Crush, Kill, Destroy!

Ray Rice should be destroyed right?  That is what I am hearing form the masses.  And the destruction has begun, his career is over, we have successfully humiliated him and his wife, (and boy did she need more humiliation).  And now the new case with the child abuse guy.  Yes, please let's put that on a 24 hour news cycle.  Let's feast on it.  He's a terrible person.  Destroy him too. And his family. Because it sounds like they don't have enough problems without every person in America adding their commentary.

In fact?  every person who has ever made a horrible mistake?  Let's put it on social media and media-media (I know! I guess we will have to take a break from watching the beheadings, which we had to see for ourselves), and watch it and criticize it and exploit them! Because we are all so perfect.  Let's not look at any root causes of anything either.  Domestic violence, child abuse, sexual-offenses?  Let's never mind that these are ALL cyclical and that we rarely, if ever, do anything about the root causes of anything in this country because we are just not that into prevention, of anything, ever.  Let's just continue to "catch people"doing horrible things and then demonize them. Crush! Kill! Destroy!

Then?  Let's make laws.  Pass laws where people are identified, FOREVER, by their offense.  Let's let people out of jails and prisons but forever make them list their horrible choices on job applications   and rental applications; let's lead off news stories about how 20 years ago they did this horrible thing and even though they paid the price for it? And have never done it again?  Let's highlight it.  Shit! Let's show old footage of it.  Let us feast some more on people failing. Let's never really forgive and forget.  Because people don't deserve a chance at rehabilitation.  Or redemption.  In fact,  instead of prisons and programs, maybe let's just shoot people?  Because even when people pay their prices or complete their programs we don't really believe they can change.

Let us then BLAME.  Let us blame and point fingers and be self-righteous.  Let. Us. Even. Blame. The Victim.  Just not ever ourselves.  Because we are not to blame.  Other people should know better.  They should spend their entire lives living in violence and training to be violent and then use their off switch.  They are trained to have off switches, right?  Well they should. Because we do.  Because we are so much better than the people we are destroying. Aren't we?  Hey! This isn't about us, right?! We are all FINE.

Then let's wait. Let's do nothing more than condemn and REACT and shake our heads.  Nothing to actually fix what is broken, which is always bigger than one individual.  And then let's wait for it to happen again.  "See", we will say.  "I told you so", we will think. "I guess we will have to destroy them too." Because let's never, ever be really deeply honest about how much we like the violence.  As long as we are on the right side of the violence.  As long as the violence is sport or entertainment.  As long as we can watch it on YouTube.  As long as drones are causing it and "they" are dying.  As long as we have a righteous reason to commit the violence....then?  It's justified.  Right?  Us vs. Them.  Me vs. You.  Black vs. White. Right vs. Wrong. It's easy.

I mean, we know better.  We have this all figured out.  We know the kid is being tortured under the streets of Omelas but it is o.k. to sacrifice one or two or three of them for all of us?  We are perfect here.  In our Utopian society.  So be careful.  Or else we are coming for you.


http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/dunnweb/rprnts.omelas.pdf