An Eerie Prediction !

In America, most of the people are afraid of their police.  Even a minor confrontation with a citizen will bring a convoy of police cars with lights flashing and sirens wailing.  Their policing methods are heavy handed and they have progressively adopted the stance of an army of occupation rather than a force tasked with protecting the public.

Once again an incident has inflamed the citizens to revolt and set a city ablaze.  The ever present cameras in public hands recorded the arrest of unarmed black man George Floyd.  He was wrestled to the ground and a policeman used his knee to his throat in a choke hold.  There were four police present at this arrest and when the knee pressure was removed the victim had lost conscionce.  He was put in an ambulance and taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The aftermath was predictable. " Black deaths matter " supporters looted shops and burned down the police station.  The unrest spread to other cities and President Trump escalatedf the violence with an incendiary remark that related this crime to violence that once rocked Miami.

Three centuries ago, America fought a bloody civil war to end slavery in the southern states.  The victor passed laws to achieve that objective, but simply walked away and made no effort to implement them.  The white people of the south maintained coloured segregation in what became known as the " Jim Crow "era.  Coloured people were protected by a law they could not access because the KKK promised a lynching to anyone who tried.

Both Washington and state governors are afraid of the power of their police because that is what stands between them - and the mob !   Strong police unions have used that power to insulate officers from murder charges where unreasonable force being used has caused death.  Either the state has refused to prosecute, or the hearing before a Grand Jury is moved to an area where white prominence will assure an acquittal.

America is probably the most heavily armed country in the world.  There are more hand guns in the community than people, and America has a population that exceeds three hundred million.  A clause in the constitution means ordinary citizens can buy and own the same assaut rifles as used by the American armed forces.  America used the draft to require its young people to fight in many wars and there are now vast numbers of veterans with the military skills - and the weapons - to confront the government if it chooses to do so.

It is clear that gun control is not going to happen.  It seems inevitable that civil unrest will eventually cascade into an armed confrontation with the police, bringing the spectre of civil war.  No worse catastiophe can befall a society.  The might and money of American business can come crashing down in a welter of burning cities.

That could become a reality if America lacks the goodsense to bring its police back under control asnd implement the reasons it fought a civil war back in the 1800's.  Otherwise its place in history may be similar to that of the Roman Empire.   When that collasped, the world was plunged into what is called the " Dark Ages "  !