Philosophy Discussion Forums | A Humans-Only Club for Open-Minded Discussion & Debate

[Eckhart Aurelius Hughes]

So, I guess the purpose of this topic is a bit like a topic about unmarried bachelors in which posters are invited to cite examples of bachelors who are not married?

The purpose of this topic is to share recent news stories that you come across about instances of non-defensive violence committed by governments.

[Eckhart Aurelius Hughes]

Here is an article I saw last night:

‘I’m scared’: AP obtains video of deadly arrest of Black man

Louisiana state troopers were captured on body camera video stunning, punching and dragging a Black man as he apologized for leading them on a high-speed chase -- footage of the man’s last moments alive that The Associated Press obtained after authorities refused to release it for two years.

“I’m your brother! I’m scared! I’m scared!” Ronald Greene can be heard telling the white troopers as the unarmed man is jolted repeatedly with a stun gun

Louisiana officials have rebuffed repeated calls to release footage and details about what caused the 49-year-old’s death. Troopers initially told Greene’s family he died on impact after crashing into a tree during the chase. Later, State Police released a one-page statement acknowledging only that Greene struggled with troopers and died on his way to the hospital.

Only now in the footage obtained by the AP from one trooper’s body camera can the public see for the first time some of what happened during the arrest.

The 46-minute clip shows one trooper wrestling Greene to the ground, putting him in a chokehold and punching him in the face while another can be heard calling him a “stupid motherf---—.”

Greene wails “I’m sorry!” as another trooper delivers another stun gun shock to his backside

[Robert66]

It's not just for horror stories about police, but any violent actions done by a government or its agents, especially if done legally.

My government wants to jab me in the arm, not once but twice, with needles. And they want my consent for these violent acts. What should I do?

[Eckhart Aurelius Hughes]

It's not just for horror stories about police, but any violent actions done by a government or its agents, especially if done legally.

My government wants to jab me in the arm, not once but twice, with needles. And they want my consent for these violent acts. What should I do?

If it is voluntary/consensual, then I wouldn't consider it violent or an act of governance/statism, so in this case my suggestion is that you create a new topic on the forums for your question about what you "should" do, whatever that means.

[Eckhart Aurelius Hughes]

I stumbled upon this article from Forbes last night:

More People Were Arrested For Cannabis Last Year Than For All Violent Crimes Put Together, According To FBI Data

The data from the FBI’s report revealed that police arrested 545,602 people for cannabis related crimes in 2019.

A recent report from the ACLU looked at data from 2018, and found that black people were 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than white people. This is despite the fact that both groups use cannabis at similar rates.

[Steve3007]

My government wants to jab me in the arm, not once but twice, with needles. And they want my consent for these violent acts. What should I do?

Where I live at least, the effort to get the population vaccinated is funded by taxation. In that sense, bearing in mind that taxation by big governments is violent robbery, the entire vaccination effort is an instance of non-defensive violence committed by government.

So here's my chosen instance of non-defensive violence committed by government:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/vacc ... 30176.html

[Eckhart Aurelius Hughes]

Earlier this week, Uganda's parliament passed an anti-gay legislation that criminalises anyone who identifies as LGBTQ. As per the law, violators may be awarded harsh penalties, including the death penalty for 'aggravated homosexuality' and life imprisonment for gay sex.

While more than 30 African countries, including Uganda, already prohibit same-sex relationships, Human Rights Watch reported that no other country penalises an individual for merely identifying as LGBTQ.

[...]

The 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Bill introduces the "aggravated homosexuality" provision, calling for the death penalty in certain circumstances, including for "serial offenders"...

Read full article

[JackDaydream]

Earlier this week, Uganda's parliament passed an anti-gay legislation that criminalises anyone who identifies as LGBTQ. As per the law, violators may be awarded harsh penalties, including the death penalty for 'aggravated homosexuality' and life imprisonment for gay sex.

While more than 30 African countries, including Uganda, already prohibit same-sex relationships, Human Rights Watch reported that no other country penalises an individual for merely identifying as LGBTQ.

[...]

The 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Bill introduces the "aggravated homosexuality" provision, calling for the death penalty in certain circumstances, including for "serial offenders"...

Read full article

I just read this example of extreme homophobic hatred, having read and wondered about the recent news item on transgender women in female athletics. While I am aware that there are issues of advantages of people who were biological male participating against females, and most transwomen are not athletes, it does seem like a statement of endorsement that transwomen aren't 'real women'.

So, I am left wondering while there are claims by politicians about tolerance and acceptance of people who identify as LGBTIQ+, there is so much opposition to such diversity. This is apparent in so many contexts globally, with so much conflict and the news item which you point to is the extreme end of a trend of backlash which is growing, especially in the area of sexuality.

[Eckhart Aurelius Hughes]

This story is from 2011, but it relates to Uganda's Parliament recently passing a new upgraded "Kill the Gays" bill, in which peaceful gay people are legally murdered by the government and its paid enforcers at taxpayer expense.

Last Thursday, three men were hanged in Iran for the crime of lavat, sexual intercourse between two men. The case is considered extreme even by Iranian standards, because while the death penalty is in place for homosexuality, it is usually enforced only when there is a charge of assault or rape alongside it; the accusations in these three cases were of consensual sex.

