Violence Begets Violence
Violence is everywhere. We see it in the news daily, it’s in our TV shows, our movies, our video games and sometimes a part of our lives. Recently we’ve read multiple news stories about police violence against unarmed individuals. In some of these stories the innocence of the alleged victim is dubious. In others, video seems to prove beyond doubt that the police used unnecessary lethal force. As Issac Newton’s Third Law observed in physics, so we are seeing in society; an equal and opposite reaction to ever increasing levels of police violence and brutality. Most recently, two members of the NYPD were shot to death while they sat in a patrol car. Anti-police sentiments and protests are on the rise everywhere. Some of the outcry is the result of perceived racism. Some stems from a recognition that the police – once known as “peace officers”, have become something quite different. This isn’t Mayberry. Today your average hometown police squad has a cache of automatic weapons, body armor, tear gas, grenade launchers, armored military vehicles and perhaps even a weaponized drone. I have yet to meet someone who expressed a feeling of comfort, safety or peace upon seeing one of […]