This is the face of unbridled and unprincipled authoritarianism. A face that would have fit right in with the Stasi, Gestapo, KGB, or a dozen others. A face in it only for power and pettiness. This is the face of tyranny. This is the everyday face of utter evil. The problem is, it’s not alone.
The banality of evil comes from it becoming common. Once the toe is in the door, more comes in and evil will spread and grow. Almost always that toe is disguised as some measure of safety and protection. Doesn’t matter if it is the oxymoron of hate speech, or a lockdown to slow the spread, it is an assault on your body autonomy and independence. Every time it is a means of chipping away at freedom, be it speech, movement, self-defense, or other basic rights granted not by government but by God. These efforts always attempt to grow.
It is not a new thing, for those who follow history know the pattern well and have seen it in multiple forms, in multiple times, and in multiple places. Those who study humanity, particularly in the forms of psychology and theology, know that we are flawed creatures and that there have always been, and will always be, people who because of their own flaws and insecurities are driven to obtain power over others. In the worst cases, you wind up with a national leader and piles of dead, as the millions of dead killed by such in just the last century will attest. For the rest, those insecurities reinforce the feelings of powerlessness over themselves such that they are driven to find any form of power over others for compensation. From those ranks come the nasty clerk at the motor vehicles bureau, the overly officious HOA board member, the Karen screaming at a store employee over the person not wearing a mask right/standing only 5 feet 11 inches from others. Like something else, they are legion because most don’t don’t want to deal with the hassle of confrontation.
There is, however, a third class of tyrant that as they become more common pose the greatest danger to individual liberty and stable governance. Their own self-loathing causes them to despise others, and worse yet to treat them as others and not as human beings or a life to be respected. For some, it reaches the point of sociopathy, for others something almost as bad. This group tends to find jobs and careers in organizations that give formal power over others such as teaching, law enforcement, and administration to name a few. The easiest way to spot them is that they are the ones who will take an innocent question or comment as a challenge to their authority. The ones that do so spectacularly and in a way that becomes public — say a teacher beating a developmentally challenged student who didn’t lift a finger at any point, or made one eat his own vomit; the cop who goes to town on someone without provocation, or elevates a comment to a high crime; a politician who has security, LE, or just members of their team harass or even assault a reporter or constituent over a comment or for daring to ask a question; a school board abusing power to prevent the parents of students from talking at an open meeting; or, well, you get the picture — are actually the better ones for society. They identify themselves and make it easy to have them fired, reassigned, sued, voted out, etc. If you follow the news, you know that those examples are in fact reality.
The British officer above hit viral status yesterday for having multiple officers swarm and physically assault an autistic juvenile and throw her into the dungeon, as it were, with no contact with her parents as a means of physical and psychological torture all because the autistic juvenile made a comment about the officer looking like her lesbian grandmother and wondering if she was a lesbian too. Now, the officer and the police department maintain that a huge and vicious crime was committed by the AUTISTIC JUVENILE and that the arrest including the use of force was justified. Judge for yourself. Since it appears that there was a complete absence of malice, and that no rational human being could see those words as an attack, I see it as assault, torture, and intimidation under colour of authority. Yeah, did that spelling because they are Brits. Sir Robert Peel must be spinning in his grave at several hundred thousand RPM over what the police and law have become in England.
However sickening and infuriating those who do things that become public are, they also are not the ones who scare me. The ones who have it a bit more together, who cover their tracks are the real danger. They are the ones who work with that first group of tyrants to take things national. They are the ones who design the “laws” (and help get them expanded), the gulags/camps/etc, sign the death warrants, and use the public types for intimidation, brutality, and all the dirty work while keeping their own hands clean. Mostly. There are always a few who will sneak into the dungeons or camps to have a bit of sick fun, then ensure there are no records or witnesses. Most, however, try to stay above such things.
What can be done about any of the three types of tyrant?
First, allow me to recommend mockery. Evil can’t stand to be mocked or laughed at. Look at how hard so many bureaucrats and politicians worked to silence memes and mockery in recent years. Tells you everything you need to know about them. Mockery also sends a message from society that such behavior is not acceptable. It humiliates those so hit, and lets others watching know not to do such things. Enough mockery from enough people, and you can indeed bring about change. Memes and memetics matter. Also, even in closed societies, you can mock with a degree of anonymity and at least some safety. Be smart, be careful, and be brutal with the mockery.
Second, shun. Do not stand with any of the three groups of tyrants. Ostracize them. Make them not of your circle of friends, invite them not to social events, cut them out of your life. You and your life will be much better for it. Again, it gets a message across to the person(s) in question and to those around you both about what does and does not constitute acceptable behavior, morals, and ethics.
