[FRIAM] Fallback in barbarism

[Eric Charles]

(My take, copy-paste from other social media, a around 10 pm yesterday)

Someone posted something asking for positive thoughts and things we are
hopeful for (to contrast the news cycle), but honestly:
All considered, so far I'm hopeful for exactly the things others find
heavy. There were a few thousand peaceful protestors in DC and at the
absolute most a few hundred who wanted to cause trouble. And it looks like
it's done. Honestly, that's WAY less violence than I was worried about, and
it looks like it's petered out already. I get that the symbolism of it
happening at the Capitol is particularly disturbing, but it's not an honest
threat of a coup, it's not an uprising, and I'm less worried about those
things now than I was before.
I seriously thought there would be incidents like this an 20-30 locations,
that many of the protestors would be armed and intent on firing, that they
would be prepared to lay siege to buildings, etc. I think the delayed
declaration of the winner took much of the wind out of both sides.
For those watching from abroad, this is NOT in any way a serious coup
attempt. If you are watching news spinning it that way... well.. it just
wasn't. I am already seeing the news cycle rewriting it to be more than it
was. Even with a person shot and several arrests, in a country of
330,000,000 people, at most a few hundred hoodlums acting like idiots is
not a coup. Those individuals could potentially be charged with some pretty
serious crimes, but they were not in any way an organized group trying to
incite insurrection, and it now seems clear that no bigger group with that
goal is arising anytime soon. They had no military backing, no internal
structure, no actual agenda. They had nothing.

There wasn't even enough resolve to stay in the DC streets past the 6 pm
curfew. There isn't a fraction of the resolve shown by the BLM protestors,
Occupy Wallstreet, or even the Bundy's in that Wildlife Refuge stand off.
They are angry, they are willing to break things, but have no agenda and no
resolve.

Had the Capitol had a few score more police officers (which they obviously
should have), it sure seems like this would have been nothing.


<echarles at american.edu>


On Thu, Jan 7, 2021 at 10:04 PM <thompnickson2 at gmail.com> wrote:

> J-
>
>
>
> Oldest RUNNING democracy in the world;  perhaps the miracle is that it
> hasn’t happened before now.
>
>
>
> N
>
>
>
> Nicholas Thompson
>
> Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology
>
> Clark University
>
> ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com
>
> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> *On Behalf Of *Jochen Fromm
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 7, 2021 4:01 PM
> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <
> friam at redfish.com>
> *Subject:* [FRIAM] Fallback in barbarism
>
>
>
> I must say the images from CNN which we receive here in Europe are a bit
> disturbing. The mob that stormed the heart of American democracy felt like
> anarchy, like a fallback in barbaric ancient times - the time of Barbarians
> vs Romans or even the stone age. It is like Neanderthals found a way to use
> a time machine to travel into the 21st century: one guy was dressed in fur
> pelts and was holding a wooden stick like a wizard from Lord of the Rings,
> and one half-naked guy was wearing furs and horns (the one known as "Q
> shaman"). Long-haired bearded guys have been looting stuff like cavemen -
> in the center of Washington D.C.!
>
> https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ELECTION/PROTESTS/qmyvmqewmvr/
>
>
>
> How is this possible in the oldest democracy of the world?
>
>
>
> -J.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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