes, and the world goes into a deep depression, with Berlin and Germany in total free fall.  All the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

The demonstrations and riots in our country are frightening, but also a very powerful wake-up call.  One can argue that looting and rioting do not further the causes that the demonstrations represent.  But if there had been only peaceful demonstrations across the land for a few days they would have gained only a small mindshare of a weary, social-media saturated public.

On the other hand, anytime there is large scale violence, there is the significant risk that more systemic violence will follow, that radical fringe groups will propagate and attract new members, that the police and the government will see more vigorous and violent response as their only recourse.  Then you have Babylon Berlin.

The majority of Americans must recognize that this is not a time for half measures and maintaining the status quo.  We must commit ourselves to addressing the manifold ills of our society and economy.  Both liberals and conservatives in the mainstream must be prepared to make sacrifices to create a better society.  The middle and upper classes all share the hypocrisy of wishing for a better world but not being willing to put into practice our convictions.  We must find new, conciliatory leadership and a new vision.

Yes, there are many lessons for 2020 America in Babylon Berlin’s portrait of late 1920’s Germany.  Let us learn from them.  The Berliners didn’t, and we all know the end of that story.