RE: The paradox of the justice system and our relationships with our indigenous brothers and sisters
The system is meant to consolidate power in the hands of a few and for them to maintain it. If you are not in their circle, you are a target. In this post you mention the indigenous people in Canada. We tend not to have much of that problem here in the US since we either exterminated them all or put them on "reservations" to keep them out of the way. Of course, to appease them, we gave them gambling as compensation.
You are right, the journey starts by going inward. Where am I prejudiced, racist, controlling, and degrading? Where does my fear cause me to elevate my view of myself while putting others down? Where do I seek revenge and to change things through my actions (in a negative or controlling way)?
It is easy for me to bash others yet, I need to identify where I am really just seeing a reflection of myself.
Even on here, we see many people who claim to seek freedom, want oppression to end, and abhor slavery. Yet, the instant something does not go how they like, they are calling for Big Brother to step in. It is an interesting dichotomy to say the least.
We are seeing the evolution of the humanity before our eyes. Sadly, it is not a straight path nor is it without its challenges. We are engaging upon a decades long process before we might even begin to see the general society start to embrace some of the ideas espoused in your posts.
There is no freedom or justice (how you refer to it) in the fictional constructs that are so common in our society. You are right, there is only punishment and thievery.
In the US it is equally as bad. I call the Justice system, the JustUS system. I have said the exact same thing about calling on Big Brother as well. We can't have it both ways. It is a tough situation. I recently had a situation where an intoxicated middle aged man with expired tags and no insurance drove his car into my fence and did major damage.
I was faced with what was a moral decision for me. Do I call the police for the sake of a police report to hold him accountable? If I choose this path his car gets impounded, he gets arrested and given a DUI. It will effect/affect him. His job and ability to maintain his household. Many would say the consequences of his choices, not your problem. But, it was my problem, because I had a choice to be human.
I talked with him, and shared how I felt about the situation, and he gave me his word that he would take care of it. I followed my heart, and within less than a week he put the deposit down on the repairs and signed a contract with the fencing company to repair it.
In life if we all took the time to act with love instead of reacting, we would see a much different humanity.
I applaud you on our efforts. If you called the police, then you would have engaged in violence against him. Instead you stood your ground, confronted him and chose peace. It paid off as he took responsibility and I suspect that happened because you showed compassion and empathy. He knew it could have been much worse. May you keep sharing stories like this as it helps to show that we always have a choice. Even if nothing came of it, we are still confronted with forgiveness and that is the most powerful aspect of our relationships with others and self. Bravo to you.
Thank you @wwf. It is just about remembering to be human, and we have all been in a situation where we could have used some grace from others.
Absolutely!!!! Grace under pressure!
The situation is the same here in Canada as our history is tied together and is the same. The state created reserves here too, over 600 to be blunt about it. But what most don't realize is that legally the land is not theirs but belongs to the Queen and is 'reserved' for them with special conditions. Some of those conditions meant that they could not even leave without permission, could not engage in song, dance, ceremonies or even their own language.
We stood by and let this happen. But it does not stop there either. How many of us confront others when they engage in violent or abusive behaviors? How many of us have the courage to stand up and speak our heart and lead by example?
You are correct my dear friend when you speak of those questions that we rarely as ourselves. They are tough questions and many of us don't even ask them, let alone contemplate the answer and confront ourselves. The good news is that more and more people ARE doing that work and that is where the changes are starting to manifest from.
I applaud people like yourself who have the courage to look in the mirror and confront yourself. That puts you into a position to then hold up the mirror for others. We do that by walking the path and leading by example.
This case is a tough one for most as in my view, it holds up a mirror. Gerald messed up big time and killed somebody. That was never in dispute. The SUV full of young people messed up too. But if we really wanted to confront ourselves, we must look at the root causes of this confrontation to begin with and recognize that we all had a part in it all. Poverty, racism, bigotry, hatred, genocide, greed, lust, ownership and violence have all contributed to both sides not trusting one another. It has caused a great divide that pits one against another.
While I mentioned breaking up the country, what that really means is walking away from the fictional constructs and forging healthy relationships with one another where none of those characteristics are allowed to flourish or grow. When we do that, then anybody can have a break down and seek assistance, no matter where they are. People can feel safe in their own homes knowing that they are not going to be robbed and therefor are not paranoid whenever a vehicle drives up the lane. A place where we are more than happy to give one another a helping hand, no matter the language they speak, social status, caste or color of skin.
To reach that level requires a revolution of consciousness, something that I think you and I are both working on with this platform. We have a long way to go my friend. I'm in this for the long haul and I suspect you are as well.
Thank you for sharing your views on this very sensitive topic. I appreciate that very much.