bad memories

Two nights ago I read some recounts from protesters about their experiences on parliament square in London. These were stories from peaceful, even pacifist people who were there to voice their opinions. A fundamental right in pluralist democracies by the way. Their telling of police violence and brutality brought back memories. In 2005 during the make poverty history marches and rallies we have met exactly the same kind of provoking, violent, criminalizing tactics that make you feel sick in the stomach.

Of course there are troublemakers in crowds but they and I press they should be dealt with. Collective punishment, which is what now being exercised even before actions ‘worthy of punishing’ (I don’t believe in punishment by the way) take place. Collective punishment is a tell tale of militarist, authoritarian, dictatoric regimes, particularly fascist ones among which perhaps the Nazis lead with the industrialization of such practice.

Worst still is that it isn’t clear what may be the motivation of such brutality when ‘dealing’ with autonomous citizens’ movements. What I can feel when searching my soul, so to speak, that the events and experiences meeting the police during the make pov history marches in Scotland resulted in an incredible change, a radicalization in how I relate to the establishment. I have been critical already before but have become what many might call skeptical and certainly radical. I regard now the establishment in the UK and most EU countries fascist or at best proto-fascist and could reason it well.

Now what my concern is that the more, more and more people get this violent treatment from the police as a collective punishment for something that someone else has done or hasn’t even happened yet, so in principle for nothing else but exercising one’s democratic, civil, human right, the more and more people will become disengaged from the democratic process they are trying to take part in.

What may come out of it as a long term consequence? Five years on from MPH in Scotland I cans say that I have a disregard for state authority and while I raise my children in an existentialist manner I raise them to be always and thoroughly critical of the establishment. So probably many of us will, are passing on the analytical understanding that comes from meeting with the face of a police state. However, one wonders that among us who are discouraged from participating in or trusting this already prost democratic process how many can remain, or judges it to be worthy to remain non violent? After all many existentialist, famous ones have not shied away from violent means themselves in the past.

In any case, if because of the clashes and the political hypocrisy less people will go to vote next time, the establishment will have won. If more people will become violent next time there is a protest and a clash the establishment will have won for they will have ‘reason’ to bring yet more brutality to the streets against those who are pacifist and wish to engage in a dialogue. I fear that every time violence is unjustly called upon by the police, our societies become increasingly less free till initially there will be none left and nothing with to defend our most basic rights. To be regarded people.