I know, I know, stop the presses. But sometimes, maybe once in a blue moon, there is some semblance of emotion eminating from inside me. This time, that emotion is anger. And there is a lot of it.
I can't believe this crap. If you have been living under a rock, perhaps you don't know that that picture is from Sydney, where a huge crowd of white guys decided they were the only ones who belong in the country (after a couple of lifeguards were attacked by youth of Arabic or Mediterranean background), and then the targeted groups struck back the next day. Read here and here, and check out more images here. I actually heard a guy on the news yelling at a camera, "This is our country, git the hell out!" Excuse me? It's your country? And why is that, exactly? Because you grew up in Australia? And what about your parents or grandparents, did they grow up in Australia? Oh, no, they were immigrants too? Well maybe someone should have told THEM to get the hell out because they were going to conceive racist offspring. If you are really keen to read about Australia's "White History" read here.
Now, if you want to be a racist, there is nothing that I, personally, can do about that. But if you want to go beat someone down because he or she doesn't belong in "your" country, then you deserve to be taken down by the police. And if you decide that your feelings are more important than the police, and that you are going to attack them too, as well as attacking the paramedics trying to give aid to the person you just beat up...oh man.
When I see people going after police officers (especially over injured and dead victims), I think of everytime someone told me, "We don't need them, the people will take care of each other," or, "I think we should just all get along, they don't need to carry guns or batons," or, "We live in a peaceful country, we don't need an army." And you know what I think about what you said to me? I think that you have your head up your ass. And if you think it doesn't matter in Canada, because hey, this violence is in Australia, perhaps you should try to find two countries that are more similar in their development in the world. I don't think you will find many.
Obviously the authorities had not been prepared for this violence when it broke out. Hence the images I saw of a police officer trying to run away from angry mobs, firing toward them with pepper spray, pulling with him a victim of the mob's anger. Do you know what I would like to see when this happens? As you may be able to guess, I'm not anarchist, and I believe in order, so what do you think I would like to see? Should we stand in front of them and say, "Hey, hey guys? Can we talk about this?" Or maybe we could send a text message to all of the rioters (apparently that is how messages are being spread quickly there) saying, "Come on, we live in a good country, let's not hurt each other!" No. Because there is a time for talking, and then there is a time for action. Yes, this riot could well be the result of a deeper problem, same with the riots in France. But this was a time for action. And I think that, ten minutes after we saw the first police officer being pelted by beer cans, we should have seen the same thing we saw on Whyte Ave in Edmonton a few years ago for the Canada Day riot. That is, van-loads of armour-clad and shield- and baton-bearing riot police, who ran into formation and then advanced in a line one step at a time, in a very organized fashion, clearing the roads and arresting by appropriate force anyone arrogant enough to try to be a hero by running at them.
An individual's security will never be enforced by a pledge that says, "Ok, everyone here has to be nice to everyone else." Sometimes, you just have to ensure that the good guys have the legal capacity as well as the physical ability to maintain a safe environment (while respecting the individual's rights). In the same way, a country will not be safe simply by not hurting any other country, nor by being a peacekeeper. I am in no way claiming that it is a bad idea to do so, of course. But if you see the videos of these riots, look at the guy at the bottom of a mob being kicked and punched until he is nearly dead. That could be the nicest guy you ever met. And he isn't going to be saved nor protected by even the most effective pacifist in the world.
3 comments:
Good post Matt.
I find it interesting that Sydney is now the second 'western' country in the past 2-3 months (France being the other) that is dealing with a real upsurge in racially and religiously motivated violence. And in both countries the police and politicians are claiming they didn't see it coming.
I can't believe that no one saw this brewing up. This kinda shit doesn't happen overnight and the powers that be need to have not only the power to use reasonable methods to control the violence, but also the balls to acknowledge the powder keg when they see it stirring about.
The police, in Sydney and in France, dropped the ball. While I wholeheartedly agree that we need an organization to enforce order in situations like these, and while I also agree that an angry mob sure as hell isn't going to listen to a pacifist, we have to place some of the blame for the seeds of this violence on the inability of the politicians and police to foresee the roots of these problems and honestly deal with them on a societal level.
Lastly, these riots appear to be mainly racial (ie- skin color) in nature, as opposed to religiously motivated. However, there is apparently a growing disdain for Islam in Australia, especially after the Bali bombings of a few years ago. Time will tell if it swings from racial to religious in nature.
Good entry, Matt. I agree that yes, we need police and they need to have the freedom to use their means to control people who are deeemd 'out of control'. I also agree with Jay that the police and gov't need to have their ear to the rails to hopefully prevent these actions, instead of react to them.
I guess I'm just an agreeable guy.
I agree 100% regarding the need to prevent these violent outbursts, primarily by dealing with the issues that cause them, and also when they are brewing by dealing with them by an appropriate show of force before anything major gets off the ground. But when you screwed up once and missed that chance, you must still ensure the security and safety of your citizens. Only when that is assured can you get back to the root of the problem.
I would also like to caution against assuming that there is a "major racial crisis" in Australia. 5000 drunk guys anywhere is liable to cause a problem.
I think I will found the National Back-To-Prohibtion Party. That should take care of it.
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