Piltdown Man was a fake fossil, the creation of an Englishman who
claimed to have found the “missing link” between man and ape. There is no
such thing as Piltdown man. It was a hoax. Or are there real Piltdowns among
us?
What you see on the
streets of this country was waiting to happen. The murder of George Floyd at
the knee of a Piltdown man with a badge created critical mass. Something
was going to.
Before proceeding, let’s
see if we can all agree on some basics in the Floyd situation.
--There is no state in
which possession of fake currency is a capital crime.
--There is no state in
which having illegal drugs in one’s system is a capital crime. This is
especially true when one autopsy says Floyd did and another says he didn’t.
--In general, it is not
a good idea to destroy someone else’s property especially if the destruction is
intentional.
--The Christian bible
instructs us to not kill. The Jewish original instructs us to not commit
murder.
--George Floyd was
murdered.
Any problems with these
assumptions, so far?
Good. Now let’s
get into some issues that are less cut and dried.
--Some white cops are
racist and use the authority we’ve given them to advance their racism by
singling out people with dark skin for especially bad treatment, including but
not limited to Knee to the neck, chokeholds, gratuitous beatings and sexual
aggression with broom handles and similar objects.
--Some white cops who
are not racist turn a blind eye to the acts of their fellow officers.
--Some mayors,
governors, and presidents believe force must be met by overwhelming
counterforce.
--Bad apples come in
every color. Unlike the cliché, they don’t by definition spoil the whole
barrel.
--We know what bad
apples look like and can move to discard them whether they are spherical fruit
or human beings.
--Every Minneapolis cop
knew that Derek Chauvin had rot spots. No one moved to get him into a
desk job or otherwise into a corner from which he could not cause physical or
mental harm to anyone.
But as we said at the
beginning of this post, the demonstrations and riots we’re seeing were just
waiting to happen.
We have a white
supremacist president who covers his ineptness and impotence in swagger, lies,
and name calling. We have a pandemic that in some ways affects everyone. We
have an economy that in many ways is tanking. Some of it is rooted in the
pandemic. But most of it is rooted in inequality, executive overcompensation, corporate
debt at levels that demand constant growth, private equity funding and a stock
market that is inflated to the point of irrelevance.
We are a first world
country. But in many ways, we as individuals are governed by what
biologists informally call our “lizard brains,” what the fictional Piltdown
man, had he really existed, would have used in place of reason and thought.
Can we undo this
hardwiring? Probably not. Can we control what it thinks and feels?
Again, probably not. But we can -- we must -- control what it lets or
makes us do.
NOTES FROM ALL OVER:
(MINNEAPOLIS) -- The
soon to be the ex-wife of the murdering cop says in her divorce papers she
wants to change her name. At the moment, it’s the same as his, Chauvin.
Hers had been, Xiong. She also says she doesn’t want spousal support from her
husband.
(NEW YORK) -- Time
Magazine says it had nothing to do with this cover:
It’s a fake, the publisher insists.
(NEW YORK) -- CNN boss
Jeff Zucker is dodging questions about possibly running for New York Mayor. But
he says the city needs leadership and he enjoys a challenge.
(MENLO PARK, CA) -- Some
workers at Facebook are staging some kind of job action. It’s a protest against
the website’s not taking down trump’s quote “when the looting starts the
shooting starts.” They registered their ire on Twitter.
I’m Wes Richards. My
opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Any Questions? wesrichards@gmail.com
© WJR 2020
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