Thoughts on all the recent violence. Terrorism or otherwise

Nice France

Baton Rouge Louisiana

Dallas Texas

Terrorism, Racial Inequality, Fear.

I wish I had some profound insights to share but I don't.  I'm just a normal guy trying to make his way in the world.  So aren't we all.  

I'm sure you've felt some of the same frustrations as the perpetrators of these horrendous crimes but you dare not express them lest you be labeled a radical sympathizer.

Is Western society far too enamored with money and power?  Does it elevate the inconsequential above social responsibility?

Of course it does.  

Do we judge others based on what we know or the rhetoric we find most convenient to our own bias.

Do the people we trust with our safety view us as their wards or potential adversaries?  Sadly your complexion has an effect on that judgement.

Too  many labels: Black, White, terrorist, racist, capitalist, rich , poor, smart, dumb.

We become prisoners of our cultural indoctrination.  Threaten the construct at  your own peril.  The wrongs of the world are caused by the other guy.  The one that doesn't look like us, doesn't pray to the same god, doesn't see the world the way you do.

It stokes a fire of frustration that becomes a blinding rage.

I'm no better than you.  I have my own biases and prejudices and I confess I don't know as much about the world as I should.  

What I do know is that the more you try to control the world the looser your grip on it becomes.  

When you create a culture of denial your reap what you sow.  When you disenfranchise others for your own benefit civil discourse becomes impossible.  


This is how Dallas, Baton Rouge, Nice and Paris happened.  This is also how 911 happened.  

I shed no tears for Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein or Micah Johnson.  I see them as bloody opportunists seizing the message of the disenfranchised for their own ends.

It's what politicians do just without the guns and bombs.

When your message is one of exclusion and your world view narrow and unyielding you create an incubator for terrorism and violence. 

Yes, the perpetrators are guilty of their own crimes but we have to take some responsibility for the environment that created them.  

There's always a catalyst, a spark, something that lights the fire.  Ignorance and indifference only fans the flames.  

Even Adolf Hitler didn't rise alone like some biblical Anti-Christ as some would have you believe.  He too was an opportunist taking advantage of the disenfranchised rage of a country on the verge of collapse.  

We're far too content with the superficial.  We want a bad guy to blame so we don't have to take any responsibility for creating him.

Worse, the world we live in thrives on the superficial.  Social media, 24 hour news cycles, news delivered by "personalities" without even the suggestion of objectivity.  

The message is controlled, massaged and pre-packaged.  We're spoon fed copious amounts of useless information.

We think activism is best accomplished by a Tweet or Facebook like. 

As though a click will end hunger, oppression, and economic disparity.

People are not being heard unless they make it into the news cycle and then only the most radical.  Is it any wonder with such low information that we think every Arab is a terrorist, Every Black man a criminal, Every Latino an illegal immigrant.

We caused this.  We created this environment and it will continue unless we acknowledge our complicity in it.  

They say we should create the world we want to see.  Creation requires knowledge.  Unfortunately, what we consider knowledge is often little more than packaged diatribe.  

The way to fix it?  

Ask the uncomfortable questions.  Challenge your mental status quo and see if there isn't a whole world you've been missing.

You can't escape the experiences your life has shown you but you can escape the ignorance.

Apple's on the right side of this one

"There is nothing new in the realization that the Constitution sometimes insulates the criminality of a few in order to protect the privacy of us all."

Antonin Scalia

A quote from a Supreme Court Justice known for being so conservative that Pat Buchanan looks like flower child by comparison. 

He got it, so why doesn't the FBI?

Yes I'm talking about Apple and more specifically Tim Cook's refusal to assist with the unlocking of an Iphone connected to the San Bernardino terrorist case. 

Over the past week or so I've watched as the FBI, Justice Department and other members of law enforcement trot out the same tired straw man of national security that gave us the Patriot Act.

Their argument is still just as flawed.  Worse it's still based on a fundamental misunderstanding of technology that heralds from the days of floppy disks and dial-up modems. 

The media coverage hasn't helped either by incorrectly framing the controversy as the loss of a "back door" in the previous incarnation of IOS ( IOS 7).    "Back doors" are the stuff of 80's flicks like Wargames and Tron not 21st century mobile devices.

Before IOS 8 it's true that Apple did have the capability to unlock an encrypted phone after being presented with  the proper legal documents.  Which was exactly the position Apple didn't want to be in.  By which I mean being constantly pestered by requests to invalidate Apple's own security features. Not exactly good for business and definitely counter to a more progressive view of the world.

So with the advent of IOS 8 Apple removed this capability (and themselves) from the equation by eliminating the code that allowed them to unlock an encrypted phone.  Well, at least that's what they thought until San Bernardino happened.

Law enforcement has long wished for a more "limited" interpretation of the fourth Amendment.  In their view we'd all be so much safer if only they could just flip a switch and listen in on the bad guys at a moment's notice. 

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help."

Ronald Reagan

They stop just short of levying charges of treason when denied such powers but never miss an attempt to try to shame Apple (or anyone else that offers some deference to privacy rights) into compliance by claiming such defiance of the "Rule of Law" only helps criminals and terrorists.

"If Apple wants to be the official smartphone of terrorists and criminals, there will be a consequence"

Bill Montgomery, Maricopa County Attorney ( AZ.)

Here's the core of the problem....

"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely"

Lord Acton

Nobody is suggesting that criminals or terrorists should be allowed to run about unhindered.  But what happened to good old fashioned detective work?  Edward Snowden's revelations may now be called "exaggerated" but the fact remains that there's ample resources available to law enforcement without potentially short circuiting the 4th Amendment.

The country was founded on a system of checks and balances for a reason.  It extends not only to the three branches of government but little stuff like trial by jury and the right to not incriminate one's self.

You're a fool if you believe that anyone with unfettered access to your private data isn't going to abuse the privilege. 

Remember Richard Nixon?  He had to leave the presidency precisely because of just such an abuse of power.  He felt benevolent leadership required keeping tabs on everybody.

Nobody thinks about individual liberties until their own is threatened. 

Hey, I'm not a big fan of Apple or their products.  Personally I don't care much for benevolent overlords that reign over walled gardens.  So I find it ironic that Tim Cook is on the right side of this issue.

Perhaps it's because he understands the difference between selling products and selling out civil liberties.

A distinction the FBI chooses to ignore.