I went through a bit of a long funk and didn't want to Blog lately. This Blog is a space where I share some personal perspectives on issues that I usually would be hesitant to share on mainstream media. The world is addicted to judgment, and I don't want to be an energetic target for anger, and yeah, that's to be avoided and focus on love.
So here we go with current events locally, but that impacts us all.
Tools never evolve beyond the wielders thereof. Speeches never rise above the audience. Burning the materials with which we build is the trouble.
I live in south-central Minneapolis, 9-12 minutes from downtown, depending on traffic. For decades people in our area have loved and respected one another. Minneapolis police have generally been buggering poor people for as long as I can remember, which disposition I considered leadership and training issue at best. Sure, I knew of police brutality (I have scars), but it's really just a human being losing their ability to function under stress, and it has nothing to do with police in and of itself. It's a human issue.
Cops remind me of hardened convicts who get set in their ways because of all of the crazy things they've experienced. It's really just a survival instinct. Just like we need treatment centers more than prisons to heal trauma and detoxify patterns of drug addiction and alcoholism, we also need (systemic training) to detoxify attitudes and mindsets in police departments rather than defunding them. Are we defunding prisons? How can we 'evolve' through defunding? Funding the social workers to 'work' with police would be helpful. Maybe it would help reduce suicide rates among officers.
Perhaps having a social worker in tow at 911 calls would reduce the devolving 'process drift' so prevalent in service-oriented organizations that work with the public's more challenging scenarios (cops/EMTs, etc.). Compassion Fatigue is a real problem, THE REAL PROBLEM, and we all face it.
Defunding...it's like burying our heads in the sand and blaming the police for our unwillingness to defend ourselves. Oh, wait, protecting ourselves is illegal because legal guns are harder and harder to come by. Maybe locking police up (in treatment centers for the psychologically traumatized) when they commit crimes rather than making excuses for their atrocious behavior would restore faith in our system. If they fail treatment, then off to prison might be the next step.
In the meanwhile, I'll treat everyone with respect, not because they deserve it, but because I'm respectable (able to generate grace and respect) under challenging circumstances. I'll forgive people not because they deserve it, but rather because it is me who deserves it. Forgiveness breeds peace. Blessed be the Peacemakers.
I have police officers who I call friends, and they report feeling horrible because they took the job to help people, but now they are being called the bad guys. Some take the job because they love power and control over people, but they are the aberration of a society that breeds unforgiveness. Controlled chaos is how I might describe this enigma. Hidden rules need to be removed.
Transparency is key. If we don't love each other, how will anyone dare to open up and be transparent? Dispense with the hidden born in lack of trust, and look deeply into the soul of all people, and we'll learn to, as Rodney King said, 'all get along.'