Photos from Boston Globe
It occurs to me that I've seen the behavior of police officers toward Occupy Wall Street protesters somewhere before. At the bus stop.
A child will cry.
His parent will yell at him to stop crying.
He will continue to cry.
His parent will yell at him louder.
He will continue to cry.
His parent hits him.
He cries more loudly.
His parent continues to yell at him and hit him, telling him to stop that goddamn crying.
This is how authoritarianism reacts to things it can't control.
It does not occur to the authoritarian, or to the violent parent, to think about why the child is crying.
It does not occur to the authoritarian, or to the violent parent, to think about what the child needs or wants.
The authoritarian, and the violent parent, consider only that something is happening that he does not want to happen, and neither can conceive of any way to make it stop happening except the escalating use of force.
It does not occur to either that the use of force intensifies the child's problem, and by extension, his crying.
It does not occur to either that the reflexive application of violence merely creates more, rather than less, of the unwanted behavior.
It does not occur to either that even when that child finally does stop crying, while it may seem like the desired result has been achieved, that will not be the case. Because when the child finally does stop crying, that will be the moment when the child has realized something powerful and dangerous: He can hit back. And someday, he thinks to himself, he will.
Rewind to the scene at the bus stop.
What if the parent, rather than tell the kid to shut up, asks him what's wrong? That one choice practically guarantees that the scene will play out differently: it is likelier that the child's problem will be solved, that the crying will abate, that the parent's frazzled nerves will be spared. Even if the child continues to feel some distress, at least his small human dignity has been respected; his selfhood, his somebodiness, has not been denied.
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law . . .
Now, therefore, THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.
Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 6.
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 19.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 20.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
The United States is a signatory to this declaration and has committed itself thereby to its entire contents, including but not limited to the bolded sections above, which are at the heart of the Occupy movement and a fundamental basis for its legality and rightness. The only way that these provisions may be held not to apply to the Occupy protesters is to choose to define them as outside the definition of "everyone" -- in other words, as nobodies, as unpersons.
The abuse must stop. The rejection of our sisters' and brothers' humanity must stop. The outrages against their rights and dignity and ours must stop.
The problems they are crying about have not gone away. Yelling at them and hitting them will not solve the problems, only compound them; and it will not stop the crying, only intensify it.
It's time for the parent to grow up.