The Futility of Demanding Justice From an Unjust System

Asking the state and its “special bodies of armed men” to stop killing us is shortsighted.

TheoBlack
TheoBlack
Jul 24, 2017 · 5 min read
[An image of a police car on display with the motto “To punish and enslave…” prominently featured./via Facepunch]

A few weeks ago I had to do a presentation on V.I. Lenin’s State and Revolution. Written in 1917 and published in 1918, Lenin denounces “social-chauvinists” (social democrats) and their approach to the state and all of its trappings. Lenin believes the state uses “special bodies of armed men” and other institutions like “prisons” to maintain the hegemony of the wealthy ruling class and the bourgeois. To put it bluntly, the state is an apparatus for the morally bankrupt ruling class to punish and/or enslave us should we forget our places.

Lenin wrote:

A state arises, a special power is created, special bodies of armed men, and every revolution, by destroying the state apparatus, shows us the naked class struggle, clearly shows us how the ruling class strives to restore the special bodies of armed men which serve it, and how the oppressed class strives to create a new organization of this kind, capable of serving the exploited instead of the exploiters.

He wasn’t alone in this idea. He was inspired by Friedrich Engels who knew what the hell time it was as early as the late 19th century. Engels once wrote:

“The second distinguishing feature is the establishment of a public power which no longer directly coincides with the population organizing itself as an armed force. This special, public power is necessary because a self-acting armed organization of the population has become impossible since the split into classes…. This public power exists in every state; it consists not merely of armed men but also of material adjuncts, prisons, and institutions of coercion of all kinds…”

[Image description: The lovely Aiyana Stanley-Jones is seen in this undated photo. She has colorful clips in her hair. She smirks at the camera./via VoicesofDetroit.net]

Where’s the lie? We see this manifest itself every day. If you’re teenage daughter has her nudes posted all over Twitter, the police will most likely do nothing. If your teenage son is being bullied on Instagram or Facebook, he’ll most likely be brushed off by the cops, citing the unimportance of the crime.

All of that changes when you’re wealthy enough to exert influence. That’s why some heads rolled for leaking celebrity nudes during 2014’s “The Fappening”. The state can kill unarmed civilians — especially people of color and people with disabilities — because we’ve elevated the authorities to a pedestal from which we cannot remove them without force.

How can a system built off the existence of slavery suddenly value black lives, LGBTQ lives, disabled lives, poor lives, and working class lives? It cannot.

The police unions are corrupt. There is nothing fraternal about any of these police fraternal orders or guilds. And while there are officers who don their uniform with good — yet naive — intentions of protecting and serving the community, we can never forget the true purpose of these “law” enforcement organizations. They are beholden to the ruling class and those wealthy enough to buy their favor only… If not primarily.

There is no use in asking a lion to change its inherent need and desire to hunt. Hunting and being a predator is what a lion is supposed to do and be. Whenever some poor fool forgets this fact, cowed by temporary suspense of the inevitable, we laugh at their demise or injuries. Should anyone question this fact, they’re chastised for being gullible and imprudent for thinking anything other than an attack was imminent.

I understand the very basic need to demand that our lives matter — particularly black lives. I also understand that demanding a complete change and overhaul of the current state of American policing is unrealistic. How can a system built off the existence of slavery suddenly value black lives, LGBTQ lives, disabled lives, poor lives, and working class lives? It cannot.

[The cover of The New York Times Magazine featuring and all black background with large, bold, white letters stating “Our demand is simple: Sto killing us.”/via The NYT]

No number of exhortations on Twitter or thinkpieces demanding “police reform” will ever change the police, especially not in the United States. No amount of social media fame or well-written polemics will get the police to stop beating and killing us. The police — especially the police in America — are doing exactly what they’re supposed to do when they slam innocent people’s heads into walls like Deputy Matthew Paul (who still roams the streets) or murder little seven year old girls as they sleep peacefully on the couch like (murderer) Joseph Weekley (who was never convicted).

Justine Damond was just the latest human sacrifice to the god of death and destruction some pray will help “make America great again.” I know she was so much more than that to the people she leaves behind. Just like Sandra, Rekia, Alton, Tamir, Laquan, Jordan, Jeremy, Alex, Charleena, Oscar, Sean, Aiyana, and so many others who were stolen from us far too soon. The fact that Justine was white should not shock anyone. Minority activists have been sounding the alarm; warning white people that after the State has dispensed with us and our children, it will come for them and theirs. If it hasn’t already.


[Image description: Pregnant mother Charleena Lyles seen here smiling with her children. She was murderd by two Seattle Police Officers. She was also disabled./via Heavy.com]

What do we have to show after the State stole these precious lives from their friends and family?

How many more human sacrifices to the beast that is the State will we tolerate before we stop asking a leopard to change its spots?


If you enjoyed or disagreed with this piece, please feel free to share your thoughts. And please share and “heart” it! I’d be so grateful. God bless!

Proletariat

Socio-economic and political writing for change until everybody’s free…

TheoBlack

Written by

TheoBlack

Writing to pass the time and to ease my thoughts. Check out the rawest, most anti-capitalist podcast, Run the Means, on Anchor.fm, SoundCloud, iTunes.

Proletariat

Socio-economic and political writing for change until everybody’s free…

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