#trump just endorsed the purge for cops

[brightlotusmoon]

One particular episode of Star Trek: TOS extended all the way into the Purge franchise -- dystopian films about our collective inhumanity that are about as far from the positive future of Star Trek as the dark side of the moon.

The episode in question is Star Trek Season 1, Episode 22, “The Return of the Archons.” According to These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One, it was one of the three script pitches Gene Roddenberry used to sell Star Trek in the first place. It dealt with what have now become classic Trek dilemmas – violation of the Prime Directive and the dangers of artificial intelligence – combined with a meditation on the power of the unthinking mob.

[acrinn45]

Not that it matters much, since I'm mostly unknown on here, but I'm stepping off of Tumblr and social media in general for a while.

I understand the anger and the outrage; trust me, I'm right there with you! This whole country's about to fall apart because all of its shady dealings and horrible practices are catching up to it, right as we're having the worst year in recent history.

But blind, blanket hatred? All this venom and aggression? This refusal to try to work things out because it's easier to scream our rage and our frustrations as loud as we can? We cannot make progress forward if all we're doing is instigating an already fucked up situation, no matter what side you're on.

"But America was born from riots!" First off, the people started off wanting to be heard and treated fairly, not to break off and start a new country. That happened because BRITAIN GOT AGGRESSIVE IN RESPONSE TO THE RIOTS. Which is EXACTLY what Trump has been declaring that he's ready to do to "keep the peace"! Besides, we ALL know by now that these riots and lootings are NOT being done with black people or human rights in mind, so stop endorsing the riots!

Second, we can all agree that the police structure is extremely messed up. It's been clear for years, decades even. But firing all the cops, just because they're cops? Really? THAT'S your big solution? You see how horrible people are already taking advantage of the disarray and the chaos to pretty much break and steal whatever they want and hurt whoever they want; do you really think it's gonna get BETTER without a police body to stand in their way? HELL NO!! You can expect things to get real similar to "the Purge" in this country REAL fast, and then NO ONE will have ANY safety.

I'm all for police reform, starting with investigations into officers and chiefs that have records and engage in suspicious behavior (turning off body cams, blocking dash cams, etc), followed by firing major offenders who have no valid reasons for what they were doing and stripping them of the ability to ever be a cop again. I also support these investigations being conducted by third-party organizations, to minimize the risk of cover-ups and false reports.

But I'm also aware that our government needs restructuring, to have some MAJOR overhauls, like how many terms are allowed for any given office, how much money do these offices really need to be paid, maybe not paying every President a salary for the rest of his life?

I have no answers, and I don't have the education required to provide honest input on how I think things should be done or changed. I'm just a white guy working minimum wage, terrified of waking up and watching the news or looking at social media. I'm terrified that these riots are going to hurt people I love. I'm terrified that some of my black cousins, aunt's, and uncles are gonna be killed in all the chaos going on right now, and I'm terrified that any of my family members that are firefighters or law enforcement, both black and white, are going to get stoned or attacked just for being on-scene, like they're told to do.

TLDR; I'm taking some time off from all social media, because if I wanted to listen to a bunch of people screaming uselessly back and forth, I'd work at a daycare. Thank you for your time, and please consider taking a deep breath and calming down a bit before launching another anti-cop/pro-cop post; make sure you mean what you're about to say, and think about how that could impact others.