Adversarial

Our police are becoming some of the most dangerous people around; the ones who are licensed to carry guns and shoot people, but seem to lack the training and disposition to do this correctly. Why must they kill people violating traffic laws? Why is it necessary to kill a pregnant woman carrying a knife? If you absolutely felt you had to shoot, couldn't you shoot the arm holding the knife, or a leg? And killing children!  How can that ever be justified? It seems we need to do better at screening potential law enforcement officers and then train them much better.

Then our prisons. Forget private prisons, they are the embodiment of our whole country. Everything is about money and profit. Money is replacing judges as the deciders in justice. We need to consider what we expect from prisons. Are they simply a way to punish and warehouse people, or could they be a place to rehabilitate and get people out on the right foot to becoming useful citizens? Other countries have done this and it works. Especially our juvenile prisons. We need to teach them that they are valuable human beings who have worth and promise, but you can't do that in what amounts to giant dog kennels.

We are an adversarial government. The old white and black cowboy hat movies are not that far from our two parties. It has become what is good for the republicans and what is good for the democrats rather than what is good for the country. It is rich guys good, poor guys bad, or just the reverse depending on who you think you are.

Somehow we have begun to govern by stereotype and theory rather than reality. It doesn't matter how high and mighty you are if you lack reason and compassion.