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I have been thinking a lot about how police are portrayed in TV & movies & how much it has distorted our perspective on the reality of law enforcement. @constancegrady takes on the subject w/ some fascinating historical perspective. vox.com/culture/2020/6…
I also think a lot about how *federal* law enforcement is portrayed -- the FBI, CIA, NSA, etc. You know, the room full of guys on computers, tracking the suspect's every movement, with their boss barking orders: "Get me that traffic camera! Freeze! Enhance!" All that bullshit.
My guess is, if you really slowed down & looked closely, most law enforcement is basically ineffective, most cases don't get solved, and most cases that do get solved get solved quickly b/c they're obvious.
On this theme, I highly recommend that everyone start listening to @yourewrongabout. It is illuminating in many ways, but especially about cops. The episodes about the DC sniper are filled with *mind-boggling* police incompetence. (See also: OJ episodes.) stitcher.com/podcast/michae…
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David Roberts
@drvox
The question isn't really "how to respond to riots," as though riots are fixed, preexisting phenomena. The question is whether militarized police, protected from accountability by unions, should be provoking violence & then using the violence as pretext for more violence.
Allowing fuckstains like Tom Cotton to define the debate as "let riots run loose or fascist crackdown" already concedes too much. We've seen examples: de-escalation is possible. Protests don't need to mean violence; the vast, vast majority of protesters don't *want* violence.
Less violence is the whole f'ing point. Black people want to be able to move through the world without the threat of state violence stalking them everywhere. (Atatiana Jefferson was playing video games at home.) They want less violence, more help, more trust, more humanity.
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David Roberts
@drvox
What the fuuuuuuuck is wrong with you, @nytopinion? JFC.
This is one of society's most prominent institutions signalling, unmistakably, that fascism is a legitimate "side" in a two-sided debate. Just unbelievably irresponsible.
The right way for the @nytimes to handle this would have been a *news story*, in which a reporter breaks the news that a sitting US senator submitted an openly fascist op-ed to the paper, supporting behavior grossly at odds with American ideals.
Read 11 tweets
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David Roberts
@drvox
My new post: you’ve heard of universal basic income (UBI), now meet universal basic services (UBS). What modern citizens most need to meet their potential, it argues, is not so much cash as social infrastructure. I talk with UBS’s most ardent advocate. vox.com/2020/6/3/21275…
Yesterday I posted a Q&A about "universal basic services" (UBS). I don't think it's necessarily an *alternative* to UBI & other cash benefits - they could easily coexist - but I've really come around to thinking that services (housing/healthcare/broadband/etc.) are the priority.
Ultimately, giving people money is no substitute for a *society*. Most of what we need to live full, dignified lives can't be individually purchased -- it is social infrastructure like education & healthcare systems. We should focus on building up social infrastructure.
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