James Antle: The Riots in Baltimore Aren't Revolutionary

[AuH20]

I've been waiting for this....

http://dailycaller.com/2015/04/29/the-riots-in-baltimore-arent-revolutionary/


This type of commentary is nothing new. As Ferguson smoldered, Time published “In Defense of Rioting.” Author Darlena Cunha wrote, “Riots are a necessary part of the evolution of society.” Cunha went on to point out that the tea party was named after a riot in Boston.

But the American Revolution didn’t culminate in the colonists burning down Lexington and Concord. If anything, Baltimore resembles the ugliest phases of the French revolution. “The revolution is here!” Reuters quotes a demonstrator shouting at police officers. “I’m going to kill you! All of you — guilty!”


Freddie Gray’s killing may well have been unjust and part of a broader pattern of law enforcement lawlessness in communities of color, just as Martin Luther King’s murder was surely unjust and part of Jim Crow’s last gasps. But the riots that followed the latter did nothing to improve those communities or lift their residents out of poverty. There is no reason to think the fire this time will be any different.

Instead, the riots accelerated the trends collapsing Baltimore’s tax base and perpetuated the cycle of violence. Gray’s neighborhood has a 52 percent unemployment rate among those aged 16 to 64, which cannot be solved by trashing a shoe store or burning down a CVS. The people romanticizing the violence in Baltimore are complicit in the city’s decline.

Revolutions are judged by their results, not their intentions.



Are reporters covering what’s going on in the streets of Baltimore the aggressor? Is a store owner who is pulled from his business and stomped on the sidewalk the aggressor? Is a woman in a wheelchair who suddenly finds herself in the path of projectiles the aggressor? Are immigrant grocers the aggressor?

You don’t need much institutional power to smash someone’s head with a liquor bottle. And the power structure should be at least somewhat affected by the fact Baltimore’s mayor, police commissioner and a majority of the city council are black, just like the president of the United States and the U.S. attorney general.

[wizardwatson]

So what? MLK would agree.

The question isn't that, it's how to prevent them.

Rand says "teach your kids better." MLK would say that "inaction" with regards to social justice is also a cause.

So which is more "immoral". Doing nothing to help, or rioting to get the attention of the do-nothings? The bible says it is the same.

Considering both MLK and Rand are Christian, I suppose we can all agree that both sides are to blame.

[Tywysog Cymru]

We need to address the situation that makes these riots happen, which is police brutality.

[AuH20]

We need to address the situation that makes these riots happen, which is police brutality.

There was a sizable minority that had the right idea initially. And then the street trash usurped the entire protest.

[wizardwatson]

We need to address the situation that makes these riots happen, which is police brutality.

Yes. Among other things. I think AuH20 and others problem is the people who think rioting is some kind of "revolution" strategy. It isn't. That's what this movement is supposed to be. We should be showing compassion, and bringing people into the fold but when our boards get chocked full of white supremacists and bloodlust and hatred for "welfare thugs" and "free-loaders" and posters who are openly calling for extreme violence it's going to be hard to make that connection, don'tcha think?

"A riot is the language of the unheard." - MLK


…I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity. And so in a real sense our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention. - MLK

http://time.com/3838515/baltimore-riots-language-unheard-quote/

[Sola_Fide]

Great article. +rep

[ctiger2]

Fed needs to create more currency, then there won't be anymore riots... ;)

[HankRicther12]

We need to address the situation that makes these riots happen, which is police brutality.

Oh give me a break, there was no police brutality with Michael Brown, I agree the cops in the Garner case used excessive force, but I would hardly call it brutality, as for this case we don't know yet, some of you have quite a low bar for such a word, Rodney King was brutality.

All that aside, whites are killed by cops, no rioting, more so, whites seem to be more willing to wait and see what happened before calling for someone's head.

[Spikender]

Oh give me a break, there was no police brutality with Michael Brown, I agree the cops in the Garner case used excessive force, but I would hardly call it brutality, as for this case we don't know yet, some of you have quite a low bar for such a word, Rodney King was brutality.

All that aside, whites are killed by cops, no rioting, more so, whites seem to be more willing to wait and see what happened before calling for someone's head.

Whites seem more ready to kneel down and kiss a police boot to keep the peace.

It seems you only cite the police brutality cases the news chooses to pick up, mostly because they are selective and pick the ones that can be spun in any direction they choose.

If you really are new here, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Go and look up Anti-Federalists countless threads on police brutality. He has multiple topics and individual stories that he posts literally every single day.

Then tell me there isn't just police brutality, but a full police state in effect in America.

[HankRicther12]

Whites seem more ready to kneel down and kiss a police boot to keep the peace.

It seems you only cite the police brutality cases the news chooses to pick up, mostly because they are selective and pick the ones that can be spun in any direction they choose.

If you really are new here, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Go and look up Anti-Federalists countless threads on police brutality. He has multiple topics and individual stories that he posts literally every single day.

Then tell me there isn't just police brutality, but a full police state in effect in America.

Got nothing to do with being new here, yes, I am new HERE, however I discovered Ron Paul in 2011 and was very active in his campaign, I've heard all the cop hating stuff before. Of course I know some cops are bad, wow, what a revelation, I also know the cops interact with public millions of times every day without incident. If there is a legit case of police brutality I am right there with you in saying lets punish, and yes, I am well aware of how many times they get set free, it sucks, but how often do any of you want to do anything productive like finding out who the prosecutor was, many times these are elected positions and you can get them voted out with a small number of votes, if not them their mayor, city council, whatever.

I have lived in my town for 40yrs, not once has a cop killed anyone, and when I say that I don't mean they did and it was justified, I mean, NEVER, it has never happened. Not only that, all the surrounding towns (we all get the same paper) have ever had one either, so out of 5 towns, 40yrs, not one person killed by police. I guess these 5 towns just happened to luck out and get the only good cops in the country?

