pensions for Seattle Police. • We demand that prisoners currently serving time be given the full and unrestricted right to vote... • We demand the de-gentrification of Seattle, starting with rent control. • We demand the restoration of city funding for arts and culture to re-establish the once-rich local cultural identity of Seattle. • We demand free college for the people of the state of Washington... There were 25 additional demands, each more preposterous than the last, but all intending to deconstruct traditional Western mores and replace them with a progressive vision for society. Do movements like CHOP fade away if President Trump is ousted in November? My bet: No way. CHOP is emblematic of a broader clash of worldviews in this country. We’re not simply dealing with dueling political parties or a case of police misconduct in Minneapolis. We’re dealing with irreconcilable ideologies. Kshama Sawant is a card-carrying socialist and city council member representing the district where CHOP was located. She’s gained notoriety nationally for attempting to impose a “head tax” on Amazon for every employee the company hires. After CHOP’s last shooting, which killed a 16-year-old Black teenager, council member Sawant blamed the episode on “capitalism’s brutality and endemic violence.” She added that “capitalism is a police state” and urged her followers to “dismantle capitalism to win a violence-free society.”
CHOP is emblematic of a broader clash of
It’s tempting to dismiss Sawant as a crank, but that would be a mistake. Just think, six months ago, it would have been inconceivable for major metropolitan areas to flirt with a proposal as nuts as defunding or abolishing their police departments. And yet, that’s where we’re at today. parties or a case of police misconduct in Minneapolis. We’re dealing with irreconcilable ideologies. worldviews in this country. We’re not simply dealing with dueling political
Jason Mattera is a New York Times best-selling author and Emmy- nominated journalist. Follow him on Twitter @JasonMattera.
American Consequences
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