[...]

For lesbian and gay people who live in one of the 82 countries where homosexuality is criminalised, the world is not getting better: it is getting significantly, demonstrably worse.


[Read Full Article]

---

[LuckyR]

This story is from 2011, but it relates to Uganda's Parliament recently passing a new upgraded "Kill the Gays" bill, in which peaceful gay people are legally murdered by the government and its paid enforcers at taxpayer expense.

Last Thursday, three men were hanged in Iran for the crime of lavat, sexual intercourse between two men. The case is considered extreme even by Iranian standards, because while the death penalty is in place for homosexuality, it is usually enforced only when there is a charge of assault or rape alongside it; the accusations in these three cases were of consensual sex.

[...]

For lesbian and gay people who live in one of the 82 countries where homosexuality is criminalised, the world is not getting better: it is getting significantly, demonstrably worse.


[Read Full Article]

---

Worse? Was homosexuality previously legal in these 82 countries? Somehow I doubt it.

[Eckhart Aurelius Hughes]

Last Thursday, three men were hanged in Iran for the crime of lavat, sexual intercourse between two men. The case is considered extreme even by Iranian standards, because while the death penalty is in place for homosexuality, it is usually enforced only when there is a charge of assault or rape alongside it; the accusations in these three cases were of consensual sex.

[...]

For lesbian and gay people who live in one of the 82 countries where homosexuality is criminalised, the world is not getting better: it is getting significantly, demonstrably worse.


[Read Full Article]

Worse? Was homosexuality previously legal in these 82 countries? Somehow I doubt it.

You can see Zoe's argument and evidence to back up that statement of hers by reading the full article from which that statement is quoted:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/ ... inequality


Whether or not it was true in 2011 for all or most of the 82 countries, and whether or not it is true for the other 81 now, I think we can easily agree it is now utterly true for the gays in Uganda considering the bill that Uganda's Parliament just passed.

[Eckhart Aurelius Hughes]

A Louisville police officer let his dog attack a 14-year-old Black child who was not resisting

The officer was leading his dog to search for a person suspected of a home invasion. After searching for several minutes, the officer saw the teenager lying on the ground, face down in the grass," the Justice Department wrote in its report. "Immediately after noticing the teen, the officer deployed his dog off-leash — without giving any warning — and ordered the dog to bite the teen at least seven times.

During the encounter, the teen remained prone and pleaded, "OK! OK! Help! Get the dog, please!" the report stated, as officers continued to stand over him and shout orders for about 30 seconds "while the dog gnawed on his arm."

"At one point, an officer shouted, 'Stop fighting my dog!' despite video showing the teen lying still with one arm behind his back and the other arm in the dog's mouth," according to the report.

The teen suffered severe injuries on his arm and back and was admitted to a children's hospital.

[Read Full Article]

[Eckhart Aurelius Hughes]

In Iran, it is illegal for women to not wear a hijab.

Two Iranian women arrested for not covering hair after man attacks them with yoghurt

In the video, which went viral, two female customers are approached by the man, who begins talking to them.

He then takes what appears to be a tub of yoghurt from a shelf and angrily throws it over their heads.

Iran's judiciary said the two women have been detained for showing their hair, which is illegal in Iran.

[...]

Protests spread across the Islamic Republic in September following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman detained by morality police in Tehran for allegedly wearing her hijab "improperly".


[Read Full Article]

[LuckyR]

A Louisville police officer let his dog attack a 14-year-old Black child who was not resisting

The officer was leading his dog to search for a person suspected of a home invasion. After searching for several minutes, the officer saw the teenager lying on the ground, face down in the grass," the Justice Department wrote in its report. "Immediately after noticing the teen, the officer deployed his dog off-leash — without giving any warning — and ordered the dog to bite the teen at least seven times.

During the encounter, the teen remained prone and pleaded, "OK! OK! Help! Get the dog, please!" the report stated, as officers continued to stand over him and shout orders for about 30 seconds "while the dog gnawed on his arm."

"At one point, an officer shouted, 'Stop fighting my dog!' despite video showing the teen lying still with one arm behind his back and the other arm in the dog's mouth," according to the report.

The teen suffered severe injuries on his arm and back and was admitted to a children's hospital.

[Read Full Article]

Just to clarify, the police are representatives of the government when they enforce governmental laws according to governmental guidelines. Rogue cops acting outside of the above are just individuals acting badly (which no job description is immune to, even authors).

[Eckhart Aurelius Hughes]

The cops chasing down and arresting pacifists for marijuana possession are acting within the law, even if they use dogs to do it. Over 500,000 arrests for cannabis alone are made each year in the USA alone.

The cops and other government agents chasing down and murdering gay people in Uganda are acting within the law.

You can't wage a violent expensive war on drugs or a violent expensive war on gayness without some extra collateral damage too, so I think it's wise and relevant to also mention instances of the allegedly unintended collateral damage that unavoidably occurs along with Uganda's legal war on gays, since you cannot wage something like a legal war gays without such collateral damage, since, as it is correctly said, no job is immune from it. Thus, it is to be considered when considering when ordering a job to be done that otherwise would be done (e.g. violent state-sponsored wars on non-violent consensual crimes like gay sex or marijuana possession).