Third, publicize. In closed societies, like England, you are going to have to be careful about what and how you do as one of the first things tyrants do is make it illegal to share news. When you can’t make it illegal, you can set up groups of bureaucrats (“experts”) to illegally censor content in social media. *Cough* My recommendation is to learn what you can about VPNs, proxies, and how to remove as many fingerprints as you can even in open societies for the safety of you and your loved ones. For non-electronic, keep in mind that printers and copiers still mark each sheet with a code to identify which printer/copier did the work. Typewriters have their own weaknesses too. That said, there are work arounds — find them. Meanwhile, spread the news any way and every way you can. Evil, like a cockroach, does not like a light shined on it. SHINE THE BRIGHTEST LIGHT YOU CAN!
Fourth, Courts and Elections. In closed societies, such is limited or eliminated. In those still pretending to be open, or that truly are open, make use of the courts and elections. On the latter, be sure the candidate is what and who they say they are and isn’t going to pull a Shreve. Start local, because until your area of operations is secure, trying for the top isn’t going to get too far. Even if you have a success with it, you are still having to fight the layers of bureaucracy, tyranny, and authoritarianism between you and the top. Much better to remove as much of that as you can, and it also makes it far more likely will get those national wins. Courts are iffy, especially with our descent into a two-tier system, but can result in some surprising wins. One can only pray that those wins will be enforced. Besides, it is a good way to implement Robert Heinlein’s instructions on the need to step on certain toes.
The final option is, of course, revolution. On many levels, it truly is a Final Option. The calls for revolution and violence in the U.S. I’m seeing online seem to come almost completely from the Feds and/or those idiots who are ignorant of how vanishingly rare a successful revolution — such as the American Revolution — are in this world. I’m willing to bet that the latter group has never studied, or seen in person, what happens in most revolutions and the devastation that even a “successful” revolution can produce. Also, they have not seen who is up against the wall second, if not first, in any revolution. Nor do they get that vigilante justice against any of the three groups is indeed the start of a revolution, and you better have your ducks in a row before encouraging such. A revolution via the ballot box is almost always preferable to a revolution via the ammo box. Are there times and valid reasons for violence and revolution? Yes, there are times when such are fully justified. Mayhaps we will explore them a bit here soon. For now, just keep in mind that violence and revolution should always be the last resort.
Where are we now? In the case of the officer above and her department, things seem to be well into the mockery and publicity phase. While some seemed to miss the point, several campaigns on social media were gleefully calling her a lesbian or asking if she was one. Another was linking her to #lesbiannana in various forms. For anyone who missed the point, it’s not about if she is or isn’t a lesbian. Frankly, nobody cares except apparently her, and Officer Cartman was enraged that someone didn’t respect her au-thor-a-tay. What it is about is asking the question that got the autistic juvenile assaulted, and in the process mocking the hell out of her and a group of Stasi wannabes pretending to be policemen. Personal opinion, none of those involved in this is fit to wear a badge or uniform ever again. Meantime, while mocking and hoping for some small measure of justice for the victim, it’s being seen and felt by police and such around the world. It is reinforcing that this is not acceptable behavior, and if seen will have negative consequences.
It’s a message the FBI hasn’t figured out yet. The execution in Utah was meant to intimidate. Instead it has opened the eyes of additional members of the public to the corruption in the DOJ and elsewhere, and enraged a good bit of the public rather than intimidating them. Mockery underway as the media got the journo-list message of how what little coverage was to be played. For something other than the corporate media spin, check this out from Brad Torgersen and scroll around as he has some other good thoughts to share.
The banality of evil is that it is common, and often in forms not confronted. This allows larger and worse evil to flourish. That needs to change. If you want to stop the spread of evil, and the growing scourge of authoritarianism and tyranny, rather than direct confrontation, publicize them and relentlessly mock, ridicule, shame, and shun.
UPDATE 1441 HRS 11AUG23: Seems the “police” department in question is feeling some heat. No charges for the flippin autistic juvenile they abused, but also no indications of any justice for her or her family (also assaulted) either. The department does come across, to me at least, as really hoping this fades out public view quickly. Usual political weasel words on reviewing and making changes if and as needed, which usually means a lot of talk and smoke in an effort to make this go away. Don’t let them succeed.
UPDATE 1632HRS11AUG23: If this is true, it would explain a lot about the overreaction. Also about the circle of wagons around a member of a protected class. All the more reason to name and shame. It also fits the authoritarian/tyranny profile to a T. You might be surprised at how many of that class have sexual issues on top of other issues.
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