Along with much of US, Ferguson is a Federal failure; and
the state, Missouri is responsible for that failure. According to Missouri law, the Grand Jury had
no choice but to acquit the police officer who shot an unarmed man. Missouri law – as in many states – allows police
to shoot anybody or thing, if they feel threatened; that is key. All the officer had to do was say, he felt
threatened. Some evidence shows there
was provocation in the squad car (something questionable – there are no
pictures of that scene) but claimed injuries are questionable. The situation was handled more mechanical
than level-headed.
Fifty-five Ferguson police officers and three black men
patrol a mostly black neighborhood that is plagued with phenomenally high unemployment, a much greater scale reflecting rising joblessness in US. The black majority is mostly jobless, while
employment is reserved for a few.
Prominent mayors in US poke fingers at black society and add coal to the
fire, stoking the unfolding events. Meanwhile, National Guard is sent in to assist
the majority accented police force.
The outcome was predictable in advance. Small businesses owners rushed to secure
buildings, while greater companies afforded police guards and soldiers
protecting their peace. The outcome was
a total loss to every US community, as smoldering results still remain to be
seen. There is no defending the
unreasonable action that took place when a gun was used against an unarmed man,
when a police officer decided to take down a civilian, unassisted. Some of it was caught on camera, such as the
wedding that shortly after happened between two gun toting lovers. It was bad timing and in bad taste, some
might say.
Within moments of the jury decision, everybody in US knew,
as it was leaked to every outlet. There
was no drama other than the facts that family was treated with cold hands. Nobody seemed to be reaching out to comfort
anybody. Just like everybody except the
leakers, newspapers (one recorded to print the decision before it was publicly announced,
because of leaking) and those who read quick updates) the victim’s parents had
to learn about everything, on the local news that may have been tailored to
address them.
For all the media hype, there was really no dramatic scene
unfolding in most US homes. People were
not pulling out their hairs, worrying about the ‘formal’ announcement, as
everybody already knew of figured it out in advance. One could see the handwriting as merchants
scrambled to take cover, there, would be
no celebration, and everybody was set to suffer, except for special troops
hired for the aftermath. The insanity continues.
Jesse Jackson was choosing his words well about the issue,
pointing out many of the ongoing problems in communities across US. Properly, he said that if you want to work
against poverty, you need to create commerce in depressed areas, living wages
and human rights laws. The Ferguson
problem is reflective of the way US people are being treated across the nation;
and the reaction carries. Without
addressing real US problems that include high and growing unemployment, while skirting
issues of decaying structures across the nation, and massive directly controlled
job loss, we cannot climb out of a worldwide created famine.
The failure of Ferguson and the country, is the fault of
state and federal government. The failure
of our state, local and federal governments is directly related to a robotic
society of insider trading and the idea of selling sovereign status by
developing companies that destroy personal prosperity. Unless we address and solve these issues
constructively, our problems continue to escalate in volatile directions, such
as sunspots.
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