tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post6397532127454085626..comments2024-03-23T12:05:23.537-05:00Comments on The Wild Reed: Marching on the RNCMichael J. Baylyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03087458490602152648noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-75896720744560660022008-09-01T20:57:00.000-05:002008-09-01T20:57:00.000-05:00Peaceful protest is a right and necessity in a fre...Peaceful protest is a right and necessity in a free society. The right to assemble peacefully and ask for redress of grievances has to be exercised almost continuously, at lesser and greater levels, if it is to be retained and respected. <BR/><BR/>That said, the minute some moron decides (having looked at the pictures of the march) to, say, bust a car window, or a department store window, then everyone's rights to peaceful and safe self-expression are endangered.<BR/><BR/>While there is a right to private property, even that right is relative and not absolute. Still, to take someone else's property (a car or store window) and turn it into a hazard or a weapon...sorry, anarchists, that's way we pay taxes for law enforcement for.<BR/><BR/>Police power is also not absolute and is subject to oversight. The police can only use the minimum force necessary to subdue someone causing trouble. The problem is that a very few people get out of hand and refuse to settle down when asked to do so. So then the level of force gets ratcheted up.<BR/><BR/>An aside: highly charged atmospheres can alter behavior, mind and mood as much as drugs can. And there is always the remote possibility that the violent minority is under the influence of some chemical, or suffers from mental illness. In fact, I just checked a study by the CDC and found that an meta-analysis of mental illness in several Western, industrialized nations says 20% of a population will have some diagnosable form of mental illness in a 12-month period. Let me be clear I am NOT saying people to protest are addicted or ill; I am speaking about the vastly small number of people who engage in violent acts. If there were 10,000 protesters in the Twin Cities and there were 100 arrests, thats just 1%. If there were 40,000 people protesting, than 100 arrests is only 1/4 of 1% Across a year's time that is not a big bump in the arrest statistics.<BR/><BR/>Geez, even the idea of anarchy is ruined when people use the label as an excuse to act like hooligans.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com