After the Clan Chaos: The Dangers of the Free Pass System

Justice for All

Its rare but there are a few people who have been through situations that when its all over and completed you scratch your head as to the bizarreness of it all. One may then wonder how such a seemingly beautiful people become coconspirators in potential hate based crimes. You might also ponder the future risks of a free pass clan based system if left intact and without appropriate checks and balances. When these things happen it is helpful to sort of put them in perspective so we can work on solving the problem. A discussion on the possibilities helps us think about where accountability should lay

Context

Imagine that this was not a normal situation, instead one in which a large group of clan based friends, police officers, and perhaps a few public officials were involved in one form or another (Not all necessarily bad or good.). Likewise, there a number of victims of various harm levels that range from the sick and dying all the way over to children (Each at different levels and to different degrees). I guess if you widened the perspective you might even include the community itself as one of the victims who would enjoy not having schisms in their social networks.

The catalysts are many but essentially it appears a desire to self enrich, bigotries, clan connections, and lack of Constitutional protections (speech and religion) seem to have been contributing factors to this situation. Those that started this did so because I believe they were attempting to hide current and past criminal behaviors through using projected hate as a tool (I know its impossible! Lets go with it for a moment as a thought experiment. One would need to investigate to be sure. i.e. questions like were monies taken from the vulnerable, was hate speech used to deflect and protect the discovery of alleged crimes, and how other goal directed behaviors occur?)

Mental Health

It also ties to mental health which is something that governments are struggling with finding the balance. We do have toxic self-interested people in the world and sometimes those unaddressed issues create real harm. You can't say whatever you want and sic launch half witted followers on minorities (or anyone) simply because one doesn't know how to deal with uncomfortable feelings (Ok theoretically you can't but in practicality there are cases where this occurs I'm sure.). If our system was run by bullies, bigots and bad people we have a system that will spread toxicity in a dangerous way infecting the official system to socialize to lower order values like those learned in tight knit social group (I guess it is the same for extremism, and other isms).

Looking Back

Looking back over the field of desperation and civic derailment I realize that each person played a role in some ways. Drawn to act against our American values because they had an issue they needed to deal with in an environment that had two different legal structures (the official and the clan/shadow) where services are rendered with different customers in mind. Those that don't fit well into the clan ranging from racism/bigotry to character (It might actually be a good reason and more healthy adaptive reason) are met with official/unofficial wave upon wave of dangerous and coordinated hate based behaviors (No one should know those tactics meaning it was already there as part of learned prior behaviors. The difference is an "out-group" target lowered their inhibitions quickly. I guess this group would adapt but if they are not on the receiving end of environmental stress then they would have had no reason to adapt. That is why it is sometimes necessarily or outside agencies to come in and correct when a system becomes maladaptive. Pressure helps them readapt.) 

Responsibility and Accountability

Who should own the responsibility for such behaviors and outcomes? Perhaps it is the victims who should not have dared to challenge the status quo, protect their family, or stung the distortion of an easily manipulated mob. Maybe its the officers who were all to willing to act on improper information, intentionally connecting loosely associated information, spread that misinformation like we have seen in other dehumanizing justifications, and commit potential crimes based on that information without ever checking their biased assumptions. I suspect one could hold the people who caused such behaviors to account but that would only be a moral sentiment as the laws are not designed well to see hate inspired swarming or the underpinnings of extremism that makes that possible.

A Few Thoughts

We are just not there yet as a people and we hold all types of assumptions that truly limit our potential as a nation of diverse people. A nation that must now compete and seems to be thinking about multiple paths. I believe that we could do a much better job at aligning our internal environment to the needs of the emerging digital era and all of the human capital factors gained from such alignment. We must treat people fairly across society in an enlightened way in order to draw the best out of them. Thoughtful laws for thoughtful outcomes.  We have a responsibility to create a level playing field and ensure that our laws are being applied universally and fairly in ways that are the most helpful and maintain the integrity of our institutions. I encourage stronger hate based laws and additional public safeguards against misuse of official position for nefarious purposes.