I think it’s always important to remember who is most in control of a situation and place all of the blame there.
My psych patients say awful shit to me. Some of them do awful shit. I’ve seen and experienced multiple attempted sexual assaults and even a guy who cornered a pregnant staff member to kick her in the stomach. I think about those kinds of things a lot when I see news stories about people dying in psych wards from things like extended or improper restraint. I wonder what they did that the staff members were so angry about and scared of that made them fuck up that bad.
But then I remember that the staff are still the ones with the power. They’re still the ones holding all the cards. And more importantly in addition to a moral imperative, the staff members are the only ones who CAN change the situation, almost as a matter of physical possibility. The patients are gonna do what the patients are gonna do and the only changeable factor is what the staff do about it. That’s just the nature of power and control. The people who have it are ultimately the most responsible for how a situation plays out. Always.
The rich have the power here. They had the option to give some of it back in exchange for peace. They chose to specifically block that avenue. They chose violence by blocking all other options. Almost every nonviolent crisis deescalation class I’ve attended over the last decade has included this specific quote somewhere in the curriculum:
“A riot is the language of the unheard.” - Martin Luther King Jr (you know, the nonviolent protest guy?)
The rich chose this. They chose not to listen. And honestly I’m actually pretty mad at them for it. They’ve created murderers. Trying to project that blame back on the poor is just another of their tricks.
I think it’s always important to remember who is most in control of a situation and place all of the blame there.
My psych patients say awful shit to me. Some of them do awful shit. I’ve seen and experienced multiple attempted sexual assaults and even a guy who cornered a pregnant staff member to kick her in the stomach. I think about those kinds of things a lot when I see news stories about people dying in psych wards from things like extended or improper restraint. I wonder what they did that the staff members were so angry about and scared of that made them fuck up that bad.
But then I remember that the staff are still the ones with the power. They’re still the ones holding all the cards. And more importantly in addition to a moral imperative, the staff members are the only ones who CAN change the situation, almost as a matter of physical possibility. The patients are gonna do what the patients are gonna do and the only changeable factor is what the staff do about it. That’s just the nature of power and control. The people who have it are ultimately the most responsible for how a situation plays out. Always.
The rich have the power here. They had the option to give some of it back in exchange for peace. They chose to specifically block that avenue. They chose violence by blocking all other options. Almost every nonviolent crisis deescalation class I’ve attended over the last decade has included this specific quote somewhere in the curriculum:
The rich chose this. They chose not to listen. And honestly I’m actually pretty mad at them for it. They’ve created murderers. Trying to project that blame back on the poor is just another of their tricks.