60 Years Later

August 13th will be the 60th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall. To commemorate this there are a number of programs and films currently bring run on German TV reflecting on the history of the 20th century in Germany in general and the rise and fall of the Wall more specifically. One of the most powerful comments was from a West German born in 1944 who made the decision as a 16 year old to emigrate to East Germany to help fulfill the Socialst ideal. He became disenchanted but after the construction of the Wall and so was trapped in a One-Party state. His dislusionment eventually led to his imprisonment for political dissent. He recalled how he was brutally beaten and his crying out to his tormentors, "but you are Socialists, not Nazis!" The moral of the story is that brutality and repression are not specific to the left or right, but rather is much more a question of which political group is in power under a One-Party state. Regardless of the political affliation any and all opposition must be repressed in order to preserve the party in power. The less legitimate the ideals of the powers that be- the more violent the repression of the "other". The Trump Republicans want a One-Party state predicated on inequality in terms of race, gender, religion and economics (taxes/regulation). They will employ the brutality common to all police states to protect their position. I can only hope they are unsuccessful in their current attempt to overthrow our democracy.

Why Do Progressives Keep Coming Up With Terrible Names For Good Ideas

As a child of the 50's growing up in a government town built in 1943 we had 7 school districts- 6 white and one black. Because of that same government in 1954 when the federally mandated desegration laws came into effect the High School became integrated as did one of the two junior high schools. The High School one town over was burnt to the ground rather than allow it to be desegrated. This is a simple example of systemic racism. It is an objective observation of segragation at the national level in 1943; of desegragation at the federal level in 1954; and the fight against desegration at the State level, also in 1954. So why let a discussion about these historical facts get mired down in the term Critical Race Theory? Who does the marketing for the progressive forces? How did they come up with a term so easily open to intentional misinterpretation? Not to mention that it isn't a theory. It is part of the history of the United States- it's not always pretty- but it is necessary. Then move on to Black Lives Matter. Of course in the context it is to be understood there is an implicit Black Lives Matter "too". But by leaving it out they have created a narrative that is immediately transformed into White Lives Matter, and by so doing have left the door open for white racists to turn themselves into the victim, something at which they and their Republican supporters are very adept. Again who is in charge of marketing here. My last pet peeve is Defund the Police. Of course if you have the time to explain the idea behind the slogan there is some sense to be found, but only barely. But Defund the Police is so easily manipulated and once again an important idea is appropriated under a completely different narrative. What is wrong with Reform the Police. Recent analysis of complaints against individual police officers across major cities in the US show that a small minority make up the majority of the complaints- the so-called bad apples. The problem is that the bad apples have been protected by the police forces thus altering the the proverb: some bad apples do spoil the bunch. There is a pressing need for police reform, especially in light of the historical racial biases, but frankly across the board. There should be much more emphasis on training, and retraining- and a reevaluation of what we are actually asking our police forces to do. To often they are asked to deal with members of the public who would be better seved by medical rather than law enforcement personnel and that is a direct result of defunding social services. I for one don't want to defund the police. I do want to increase funding to many other services and let a reformed police department focus on law enforcement.