There’s a saying in society: when you get frustrated, you kick the dog.   Not trying to call anybody a dog, but it seems like the people get the brunt of the frustration with our society today.  The detrimental impacts always come down to the people.  I wonder if the police departments, ICE, border patrol, and all other enforcement-type professions are being kicked and blamed for the societal problems that we have today, resulting in transference to people.   Its functioning mimics corporate hierarchy.   The impact of this causes children of God to lose their lives.  The same is true for our military and its expectations.  Are the killings of George Floyd and Renee Good an example of this kind of phenomenon?   Our police officers and enforcement professionals are so stressed out and required to follow so many protocols, laws, rules, regulations, procedures, and policies that they get in the way of natural common sense and rationality. Mass shootings and gun violence also come to mind regarding this phenomenon. The stressors from the top always end up at the bottom somehow, someway.  I think it all has to do with our priorities in today’s world. We need to transition to more holistic, sustainable, and striving priorities and invest in those instead of traditional functions.

I find myself compelled to reflect on a persistent challenge within our society: the propensity to assign blame and frustration to those on the front lines and to the people themselves.  There is an unfortunate, yet pervasive, societal tendency for collective anxieties and systemic failures to manifest as a disproportionate burden on specific professions or God’s children, the people.   Our law enforcement agencies, border patrol personnel, and military forces, in particular, appear to frequently bear the brunt of public exasperation, often being held accountable for deep-seated societal issues that extend far beyond their operational purview.  In fact, they often see people at their worst, so they get tunnel vision, thinking all people are so-called criminals.   Both the Minneapolis, Minnesota, killings were wrong from my point of view.    Police and ICE should have never been sent to do this work in the first place. We should’ve invested in these people’s home countries so that the desire to seek a better life in the United States never existed in the first place.     Instead, we’re too concerned about investing in traditional structures and manifestations of out-of-context ignorance.   First, we need to decide what our desired future condition is in our world today. Then we can begin to solve the problem of immigration.   I’m sorry I’m so blunt here, but whenever people are killed, especially children, it affects me right to the core of my heart. Consequently, we need to determine the true nature of the problems before we blame people at the bottom.

This dynamic raises critical questions about the immense pressures placed upon individuals in these demanding roles especially the people themselves dealing with huge pressures and police incidents, such as the widely publicized killing of George Floyd, Renee Good and other distressing events involving law enforcement, compel us to consider whether these are not merely isolated incidents, but rather grim symptoms of a broader systemic strain. Are our police officers and other enforcement professionals pushed to their limits, navigating an increasingly complex labyrinth of protocols, doing anthropocentric dirty work, and following policies under extreme duress, sometimes at the expense of natural common sense and rational judgment? The escalating crisis of mass shootings and pervasive gun violence further underscores this societal malaise, revealing profound stressors that inevitably filter down, impacting individuals and communities at the bottom levels. Should we eliminate anthropogenic hierarchies?

It appears that profound societal pressures, often originating from systemic deficiencies or misaligned priorities, ultimately cascade downwards, manifesting in palpable ways at the most exposed points of our social fabric. To truly foster a more resilient, just, and equitable future, we must fundamentally re-evaluate our foundational principles. We need to transition away from merely maintaining traditional, often reactive, functions and instead make substantial, proactive investments in sustainable, long-term holistic solutions that address the root causes of our collective frustrations and problems.  This necessitates a deliberate shift towards initiatives that champion holistic well-being, social equity, and genuine community empowerment, rather than relying predominantly on enforcement as the primary mechanism for managing societal challenges.

Sincerely,

Richard Thomas Simmons