The Anonymous Face of Violence
I'm disturbed by many pictures and videos I see today of violent oppressors suppressing open dialogue and peaceful protest. One thing these aggressors often have in common is a uniform and a mask. They are anonymous in their adrenaline expressed action.
Police in Riot Gear
(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Antifa
(Wikimedia Commons)
(And no, violence is not anarchy. Those who align with the initiation of violent force violate the NAP.)
The KKK
(Wikimedia Commons)
They all cover their faces. They act like mindless robots with no identity, following orders of their authoritarian leaders or tribal, authoritarian ideology. What is it about their actions which require them to hide their faces? Could it be somewhere deep down, they know their fellow humans will shame and ostracize them for their actions?
When looking at a picture or a video of some faceless aggressor, I wonder, does that person have neighbors who know them? Where do they buy groceries and who serves them food at restaurants? Where are they employed or if they own their business, which vendors work with them? If their identities were known and tied to their actions, how would it impact their daily lives?
I understand identity is a double edged sword. Some fear the power of totalitarian governments and feel anonymity gives them a level of freedom to defend themselves. Maybe that's true; I don't personally know. I've not yet lived in a blatantly totalitarian state where I'd find that useful. It seems to me, the court of public opinion in our digitally connected world is slowly becoming more powerful long-term than what's happening on the ground day-to-day. In this reality, being known can be an asset and a form of protection. It just depends on how far you're trying to push the current status quo, which laws you're breaking based on your principles, etc.
It burdens my heart to see women crying and pleading with riot police in Catalonia today. From what little I understand of the situation, people are attempting to hold a peaceful referendum and they are being met with violent authoritarianism. They aren't pleading with another human. It's a faceless, anonymous automaton.
What worries me most, I guess, is how the future may literally include robotic enforcers of political will. I hope it doesn't come to that. While there are still humans involved, I think we should all speak up about the need to unmask the faceless. Give them identity and, in that process, responsibility for their actions. I'm not calling for people to be DOXed, but I also can't ignore the reality of aggressors versus victims. If someone is initiating violence against someone else, action against them is defensive and justified according to the NAP.
We have to find the balance.
Related posts:
- The Myth of Authority
- Tribalism: Our Shared Enemy
- Privacy, Identity, and Human Flourishing
- NVC: Violence Is a Tragic Expression of an Unmet Need
Luke,
The images from Catalonia today only reinforce the idea that this is the true face of government. It cannot be reasoned with. It cannot be bargained with.
If they have power they will exercise it and the law will be used to justify the most egregious behavior.
Thanks for the post... I just put mine up, you might find them of interest:
https://steemit.com/politics/@goldgoatsnguns/the-true-face-of-the-eu-emerges-in-catalonia
Great post, thanks for sharing.
The situation in Spain right now is a good example of how quickly a so-called democracy can turn into a police state. If one of the American states were to try and secede from the union, these type of strong-arm tactics by the police will be on full display.
Upvoted. This shit is unfortunately very possible in every western country. I know it's strange to see this in Spain in 2017, but if it happens in Spain, it can very well happen in Italy, Germany, England or Sweden.
I mean, violence IS the last resort for governments. They WILL use it. They are in power because they want to be in power. People with lust for power. It's as simple as that. Authoritarian people are the sort of people who seeks power in government jobs, on almost every level. Sure there are some good people too, but a lot of the time there are pretty bad people.
And when that power is threatened on the highest level, like in Spain today..it means violence. Governments can make you paranoid, they can use threat and the can use violence. And they justify it, because we have allowed them to have the exclusive right to use violence.
I'm also concerned about robocops and even robot lawyers etc. Some robot who you cannot reason with. No slack, no second opinion. That's why governments are scary. I don't think the concept of governments is compatible with the future that we want. We want technology, but we should have freedom, not authoritarianism.
I just wish all anarchists and freedomlovers would unite. That we could rally around the concept of voluntarism. That every man should be allowed to chose what sort of society he wants. And that no one can force him to join any society.
I know thats a lot to hope for..but as long as they keep us fighting each other, I don't think we can win.
Well said. Today, individual government enforces still pick up their batons and swing them. If we can reach those enforcers and get them to change their minds about authority, there's still hope. What encourages me is the way the world is responding to this. Instead of "Well, yeah, that's just how governments are. Better not stick your head up to high or it will get lopped off." we're seeing outrage. We're seeing people get really mad about this.
