I think it’s always important to remember who is most in control of a situation and place all of the blame there.
My psych patients say awful shit to me. Some of them do awful shit. I’ve seen and experienced multiple attempted sexual assaults and even a guy who cornered a pregnant staff member to kick her in the stomach. I think about those kinds of things a lot when I see news stories about people dying in psych wards from things like extended or improper restraint. I wonder what they did that the staff members were so angry about and scared of that made them fuck up that bad. I’m sure it’s the same as when other authority figures like police see stories of police brutality but that brings us exactly to the point:
The next thing I think (because it’s critical that I remember it) is that the staff are still the ones with the power. In addition to a moral imperative to not abuse their power, the staff members are the only ones who CAN change the situation, almost as a matter of physical possibility. The patients are gonna do what the patients are gonna do and the only changeable factor is what the staff do about it. That’s just the nature of power and control. The people who have it are ultimately the most responsible for how a situation plays out. Always.
The rich have the power here. They had the option to give some of it back in exchange for peace. They chose to specifically block that avenue. They chose violence by blocking all other options. Almost every nonviolent crisis deescalation class I’ve attended over the last decade has included this specific quote somewhere in the curriculum:
“A riot is the language of the unheard.” - Martin Luther King Jr (you know, the nonviolent protest guy?)
The rich chose this. They chose not to listen. And honestly I’m actually pretty mad at them for it. They’ve created murderers. Trying to project that blame back on the poor is just another of their tricks. I don’t have to advocate for violence to see it as the natural progression of the path the powerful have chosen for us. In fact me advocating for it would do just as much good as me advocating against it. I am not someone with the power to have any choice in this matter. All I can do is watch and to a certain extent I’m actually a little scared; I think we’re about to enter a profoundly violent era of human history and I doubt it will be comfortable for me. They have chosen to lead us towards violence and for them to turn around and complain about it is laughably and terrifyingly insane.
I think it’s always important to remember who is most in control of a situation and place all of the blame there.
My psych patients say awful shit to me. Some of them do awful shit. I’ve seen and experienced multiple attempted sexual assaults and even a guy who cornered a pregnant staff member to kick her in the stomach. I think about those kinds of things a lot when I see news stories about people dying in psych wards from things like extended or improper restraint. I wonder what they did that the staff members were so angry about and scared of that made them fuck up that bad. I’m sure it’s the same as when other authority figures like police see stories of police brutality but that brings us exactly to the point:
The next thing I think (because it’s critical that I remember it) is that the staff are still the ones with the power. In addition to a moral imperative to not abuse their power, the staff members are the only ones who CAN change the situation, almost as a matter of physical possibility. The patients are gonna do what the patients are gonna do and the only changeable factor is what the staff do about it. That’s just the nature of power and control. The people who have it are ultimately the most responsible for how a situation plays out. Always.
The rich have the power here. They had the option to give some of it back in exchange for peace. They chose to specifically block that avenue. They chose violence by blocking all other options. Almost every nonviolent crisis deescalation class I’ve attended over the last decade has included this specific quote somewhere in the curriculum:
The rich chose this. They chose not to listen. And honestly I’m actually pretty mad at them for it. They’ve created murderers. Trying to project that blame back on the poor is just another of their tricks. I don’t have to advocate for violence to see it as the natural progression of the path the powerful have chosen for us. In fact me advocating for it would do just as much good as me advocating against it. I am not someone with the power to have any choice in this matter. All I can do is watch and to a certain extent I’m actually a little scared; I think we’re about to enter a profoundly violent era of human history and I doubt it will be comfortable for me. They have chosen to lead us towards violence and for them to turn around and complain about it is laughably and terrifyingly insane.