Good grief, can Boston move on?

As a Boston-area resident for over thirteen years now, I've come to realize that people around here tend to take city matters quite personally, and fellow resident matters quite collectively.  And they do so with prolific pride.  However at the same time it tends to be the only response Bostonians know, and like a race car that only knows speeds 100 and 200 it can be problematic when the roads are slick.

There is a time and a place for national sorrow, but when a bombing shook the city at the 2013 Boston Marathon the horrific tragedy unfortunately became more about the city and the perpetrators than the actual victims.  Within hours T-shirts were being printed with what would become the most popularized slogan ever for the city, "Boston Strong," a 'wicked' awful yet deliberate obliteration of the English language, and the city's obsession over catching the bombers gave law enforcement a blank check for rights violations.

The city and the nation still to this day have ignored the fact that one of the three people who died was a Chinese national, and the fact that close to one-third of those injured, runners and spectators included, were not even from Massachusetts, or the fact that the bombers were residents of the Boston area.  And the fact that Boston, in terms of the city, had actually failed quite miserably.  Boston failed to stop the bombers, and Boston failed to catch the bombers before more tragedy would strike, despite an enormous police presence and budget.  And spectators looted Marathon jackets within minutes of the bombing.  But regardless of the fact that Boston was literally shut down for days under martial law, that people were forcefully locked in their homes and subjected to violent searches, that innocent people were being blamed for acts they did not commit based on racist suspicions, or that all of this was done under the guise of freedom from terrorism, those who failed Boston were celebrated more than ever.  Police officers, the same officers who failed Boston during this time, were paraded into Fenway Park for standing ovations and pats on the back from the professional athletes whom are treated as Gods in Boston.  As they say, “never let a good crisis go to waste."  And these same officers were allowed to roll tanks and march alongside through residential neighborhoods with automatic rifles pointed at civilians while the commissioner went on TV to tell us how we ought to be graced by their presence and thankful for their violent and ineffective response and to which the mayor and the governor and every other bureaucrat would follow in applause.  And yet face-painted residents responded in droves waving American flags chanting "U.S.A."  The president was called up to announce a "debt of gratitude" to "law enforcement."  To law enforcement?  And when the runaway bomber was finally caught, ironically thanks to a civilian who was just freed from captivity in his home following the lock-down being called off, the frenzy over "Boston's finest" continued by announcing their bravery and courage.  Bravery and courage were strange words given the weapons, armor, spent rounds, and time that was needed to finally take down the wounded and unarmed perpetrator.  Given all of this the residents still clamored for martial law.  It was like watching a master beat his dog while the dog won't stop licking his feet.  Boston cared more about it's abusers than it did for it's abused, and still does today.

I had attended the marathon as a spectator several times in the past and always found it was a joyful experience mainly because you could walk freely along the route, with friends and family together, and do so during what is typically one of the first days when the weather is nice here in Boston.  So don't get me wrong, it was a tragedy that the bombers chose that specific day and that specific location for their atrocious act, or that such an act would even occur at all.  But at the same time it was a tragedy that the city chose that specific day and that specific location for their worship of the police state and the local sports.  It was to me the most disconnected response there could've been, tantamount to something like celebrating booze on labor day, or like obsessing over retail sales on Thanksgiving, it just doesn't make sense and it seemed to go against everything the Boston Marathon was truly about, things such as individual prowess and open opportunities.  A time when the city would literally open up to the world was now being used to celebrate the opposite of that.

Today the Marathon is being run with more runners and spectators than ever, as well as more police than ever.  And again the focus is on last year's tragedy and on finding opportune times to pronounce "Boston Strong" and to flash images on screen of 'heroic' police officers and the city mayor in remembrance.  It is apparent today that the city cannot fathom any public event without uniformed officers standing nearby holding automatic rifles, and without them confiscating backpacks and water bottles from the civilians, or without bomb-sniffing dogs on every block.  Yet we are supposed to call this a success for the city?  This is a recovered city?  This is a city that has NOT been shattered?  The subservient mindset being glorified as a city at-it's-best makes me embarrassed to be a resident.  The last thing Bostonians should be is complacent on a day like this.  The failure to recognize our failures does not make us stronger.  The sorrow that most Bostonians claim to have could not be more vain.  To take what happened to a few, and make it seem as though it has happened to us all, and subsequently overcome by us all, is pure vanity.

