I absolutely hate seeing what has happened in Minneapolis. I hate seeing the rule of force and violence replace the rule of law. I hate seeing businesses destroyed, I hate seeing the places where people work torn apart. But what I hate most of all is that this outcome was completely predictable, and entirely avoidable. Some of my thoughts from the other thread that seem appropriate here:
What we see is not people behaving “reasonably.” The death of the rule of law is the death of reason. We can choose to govern ourselves as men: that requires laws and rules, uniformly and equally applied to all. Or we can choose to govern ourselves as animals: might makes right, exercise power however it pleases you. The powers that govern Minneapolis chose poorly. They chose - via the armed branch of the government, the cops - to govern by law of the jungle. They purposefully invoked that law. So law of the jungle is what follows. Treat people like animals, they’ll act like animals.
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We can simplify what's happening in Minneapolis even further.
Just ask this simple question: in this society, does the rule of law apply?
When the powers-that-be demonstrate that no, the rule of law does not apply (by repeatedly demonstrating that the armed branch of the powers-that-be is not subject to the rule of law), then the question is answered rather definitively.
So, once it has been stated that in this society, the rule of law does not apply......imagine all of the shit that flows from that. Yeah, it's "Lord of the Flies" type shit.
"Civilized society" is merely a collection of mutual agreements to behave a certain way. The veneer is paper thin. When some of the most fundamental of those agreements (like the agreement that there are protectors, employed and paid on behalf of society, who will uphold and enforce the law) are breached, the whole damned thing falls apart. This is "human society 101" - it's how collections of human beings behave, and the consequences of certain behaviors.
Shit, imagine that you had a contract with a particular group of people - let's call them "Aggies." And every time you tried to enforce your contract (using the rule of law) against the Aggies, the Aggies all circled their wagons, winked at their friends in the courthouse, and your case was promptly dismissed. Over, and over, and over. You've now provided lots of product to the Aggies, but they haven't paid you -- like they promised, like all contracts promise. And you can't get satisfaction through the rule of law. What do people who have agreements to provide product for payment, but no access to the rule of law, do to enforce their agreements? Check out any drug deal shootout -- that's EXACTLY what it looks like when you have agreements and obligations that can only be enforced by rule of the gun (you can't exactly sue a drug dealer for failing to deliver the promised product). That's what you'll have to do to get the Aggies to pay you.
You know how a lot of you point to shitty social situations and say "it all starts with the parents?" You're not wrong. When parents break the trust of their role -- to nurture and guide their children -- things go to shit in a hurry. Well, the analog here is pretty spot-on -- when the protectors break the trust of their role, and become the perpetrators of violence, all while using the badge as an impenetrable shield from legal consequences...things go to shit in a hurry.
This outcome is 100% predictable, 100% consistent with human nature as we have known it for thousands of years, and 100% preventable. Abide by the social contract, and we can live by rule of law instead of rule of force. Abandon the social contract, and this is the inevitable result.