In a way, we're seeing the man behind the curtain exposed as not being a great wizard after all.
Yep. Something is changing in people, that's for sure. :)
When hiding behind a mask, immoral behavior has less of a threshold. When someone with a violence monopoly (the state or the police) is masked, you can expect the worst possible things to happen.
I support your appeal to unmask all agressors.
@lukestokes - I am in no way supporting autocratic and violent measures against peaceful protesters. However, I think I do understand the need for uniforms and facelessness of the foot soldiers of governments. I have seen too many situations during my travels in the world where the so called 'peaceful' protest turn into a violent mob in a murderous frenzy. The forces to be equipped to deal with such eventualities is but natural. What matters is how and when the 'use force' directive is effected by those in power. I do not blame the foot soldiers!.
Also - for a single law enforcement man, identifiable by the dark forces he fights against, the strength required for taking actions can only come from some comfort that his authority is symbolized by his uniform (signifying some 'support' by the government for those actions) and some mental comfort that brothers-in-arms who wear the same uniform, support him. The anonymity afforded by face masks is not desired by the foot soldiers necessarily but brings solace to them that their actions, taken in the line of duty - will NOT end up in being a nightmare for their families - Cases of negative elements seeking revenge on identified cops and law enforcers are too frequently seen around the world...
So, I guess what I am trying to say is that in such law enforcement situations, it is not shame or guilt that prompts the face masks and armor but in the case of the anti-social elements, the face masks are totally due to those reasons which you have stated. We perhaps can not weigh these two circumstances in the same balance.
Again - I totally agree with you that balance is the key and violence against peaceful protesters is utterly deplorable. Especially so in this particular instance mentioned in your post where innocent mothers with infants, waiting peacefully to vote were beaten up!! I condemn such actions! However, the factors driving the need/desire for anonymity could be different in different circumstances, depending on whether that is necessary in the line of duty or prompted by cowardice and guilt of actions.
Thanks for speaking up about this aspect. It does mandate debate. Upvoted full.
Regards,
@vm2904
Great comment, thank you. I'm going to disagree with you, but I think you make a very good argument.
But we already learned from the Nuremberg trials that "just following orders" is not an acceptable defense. We have to hold enforcers accountable to their actions. They have to be held accountable for following (or not following) immoral orders. This concept of authoritarian structures defining action (and of tribal masses turning into violent mobs) is touched on in a couple of the posts I link to, but I know it's a very complex issue.
It's easy for us to just say, "Well, it all depends on what happens in the end." To a degree, that's correct. Those who use defensive force appropriately to protect the innocent should also, in turn, be protected. My argument is they will best protected by only acting morally, being celebrated within their communities for their valor, bravery, honesty, integrity, and action to help those who can't help themselves and something like Detroit Threat Management to protect those who need protection.
It's hard for me to assume government is good. Read up about a democide and you might better understand what I mean. 260 million people being killed is bad.
I agree, we need systems in place to prevent violent mobs. I'm not convinced the approaches taken by governments actually deescalate violence. Instead, I think they make it worse. If, instead, individuals within a mob (unmasked) could be held responsible for their actions, that would help. I'm also a fan of systems to prevent violence (such as NVC) instead or responding to it after the fact.
@lukestokes - You made excellent points. I guess I am a bit biased about the possibility of mobs turning violent because of a few incidents where my family members or I suffered because of mob violence. I personally believe that the sense of duty and working to one's conscience brings it's own rewards. However, I see many of policemen in the third world, trying to do their job honestly and ending up with only misery, constant peer pressure for corrupt ways and sometimes even death, instead of getting the recognition they deserve. Hence my sympathy to the desire for them to be a bit anonymous when they perform their duties. I will read up on the Detroit Threat Management but even before I read it, I kind of suspect that there is nothing in Africa or Asia probably that matches, except for couple of developed countries.
I am with you on the aspect of governments not always being good. Yes - they do have biased motives, driven by agendas that are driven by some influential entities many times. However, again - in the third world countries, there is some semblance of order due to some governments who, apart from achieving their own hidden agendas, also maintain some law and order, which mostly helps the common citizens in their day to day lives. The situation is vastly different in developed countries where orderly life is the norm, upheld by most citizens.
Thanks for your detailed response. Very informative and I will surely read up more.
