The spread of political unrest in countries around the world has raised fears about increasing political violence in democratic societies.
There is a theory that political violence is the kind of thing that a democracy is supposed to prevent and, if it does occur, will be remedied through the exercise of the vote, the protection of individual rights by the courts, or civil disobedience.
The examples of Jamaica and the United States disprove this proposition.
JAMAICA
Since the 1980s there has been a long-standing dispute between elements on the right and the left that has often escalated into violence. The violence has now morphed into economic crime fueled by drug trafficking in South Florida.
Successive governments have used states of emergency to combat crime waves because, according to National Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang, unless Jamaica becomes a police state, states of emergency are necessary. A police state is one in which surplus power is exercised through the power of the police force.
Democracy remains intact, but the costs have been high. Jamaica was included in a recent report with the highest homicide rate (including killings by police) in the Americas and the Caribbean http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20210131/jamaica-tops -homicides -latin-america-y-caribe.
USA
The summer of 2020 saw protests and sporadic violence in several American cities following the police killings of African Americans George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Some people, including many who are now protesting in the streets, argue that American police are incompatible with democratic ideals.
New President Joe Biden was installed in a celebration surrounded by a sea of barbed wire and 26,000 heavily armed soldiers. Military soldiers parade through the streets as police officers, SWAT teams execute nightly warrants not to strike (particularly in communities of color), while people from these communities are disproportionately absorbed into the world’s largest prison system.
To stop the exacerbation of Trumpism, we have seen internet censorship and regulations in the media and some on the left are even recommending dramatic new terror laws and even policies to deprogram the minds of Trump supporters.
It remains to be seen whether the 2020 demonstrations will solve the long-standing problems of racial injustice or turn into a civil war. Two factors indicate that the trend favors the first: –
First, today’s protesters are more interracial than those of the past, made up of African Americans, Latinos and whites, as the police attack all races with rubber bullets and tear gas.
Second, the geography of violence is different today, as wealthy downtown malls and global chains are under attack and not just low-income neighborhoods.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re8jUhGOZu4.
Armed militias, censorship, and acts of police brutality carry associated costs such as loss of life, property damage, and accelerate further violence. To mitigate these costs, politicians are tempted to invoke emergency powers, but these are necessarily short-term solutions. What is needed are more investments directed at communities that promote democracy and build community resilience.
Victor dixon
February 27, 2021