Many people see the solution to police violence is more training of police, more recruiting of minority officers, and the use of tasers instead of guns. But none of these gets to the root of the problem that exploded into public view in Ferguson, Mo. The basic function of law enforcement in the United States is to protect private wealth.
While police can be life-saving to people in some situations, at a time when all social benefits are being taken away, that function is being removed—as funding cuts result, for example, in very delayed responses to 911 calls.
What is left is the naked function of protecting the oligarchs.
The increase in police killings reflects a change in the economic system, where the value of human life is edging towards zero.
The problem isn’t the police who are simply “bad apples.” Instead, with computers and robots, the economic system no longer needs workers; and the ruling class now see us, not only as disposable, but as an active threat to wealth and power.
Militarization of the police both lets corporations to continue to make profits and at the same time prepare for a future when people are going to come to a point where they say, “Enough is enough.”
But we are beginning to coalesce in our fight against police brutality. Within California, for instance, an informal network, enabled by social media, is connecting groups opposing the killing of Andy Lopez in Sonoma County with others protesting similar killings throughout the state.
And when Michael Brown was killed, demonstrations sprang up not only in Ferguson, but across the U.S.
When things quiet down again, as they did with Occupy, it may seem like nothing remains. But these connections and networks do remain—and people’s understanding and anger remain—and together they form the beginning of hope and the ability to fight for what people need in the new America.
