Two weeks from this coming Saturday will be the one year anniversary of LMPD's killing of Breonna Taylor. There's not been too much protesting going on lately thanks to covid and the cold but that is all about to change I suspect. I know of at least one protest/march planned for the anniversary and I'm certain that will be far from the only one. With the weather taking a turn for the better around here (it went from below freezing to 60 degrees in 48 hours) things should be starting to heat up around here soon.
These photos are all from June 3rd of last year here in Louisville. I'd came down to Jefferson Square Park that day in part to hear Charles Booker speak. At the time he was running in the Democratic primary for Mitch McConnell's Senate seat. Although he ultimately lost the primary by the skin of his teeth I was quite impressed with him. He hasn't let his defeat slow him down any, he's turned one of his campaign slogans, Hood To The Holler into something of a movement (Check it out here)
It is my general policy to never say good things about politician but Booker puts in the time and effort. He was right there in the mix all year and played a major role in deescalating/defusing some wild situations.
I'd somehow gotten downtown a little bit early that day and managed to get in with the press and get a front row spot, which was rather nice. At one point a few years ago I was considering trying to get a press pass but after last year I think it's probably safer not to have one.
This last photo is of a couple murals downtown, the one on the right is of David McAtee, who had been shot and killed by National Guardsmen two days prior (and then they left his body lying in the street for 12+ hours). I'm starting to get tired of looking at all my old photos but in 17 more days that should resolve itself! Anyways, that's enough out of me, y'all don't do anything I wouldn't do!
There is so much simmering resentment and anger, much of it justified, and 2021 could be quite the year of conflict as authoritarians and protesters clash. I hope we can manage a win for liberty instead of squabbling over who fills the "power vacuum."
Powder keg waiting for a spark is what it feels like. Last year's protests and the police responses to them definitely seemed to do a good job of radicalizing the white people around these parts. We've barely begun to feel the fallout and consequences from this pandemic and from climate change, I'll consider us lucky if it's not a decade of conflict.
What do you think a win for liberty would look like? My notion of liberty has a distinct 'No Gods, No Masters' flavor to it, I don't think I'd count any filling of a 'power vacuum' as a win.
My hope is that people will realize that none of the good things in society, and a lot of the bad stuff, stems from government, and we need to ditch coercion altogether to explore a truly cooperative society.
My fear is that the major parties will rebrand with new faces and new rhetoric, insist that obidence is freedom, and proclaim that their monopoly schemes are "for the greater good" so people get suckered yet again. The right will promise "law and order" as a path to peace, and the price in money and freedom is worth the result. The left will claim their political plunder is really charitable concern for the downtrodden, and there will be another round of reform pageantry while nothing fundamental really changes.
We as a society basically use government as a salve to absolve our conscience for not worrying about our neighbors and fellow human beings. Government without the guns and coercion is just a badly organized and mismanaged mutual aid network...
One of the most heartening things about the protests last year was seeing all the organizing in action and the massive growth of both mutual aid networks and the awareness of them. I seriously doubt most people 'will realize' much of that unless and until they are directly confronted with direct and irrefutable evidence...and then it's still hit or miss. I think Axl Rose was channeling their mindset when he sang "I've worked too hard for my illusions just to throw them all away."
I mean, isn't that standard operating procedure for political parties? New boss, same as the old boss... It has been my experience that the ones doing the actual work are rarely the ones doing the talking and vice versa. They'll try that regardless of what we do I suspect, we just have to organize and act accordingly.
I think all the government social engineering and control schemes were sold over the past 120 years on the laziness of the average Joe. "Well, I know we oughtta take care of these issues, but Uncle Sam says he'll do it for us, and democracy is supposed to be good, so how could giving government more power go wrong?"
Laziness or ignorance, but yeah, it definitely seems that way.
Nice to see you didn't get lost. Today the thing said 76 degrees over here. And it was a 60% chance of rain day.
Lost, never! Distracted, quite possibly...
Say what? Something must have happened, I missed what you said.
Squirrel? Where?!?
Since you're consuming again. Eh, check this dude out.
https://peakd.com/experience/@rubido/an-american-in-france
@tipu curate
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