If Boston, and the rest of the nation as well, wants to defend itself from past acts of terror, then more of us need to be calling for an attitude of irreverence toward the government and the police on days like this, rather than worship.  I hope that one day I can attend the Boston Marathon with my family and no longer have to see sponsors profiteering off of tragedy, towels branded by an unethical insurance company being draped over the individual runners as they cross the finish line, announcers claiming individual triumphs as victories for America, or have to explain to my children why the presence of officers with dogs and guns are supposed to make us feel safer or stronger as a community.  Until then, Boston has been weakened.  Recognizing it as so will perhaps make us stronger, and moving on will certainly do so.

What Shrewd We Do

Not a day goes by without some egregious crime being committed at the hands of the very people who we've assigned to uphold the law.  Cops have the most shock value of them all due to their direct application of force, while legislators and magistrates specialize more in moral distastefulness.  In both cases, however, there is a commonality - that is that they share a lack of intelligence.

Years upon years of shaming intellectualism - like high school drama - for in favor of celebrating superficial attributes such as athleticism, looks, and celebrity status, have finally led to us becoming a nation of sheep ruled by wolves.  We are incapable of choosing "the right person" for the job because the idea of "right" has become distorted and more importantly the idea that we choose is laughable.  Everybody knows nowadays that the most authoritative jobs with the most inherent power are never up for grabs - you have to know someone, you have to be "connected."  Presidents especially.  In a favoritism society, like ours, after a few generations becomes dependent on the very methods that have caused its failure.  The only way to break free is for the minority to revolt...

Po-pos and pols are simply out of control.  Every election year we hear the same debates about left vs. right, and the same old trivial nonsense ends up driving hundreds-of-millions of people to vote for who they think is the lesser of two evils.  In the end we get the status quo government and everyone goes back to bitching about it.  (Just an idea... STOP VOTING FOR EVIL!).  Then some people take to the streets claiming they didn't realize what they were voting for and that's when the uniformed enforcers show up with a license on force to make you shut up.  Seriously, this cycle goes back hundreds of years without any variation.

Well its time to try something different.  Its time to bring back intellectual debate.  Its time for a revolution of ideas rather than rhetoric.  And its time to challenge the status quo.  No longer should we ignore the abuses of power just because our uncle was a cop, or because we think the other party has done worse, or because we believed them when they said it was for our own good.  We, as a society, have informational power now and its time we use it.

I believe that cops are trigger happy, or brutality happy, not because they are evil but because its what they know and love.  Its what they are trained to do and its their nature to be aggressive when confronted, not to shy away.  How often do you think cops are tested on their ability to think outside the box in comparison to their ability to fight outside the box.  That doesn't make them bad, but it can mean that they might sometimes use force too quickly - and that is bad.  Because if they are upholding the law, then the very act of doing so should require them to do it in a way that is the most lawful.  No matter how good a songwriter is, they don't get credit for plagiarism.  They do get punished, if caught, and rightfully so.  But why then are cops not always punished for breaking the law?  Even if they were able to catch a bank robber in the act, that doesn't make it okay to pocket a few bucks from the vault on the way out.  But that is what we see and hear on a daily basis.  Officer so-and-so was only beating that man senselessly because the duties of his job are stressful and the moment was tense, so we are giving him a pass.  Due to his courage "the bad man" is in jail now.  

I believe that politicians help themselves not because they are always evil, although some certainly are, but because they mistakenly believe that by furthering their own pursuits they are fulfilling the needs of their constituents.  They believe that by giving themselves more power, they will then be able to wave the magic wand to help those who they've made promises too.  The problem is that in order to get said power, they have to promise everything to everyone.  Anyone can see that when the time comes, some of those promises will have to be broken.  And after enough promises are broken, maybe they'll then elect someone else with promises, and the cycle begins again.  Without even getting in to the inherent problems that exist when exchanging political favors, it should be obvious to any practical mind that this system needs to change.

SOLUTION:  Its time to face the po-pos and pols with intelligent questions and stand pat with demands for what we know is right.  Forget about whats on the surface for a minute and find your arguments in the first principle.  This revolution has already started with the 'cops on camera' movement.  This is a great thing as it forces cops to answer for their actions and it prevents them from using brutality or aggression in doing so.  We will not beat police brutality with force, we will only win with mindful and peaceful ideas.  And we will not end the political theater with more votes for political theater.  Continuing to vote for the lesser of two evils means that we will continue to elect evil.  If there is not a candidate that represents peace and freedom for all, then we must choose to opt-out.  Voting is only worth something if its cast for what you truly support.  Sometimes the best vote however is not voting at all.  In either case, we need to educate ourselves and encourage the intellectual debate that fosters true progress and derails this broken system cycle we've become so addicted to and dependent on.