It has now
been nine days since I first came across this image and it keeps flashing
inside my forehead as images dance across the screen of my imagination. It is a scene from the Chilean Winter as the
Chilean police attempt to control and disperse a crowd of Chilean students protesting
its educational system in September 2011 (both secondary and collegiate) and
its rising costs, corruption, and fundamental inequality (nearly 60 percent of
schools are controlled by private interests).
I could not stop staring at this picture: the chaotic action, bodies in
every direction and falling on to one another, searching for relief, pressed against
a metal fence, the specter of the water canon blasting away, and for me, the
three dogs in various states of being. I
am a dog person, no other way around it; I am now in the twelfth year of
amazing companionship with my boy WP. I
cannot decide if these are strays, which are common (at least from my extended stay
in Central / Southern Mexico and Costa Rica) in this region of the world. There are no signs of collars and the cops
have no compunction about firing a powerful and painful water canon in their
direction. Yet, the dogs are in one
instance biting the hand of a fleeing student,
and the other dog that is not attempting a hand stand appears to be
surveying the scene, ready to corral and pounce. Plus most of the dogs I witnessed on the
streets were tragically emaciated while these dogs seem as if they are
well-fed. So, strays who came upon a
student protest or one tool in the State’s arsenal to control the People?
Ah, the state
and the people. Why do we reflexively,
often without thought or concern, turn to extreme measures to control each
other while hiding behind the public safety shield? Yes, human history has endless examples of
people rioting, out-of-control mob action, and the like. Yes, human history has terrible and deadly
examples of group think that was twisted and deployed to incite rampage and mayhem. Yes, any state should have a desire and
responsibility to protect its citizens.
But why is citizen protest lumped into this category? Why do the police show up in body armor, full
length shields, weaponry like billyclubs, pepper spray, guns (lethal and
non-lethal), water canons, and massive tank-like vehicles? Is it as simple as tradition, this is how we
always have done it? Or is it the
fundamental principle and moral perspective of any person in a position of
power and control? Can we un-learn this
behavior? I guess my questions will lead
to claims of naivete’ and hippie desires for peace, love and understand (but
what so funny about that anyway). But we
claim behavior is learned, then why are there never any alternative methods for
public gatherings and those we entrust to protect and serve? In this country, we all were revolutionaries
on July 4, 1776, with bounties on our head for treason. On July 5, 1776, folks were already trying to
figure out how to manage and control its people.
Well done. I would guess those are attack dogs.
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