America has forgotten how to riot.

Man is tasered at concert for refusing to put his clothes back on. Judging by other videos of police brutality, the police here appear to be doing their best to defuse the situation with no forcible arrest before things turn nasty. I don’t know if he had been told he would be arrested subsequently. At any rate, he doesn’t cooperate. What the police should have realized is that when there are chants from the crowd rallying an individual on, it is difficult to get them to reverse course.

Halfway through the video, one of the police officers has enough of the rather comical attempts to forcibly clothe the man and readies his taser. His colleague waves him off, suggesting that at least one of them knew that would not be the right response. However after another scuffle, the officer uses it anyway. First once, and then repeatedly on different parts of the man’s body.

Naked Wizard Tased By Reality from Tracy Anderson on Vimeo.

What bothers me more than the police brutality is that the three police officers are surrounded by a sizable crowd of adolescents. Apart from collective groaning and swearing, they are restrained by nothing more than a few gruff commands (e.g. “Stand back”), as the taser is applied again and again right before their eyes. By this point, it is clear to all that the individual is a victim of ongoing police brutality. Where are those who initially cheered the man’s nudity and defiance? Why do they not act? The police don’t seem the slightest bit worried that the crowd will interfere in any way. You’d be hard pressed to find any police officer in the EU who would be bold enough to arrest someone in the middle of a crowd of adolescents, let alone brutality attack them with tasers.

Am I suggesting charging and attacking the officers? No. The real power of the crowd lies in its ability to immobilize. If everyone had raised their arms and chanted something peaceful like “this is not a riot” in a tighter and tighter circle, they would have quickly closed the available space for the police to do anything but try to escape. Of course, there is the risk that if they had fought their way out (e.g tasers, batons, guns) some people would have been injured, but I doubt that even an American police officer has the stomach to start attacking random people in a crowd.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.-Thomas Jefferson

Work-on-demand

I’m suspecting European visitors will need some context: early in the mornings in many large US cities groups of workers (usually Hispanic) stand around certain street corners waiting for work. Contractors show up and select groups of them and then pay them at the end of the day. From a contractor’s perspective, it a great way of load balancing on a daily basis and not paying taxes/social security fees. The workers are happy because (a) they get work, (b) there is the chance that their hard work will be noticed and asked to stay on a more permanent basis.

The Places We Live

An interactive exhibition on slum dwelling around the world, by Jonas Bendiksen