I hope to have more traveling experience to broaden my perspective. From the outside looking in, it does seem to me certain cultural perspectives on morality in third-world countries are skewed. Could it be because the source of moral truth most people think of ("law" provided by government) is so completely corrupted that cheating someone else is the only way to get ahead? If those who set "the rules" cheat more than anyone else, what is incentivized other than becoming a better rule breaker than the next guy? To me, it's all game theory and it relates to Maslow's Hierarchy as well (more on that here). I agree, if we can't raise people up the hierarchy enough to see (though self-actualization) the benefits to themselves and others by acting ethically... well. yeah. It becomes a vicious cycle downwards.
Sounds about right. I have often said that it is a vicious cycle with people stuck in an endless rat race. If you recall, I had even done a post, couple of months back, on trying to break free by imbibing values (a reverse Manslow pyramid theory) first over and above the needs of day to day survival. You had disagreed and said that it seems like first world thinking. I have been talking to people in Africa and India after that and found that, day to day survival does take precedence in everyone's mind but people are beginning to question being stuck in the same rut, day in and day out. I have a feeling that, some clean and charismatic leaders may be able to bring about a viewpoint change. Sounds very Utopian as I say it but hope and support is all I can do. There are many questions that stare us in the face and we find it amazing that no one does anything about it when logically, answers should be obvious. For example, I wrote about the cost of peace and world hunger in my recent post - seems very simplistic if someone wants to implement the solution but it is always like the story of 4 brothers - The Story of Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody! (I am including myself in the lot who talks and does not do much! Am trying to change that. Let us see) :)
You're so right... communities (markets) could mitigate a lot of this violence if these faces were visible. Markets give a person the ability to buy and sell and to gain the esteem of his or her community. Seeing the faces committing violence would empower their communities (markets) to mitigate that violence simply by providing a disincentive regarding the perpetrator's ability to function normally within said community/market.
That's the theory, anyway. :)
The bad thing for me is, robots in such riots could be soon reality. But soon is relative.. We have such a pace of development in fields which are supporting each other like
Everything gets more intelligent, faster, much cheaper in large scale. It is said we live in times of exponential growth and nearing us the singularity which no one can describe exactly. But the development is so fast that we speak today of probabilities of the usage of robots in such scenarios and months later maybe in Japan or China that is just reality.
A robot could be
..and the controlling people behind disconnect their emotions after pushing the red button.. because the robots did.. and the robots need no cure of souls after harmed or killed people.
What holds people back today i think is the high price for such machines and that the technology is still far away to act independendly. For me it's more a question of time not if that happens. It could be 50 or 10 years, or just 5.. but i think for the dystopia it needs much time and i hope that we as mankind are conscious of each step in such directions and to avoid a world completely controlled by machines as i wrote in a post about robots and ai long time ago.
Yeah, I explored this a bit in some other comments as well. It's a scary possible future, for sure. I hope we, as a species, can evolve past this potential outcome.
i'm optimistic that we use technology in our favor. It makes no sense to create the Borg to let's assimilate. 😲
Ultimately it's an act of cowardice. If you are going to try and hurt someone then you should meet them face to face.
Some versions of NAP allow for violence against violence. Given the surveillance state we live in, it seems like innocents should have masks and government people should be unmasked.
Additionally, it also seems that video of government peoples keeps being masked, unless of course it meets their needs.
Thoughts?
I wouldn't call it "violence against violence" I would call it self defense. There's an important distinction. My understanding of the NAP describes violence (in the physical sense) as an initiation of force. From that perspective, it's impossible to respond with violence as that would no longer be an initiation, but a response. If the innocents truly are innocent, why would they need masks? On the contrary, they should be known and celebrated as heroes, right? Those who changed the world for the better did so with an identity which could be known and a character that supported it.
Thanks Luke, I'm still trying to learn the jargon of anarchy and the distinction of self-defense is obvious. So a next step on that would be what about asking friends for "reinforcement" in a self-defense situation?
Often only after a conflict would the "rebels" reveal themselves. My family when in Cuba wouldn't have been as bold. In much older Masonry, they were anonymous outside the order until a new level of freedom had been won. In fact, the whole order was anonymous until 1717. Governments can go after any combatant's family or other connections at will, so that anonymity is important from that angle as well. Also, in older masonry, they weren't interested in being celebrated as much as winning freedoms.
It beaks my heart and is the main reason I have zero respect for any people working for the police or any form military service.
The biggest addition of insult on top of injury is when I hear some military guy Falsely claim to be risking his life to protect mine.
How people can be so delusional and function day to day is beyond me.