Sadly, the reality of how something is done rarely follows how that something needs to be done.
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I knowā¦ itās almost like thatās intentionalā¦ 
But we should keep talking about those broad sweeping reforms that need to happen all at once, I think, even if we acknowledge that these changes arenāt likely to take hold. Philosopher Paul Ricoeur once suggested that although utoptian though might seem to be side-stepping the actually issues of living within the ideological structures that we do, dreaming big does provide a direction from which to better understand the structures of ideology, as well as suggest a way outside of that structure.
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To paraphrase an interview from Douglas Adams (after discussing what he called a āBlade Runner Futureā), āIf we want the future to be something other than Los Angeles rotting in the rain, weād better start dreaming about it.ā
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Yes! Now Iām going to have to find where that quote comes from, and use it in my dissertation at some point.
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Hrrm, plausible. I remain very disappointed the murder charge was not followed through with, however.
Not only is that an outrage on this case, it sends the message to officers across the country that they can feel free to empty their guns into suspects in public and they will get away with it regardless of the circumstances or public outcry.
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Agreed. But the Obama justice administration under Holder has been rather cautious. Theyāre likely not going to prosecute if they donāt think they can get a conviction.
Plus, they can moralize the the power structure in Ferguson all they want, but weāll see if any real actually change emerges out of that.
Yes, I recall Holder making some bold statements about releasing non-violent criminals who are serving unduly long sentences for drugs, and have not seen much traction on that. But, they have been very quick to act aggressively and very dubiously when it comes to surveillance and leak issues.
IMO, they would be wise to start programs of recruitment and training of officers from the community. Such officers are much more likely to behave lawfully and fairly then outsiders.
The idea that āonce an officer, always an officerā needs to be gotten rid of. It ties into police culture and operates as a very corrupting āus vs themā influence in many communities (if not all) and in many ways.
Cops tend to give carte blanche to other cops, even if those other cops operate as if they are working in North Korea. (Specifically, here, thinking of these police officers getting recycled back into the system, simply because they were previously officers. And more specifically: emptying oneās gun into an unarmed suspect? How should he ever be able to work as a cop again? But they do not look at it that way. )
Best of luck to you. It was an interview he did. I saw it on CityTV (Media Baron Moses Znaimerās personal playground TV station in Toronto) and I think it was produced by CityTV as part of a series of interviews with interesting people. It saw it at 4:30 AM in the summer of 2002, but I think it was filmed quite a while before then (obvious some time before then since Adams was dead at the time).
I wish I remembered the exact quotation, but obviously the central message of it stuck with me.
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Ah! I wonder if they have anything on their website? Iāll have to track it down. If nothing else, I think the ideas heās talking about are being discussed in lots of placesā¦ But I just like the idea of having a Douglas Adams quote in my dissertation.
Damn. Good point, yours and Ken Popes both. It shouldnāt have gone to trial. I was agnostic on it.
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