George Floyd

IdleRich

IdleRich
it feels like that, all the evidence says it should, and yet - it keeps not happening
Well, as they say, the market can stay wrong longer than anyone can afford it to....
There is a guy I follow on twitter quite randomly and it turns out he's a trader or something and he's getting increasingly irate... today he said something along the lines of "why are idiots buying this, it's gonna crash eighty-five percent".
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Or, to be precise, as Keynes said it “The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.”
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
DC’s size makes it easier to disrupt despite all the local assets
DC cops are probably the best in the country at breaking up protests. or at least they have the most experience with it.

they got their asses pretty well handed to them at A16 back in the anti-globalization days and took it v personally. I was there a couple years later for an anti-IMF thing when they summarily arrested hundreds of people before any march even started and the vibe was v much never again.

in retrospect that period seems quite innocent, before the intense law enforcement militarization of the last 15 years, and certainly minus the right-wing counter-protestors/goons with bats and fucking assault rifles
 

muser

Well-known member
Vice now putting statements on Instagram saying that everyone posting black squares in solidarity has infact been propogated as way to decrease the visibility of memes and videos showing what's actually going on in the riots. What a mindfuck
 

muser

Well-known member
I really liked this as a explaination to the the psychology behind looting in these situations. When you feel the social contract you have been following despite your adversity is being broken by those in authority then letting everything breakdown is very compelling.
 

version

Well-known member
I can't look away from this stuff, but I think I'm going to have to soon. There's just an endless stream of police fucking people up for the sake of it.
 

version

Well-known member
I just saw clips of a guy being peppersprayed then shot in the face with a tear gas cannister at point blank range, an old woman with a rubber bullet lodged between her eyes, three cops dragging someone behind a wall then sticking the boot in, a cop spitting on someone who was handcuffed and on their knees, a cop punching a guy in the head at least twenty times, a bunch of cops assaulting a German news team and that's just off the top of my head.

There's a sub cataloguing every instance they can,

 

DannyL

Wild Horses
It's good it's being catalogued I guess. That's one part of the new era.

I gave myself nightmares looking at footage like this out of Syria so had to stop.
 

version

Well-known member
It's one of the few things which makes me grateful for smartphones. We wouldn't be seeing the majority of this stuff without them.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Yes true but... I get the feeling that they aren't that worried any more... I mean they're attacking official tv news crews while they're filming. It's a frightening thought that they are learning that they can do what they want and it doesn't matter if they get filmed doing it. Not in general, I mean the incident that sparked all this was obviously given a lot of power cos of being caught on film, but now it's all kicking off, do they think they can do what they want? At times it certainly feels that way. I guess there have to be as many prosecutions as possible afterwards or it will only get worse.
 

Dusty

Tone deaf
I think everyone knew the police had become too militarised, but we hadn't seen it out in the open on this scale until now. The move to a militarised state isn't just about the hardware they have inherited... but with it came a mindset of dehumanising your enemy. America now has to face up to the fact that the well-armed Police treat the general populace with contempt, disregard human rights and will not tolerate criticism. This will go two ways; either public outcry forces the removal of military hardware and greater legal oversight of officer actions... or the public are suppressed and the US becomes a true Police state. I cannot see how the US can return to an old norm from here.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
It will be interesting to see how much mileage there is in the Antifa brand what with Trump's endorsement of them as the defacto shadowy radicals.

The filming of stuff on smartphones does move things up a gear and so does the public record of all the mealy mouthed commentators who condemn the violence and want peaceful protest. Several instances of the same people being exposed as condemning peaceful protests a couple of years back.

Looks like there have been protests in all states? That must be a first since I dunno when? Vietnam? Gulf War?
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
The move to a militarised state isn't just about the hardware they have inherited... but with it came a mindset of dehumanising your enemy
it's certainly true that military equipment will lead to military outlooks and military responses

but also - the police have always treated black people with dehumanizing, often lethal contempt. they've always disregarded human rights. they've never tolerated criticism. in my city the cops had a fucking illegal secret detention facility until 2015! this is what they do. the hardware makes it more likely they'll kill more people.

even worse I think is the rise of more or less law enforcement-sanctioned paramilitaries, their blurring with law enforcement, Trump's tacit or open approval. that's how death squads happen - paramilitaries mixed with out of uniform cops and military. plausible deniability.

I'm not as pessimistic as droid but he's not wrong that you can easily see the possibility.
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
you can trace the seed of the modern incarnation of militant right-wing paramilitary back at least to the 90s (militias, McVeigh, etc) and probably further, but a big turning point to my mind was the town hall meetings the Obama White House called to discuss the Affordable Care Act. it's the first time I can remember people showing up at public demonstrations carrying rifles etc in that way. there's a been a gradual shift of certain Overton windows to the point where things that would have been fringe are basically excepted. that does go the other way too - look at this vs LA after Rodney King - a huge chunk of the country (probably a majority but idk) understands and is solidly behind the protests.
 

droid

Well-known member
The huge turnout in DC yesterday was encouraging and some cities seem to have moderated the response now, with less police violence. OTOH there has also been significant military buildup. Question now is how that piece of shit reacts to being made look weak by the people and if the dogs will be let off the leash again if things continue along this course.
 
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DannyL

Wild Horses
Yes true but... I get the feeling that they aren't that worried any more... I mean they're attacking official tv news crews while they're filming. It's a frightening thought that they are learning that they can do what they want and it doesn't matter if they get filmed doing it. Not in general, I mean the incident that sparked all this was obviously given a lot of power cos of being caught on film, but now it's all kicking off, do they think they can do what they want? At times it certainly feels that way. I guess there have to be as many prosecutions as possible afterwards or it will only get worse.
I don't know about this. Most of the authoritarian states expend considerable effort in muddling the waters and hiding/distorting the narrative on war crimes and atrocities. They do crave the illusion of legitimacy to some degree and hate being criticised and called out on the international stage.

To an extent in liberal democracies we are still governed by consent - I guess the limits to that being tested by this situation. The political reaction to it afterwards will say a lot, as you say.
 

Leo

Well-known member
trump is also auditioning "antifa" as the new "migrant caravan" scare tactic to see how it flies with voters. the caravan meme was a flop in the midterms, hopefully this will be as well.
 
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