Trickle Down Violence

State violence seems endemic in the west, given legitimacy by the language of those in power and emboldened by a shrill off-the-leash media desperate for clicks and readers in a bear-pit – a downward spiral of circulations and viewers.

It starts at the very top and trickles down to the cop, the security guard, the fascist, the bouncer.

Answering the CITY AM’s plaintive question about the threat of nuclear conflict Sarah Kendzior replies:

“Unfortunately, there is a real risk – and Donald Trump is more likely to use nuclear weapons than Kim Jong-un. Trump has been obsessed with nuclear weapons since 1984, when he proclaimed he could learn all he needed to know about them in an hour and a half. In 1987, he discussed dropping nuclear weapons on Pakistan and France, and in 1990, he proclaimed their use inevitable. In 2016, Trump asked “if we have them, why not use them?” – a horrifying question that distinguishes him from all predecessors. Unlike previous leaders, whose perspective on nukes was informed by the doctrine of mutually assured destruction or a desire for non-proliferation, Trump appears enthusiastic at the prospect of using them. He has called for a massive increase in the nuclear arsenal and continues to bait North Korea with inflammatory rhetoric. The decision to use nukes is Trump’s alone: no one is in a position to stop him. That spells dangerous times ahead for the world.”

Here Utah cop Detective Jeff Payne arrests – and allegedly assaults Nurse Alex Wubbels for doing her job, calmly and under duress:

The much-maligned Panorma have today exposed the vicious practice of G4S staff creating “chaos, incompetence and abuse” at Brook House immigration removal centre. The programme claims to have undercover footage showing officers “mocking, abusing and even assaulting detainees” at the facility, where drugs are allegedly rife. G4S said nine staff had been suspended pending further investigation in the latest scandal to hit the firm.

This is state violence out-sourced, one-removed from accountability.

It’s not new.

The Guardian reports:

“The allegations are the latest in series of well-documented problems on government security contracts awarded to G4S. In November 2013, three G4S guards were acquitted of manslaughter over the unlawful killing of Jimmy Mubenga, who died on a deportation flight to Angola.In the same year, G4S was also temporarily banned from bidding for government contracts over allegations of overcharging on contracts to electronically monitor offenders. The ban was lifted in 2014 when G4S agreed to repay £109mand put in place a “corporate renewal plan” to prevent any recurrence. The G4S-run child jail at Oakhill has been plagued with high levels of violence, according to inspectors. The firm was stripped of a contract to run Medway Secure Training Centre (STC) after another Panorama undercover exposé and the firm’s other STC, Rainsbrook in Northamptonshire, was transferred to another provider last year. Earlier this year, G4S partially backed down in row about a plan to film people in their own homes without their consent, as part of its contract to house 30,000 asylum seekers.”

All of this is quietly condoned.

Of course this could be seen as an issue of just more exposure of a violence that’s always been with us.

None of this is based on ‘data.’ This is not scientific. But there’s a madness in the air, or is that just me?

 

[Image, Abuse of Power Comes as No Surprise – 1983 – by Jenny Holzer ]

 

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Comments (5)

Leave a Reply to John O'Dowd Cancel reply

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  1. John O'Dowd says:

    Not just you, Mike. Creeping fascism is beginning to trot. It will be galloping before long – unless we do something about it. Independence will be a start -at least for us in Scotland.

  2. manandboy says:

    Government by corporate Mafia.

    1. Willie says:

      Yes indeed. The government and it’s corporate cronies are the mafia. And when needed, violence is utilised to the full as our humanitarian interventions around the world shows.

  3. Ben Robinson says:

    Jenny Holzer – Truisms is the artwork that should be credited.

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