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Is it wrong that I think the American public would side with the police even if they started openly gunning down protestors? (hexbear.net)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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"What do you mean 'started'?"

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I want to clarify that I'm talking about open mass-killings in the vein of Sharpeville or Bloody Sunday.

Reading and seeing the public's reactions to things like the gassings and beatings at pro-Palestine encampments, BLM protestors getting run over, Kyle Rittenhouse's victims, etc. it seems like the American people take an open and ghoulish delight in protestors getting brutalized, maimed, and killed. Go to any video or article about these things happening, and the comments section is an endless parade of the worst people imaginable cheering and hollering for it with extremely little or no pushback. It's depressingly consistent.

It just gives me this horrible feeling that one day the police are going to unload into a crowd of protestors and leave a mass of bodies in their wake, the American people will hoot and clap and cheer about how the victims got what they deserved, and that'll become the new MO. The only reason they aren't already doing this is fear it might make them look bad, and if it doesn't end up making them look bad in the eyes of the public, then there isn't a single thing stopping them.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Regardless of whether I believe it what I can tell you is that the powers that be have done everything they could to grease the skids toward people adopting a hostile view of protestors and a reverence for law enforcement.

And they don't do that shit for free. Somebody somewhere is banking on the idea that these are good investments against social unrest and disorder. To the tune of countless millions.

So I guess the question is how successful it will be. Because I can certainly predict the narrative working on some people even when it gets stress tested by open state murder against peaceful assembly.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Regardless of whether I believe it what I can tell you is that the powers that be have done everything they could to grease the skids toward people adopting a hostile view of protestors and a reverence for law enforcement.

Oh god yeah, even when I was a kid, the media I saw that portrayed protestors almost always depicted them as stupid annoying hippies who had no real problems.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

The order of operations is:

These naive hippie dipshits are so misguided protesting things.
Gosh. If they really wanted to change the system they'd join it and change it from within. You? Me? The hippie protestors? All doing nothing. (Moderate vote shaming begins)
In a way, their impotent protests just proves the protestors do it for themselves, not the issues. (Vote shaming intensifies)
Actually, them protesting is worse than doing nothing. In a way, they're worse than I am on the issues! (Vote shaming reaches apogee)
Hypocrisy! Socialism iPhone! They haven't donated 100% of their time and income yet claim to care!

It's funny how in a bunch of movies I grew up with there was some variation of the pitiable/loathsome "protestors" usually with a white California accent, gumming up the works, offering helpless advice, existing for the audience to scorn or ridicule until Manly Leading White Man or Girl Who Uses Cusswords snaps them out of their hippie reverie. Or they get owned. Like the stripper in Independence Day that goes up the tower to dance with the aluminum foil motley of cranks waving signs at the starship.