It seems the only one being selective here is you. Give me any group of people you like, whether it be by race, religion, occupation, gender, ideology, I can do a google video search and come back here with video after video of people who fit in that group behaving violently, to say that is representative of the group as a whole is just being dishonest, and whether you are doing it on purpose or out of naivety I don't know but you should broaden your horizons. You are as bad as all the NeoCons who think every Muslim is out to blow up the world.

There is a much bigger problem going on with the govt and the society that demands it to care for every aspect of their life more and more every day, blaming all that on the regular ole beat cop is just silly.

[Spikender]

Got nothing to do with being new here, yes, I am new HERE, however I discovered Ron Paul in 2011 and was very active in his campaign, I've heard all the cop hating stuff before. Of course I know some cops are bad, wow, what a revelation, I also know the cops interact with public millions of times every day without incident. If there is a legit case of police brutality I am right there with you in saying lets punish, and yes, I am well aware of how many times they get set free, it sucks, but how often do any of you want to do anything productive like finding out who the prosecutor was, many times these are elected positions and you can get them voted out with a small number of votes, if not them their mayor, city council, whatever.

I have lived in my town for 40yrs, not once has a cop killed anyone, and when I say that I don't mean they did and it was justified, I mean, NEVER, it has never happened. Not only that, all the surrounding towns (we all get the same paper) have ever had one either, so out of 5 towns, 40yrs, not one person killed by police. I guess these 5 towns just happened to luck out and get the only good cops in the country?

It seems the only one being selective here is you. Give me any group of people you like, whether it be by race, religion, occupation, gender, ideology, I can do a google video search and come back here with video after video of people who fit in that group behaving violently, to say that is representative of the group as a whole is just being dishonest, and whether you are doing it on purpose or out of naivety I don't know but you should broaden your horizons. You are as bad as all the NeoCons who think every Muslim is out to blow up the world.

There is a much bigger problem going on with the govt and the society that demands it to care for every aspect of their life more and more every day, blaming all that on the regular ole beat cop is just silly.

I don't believe you're new here.

You didn't answer or respond to anything I said and instead went on an unrelated rant. I'm assuming you didn't look into the police brutality topics like I said because you apparently already know that it's all bullshit and people just wanna hate on cops.

There are big problems in our country. Guess what? A police state is the natural evolution of those problems to keep people in line now that society has started to crumble piece by tiny piece and it has become one of those "bigger problems". If social welfare is your hot button issue, fine, but don't plug your ears and pretend that it's just a bunch of cop haters here.

[HankRicther12]

I don't believe you're new here. You didn't answer or respond to anything I said and instead went on an unrelated rant. I'm assuming you didn't look into the police brutality topics like I said because you apparently already know that it's all bullshit and people just wanna hate on cops. There are big problems in our country. Guess what? A police state is the natural evolution of those problems to keep people in line now that society has started to crumble piece by tiny piece and it has become one of those "bigger problems". If social welfare is your hot button issue, fine, but don't plug your ears and pretend that it's just a bunch of cop haters here.

Lol. Apparently you didn't read my post because I addressed everything you said, so, what are you talking about? No, I'm not going to go read a bunch of articles saying things I've already heard a million times. I was a delegate for Paul and trust me, I knew plenty of people like you, I've had it out with these guys numerous times (we're still friends) but I know all about it and I stand by my statement, you seemed to only read and see the things you wanted to in my post.

[alucard13mm]

I gotta say this. Almost all you guys will call the cops if someone burglarizes your home. Call cops after you kill an intruder. Call cops if you get raped. Call cops if happen to be unarmed and someone wants to kill you.

Fuck the cops until something bad happens to you?

I dont like them and i avoid them, but i dont hate them.

[phill4paul]

Almost all you guys will call the cops if someone burglarizes your home. Call cops after you kill an intruder. Call cops if you get raped. Call cops if happen to be unarmed and someone wants to kill you.

Nope. Only because I would be charged with a crime if I didn't. Not gonna happen. Never gonna happen.

[AuH20]

I gotta say this. Almost all you guys will call the cops if someone burglarizes your home. Call cops after you kill an intruder. Call cops if you get raped. Call cops if happen to be unarmed and someone wants to kill you.

Fuck the cops until something bad happens to you?

I dont like them and i avoid them, but i dont hate them.

Many people in this forum underestimate how vicious & conniving their fellow human is, as if the jails just fill themselves up by random chance. LOL And this inherent viciousness & callous disregard for humanity spills over to the cops who have become drunken on power and privilege. Our cops have become as ruthless and immoral as the ones who they allegedly have sworn to protect us from. In the world post-police, which is rapidly approaching, we better be prepared to roll up our sleeves and get ahead of the curve by digging mansized holes in our backyard. I'm ready for it, but I wonder if others are.

[HankRicther12]

I gotta say this. Almost all you guys will call the cops if someone burglarizes your home. Call cops after you kill an intruder. Call cops if you get raped. Call cops if happen to be unarmed and someone wants to kill you.

Fuck the cops until something bad happens to you?

I dont like them and i avoid them, but i dont hate them.

Yep, they are all like the kid in this story:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VO3E_GPM_E

[acesfull]

Thinkers prepare the revolution, bandits carry it out.... Mariano Azuela, The Flies(1918)


Burning down ones own home and destroying the property of our neighbors is not a revolution and will only lead to more death and destruction.

Protester should be marching in front of the home of the accused, or in front of the home of the prosecutor, naturally in a peaceful matter... It takes longer to built a community then it does to tear it down....

My .02
Acesfull