America was founded in 1776. Many can argue the legitimacy of this happening, but the same is true for the origins of many countries. The fact is that the international community recognizes America as a country. If you live here, use our roads, send your kids to our schools, etc, you are accepting its rules and laws. If you are a citizen, as defined by the American govt, then you are American, equally as much as a citizen of Germany is German (even if his parents were not). Besides, when does indigenous start? Natives likely migrated across the Bering Straight in ancient history, but now they are considered natives. But because someone's great grandparents came here 300 years ago, they are not native? The distinction is arbitrary, which is why we use citizenship. America is no more legal fiction than any government in history, your viewpoint is merely based on the time you were born.
No, I do not agree that on the whole police are liars. I believe many are, and many are not (sadly, far too many are, I will agree). I also believe stereotyping people with such a generalization is short-sighted and unfair. I train with multiple police officers, and I hear about the good and the bad. I have been on the bad end of police misconduct, and have spent multiple years on probation for no reason because of it, but that doesn't mean that every cop is evil. I have heard people say insulting and unacceptable things on forums, bit it doesn't mean that "forum posters as a whole are assholes." It means those specific ones are.
Being right is not all that matters, even for one concerned with reality. In reality, being right on one issue can make you wrong on another. For example, your pregnant wife asks you if she looks fat or generally worse. You are right if you say yes. You are more right if you soften the blow, sacrificing purely being correct in order to not be a jackass or demoralize her. So how is it not living in reality to examine whether now is the time to show how right you are?
Standing up for your child is one thing. Overly aggravating the officers holding him is another. I think this would have been resolved much quicker, with the child out of the car in less time, if the guy would have calmed down. Instead, the kid had to wait through a long standoff. I'm not saying he should walk away, I'm saying he should use a reasonable tone at times, rather than trying to get a rise out of the cops. A strong parent puts aside his desire to show how right he is in favor of his child's well being.
Your friend's situation is not a good analogy. It is a wonderful showing of power in numbers, and standing up for yourself. However, this looked like the cops had either driven the kid home and asked why he was unsupervised, or detained him to ask about the same, and the guy flipped. There was no threat of arrest that I saw, so his antics could only have delayed the cops in making a decision to let him go. Either way, there is a higher chance that the cops decide to arrest the kid on some BS technicality after this showdown than there was before the dad went crazy. That's why I'm saying his actions are selfish, rather than protective.
He went beyond protecting himself with film. He kept trying to get the police to commit to statements with logical fallacies and false premises (treason, intl' law), and kept going after the son was released. His goal was either to pursue $$ out of a lawsuit, or post himself online as a hero. It's obvious from his tactics and comments, especially towards the end.
Emphasizing his points further was not getting through to these cops, who had ceased listening to his rant early on. It's not like arguing even harder was going to get them to say, "holy crap, you are right. I am so sorry." The emphasis was for his video audience, who we assume are not Lilliputians. Therefore, he was going over the top.
The Universal Declaration of Rights can be misunderstood if interpreted based on one sentence at a time. Just because some American decides that he doesn't want to listen to cops, doesn't mean he can just declare that he is no longer American. This guy didn't found another country, or try to switch citizenship and get stopped by the cops. He just tried to cite intl' law to confuse the issue. The declaration has no bearing on this situation, but rather discusses when a group wants to become independent. Even then, though, there is much more to the process than that one simple sentence...just ask Palestine.
And what international law violations is he talking about? This is a domestic issue. Take this to the UN and see what happens - they will laugh you out of the room. He also mentions treason and a few other intense accusations that make no sense. My point is, if he focused on the basic issue, he's be much easier to side with. As it stands, I think everyone involved except the kid was being an asshole. One other thing: I don't base my opinions on youtube votes. First of all, I don't care about what people on youtube think, and second, who knows why they voted it up? Maybe they just enjoyed the video. How many people have voted up crazy videos of evangelists, nutcases, etc? A vote up is for entertainment, not agreement.
Exactly my point. For him, the argument was the victory. It should have been, and only been, getting his son released, but instead, he focused on the argument. This is real life, not a debate. You win by not getting screwed by the police, and not marking your son as a target for local officers in the future. You win by teaching your child composure in stress situations, the downsides to picking fights with authority figures, and proper ways for an intelligent, educated human to debate.
Overall, I am not siding with police in general, or these police specifically. They were wrong, and the father stepped in. I actually agree with most of your points, and some of the father's. What I am saying is that the father acted in a ridiculous, over-the-top manner that was unnecessary at best, and dangerous at worst (getting in an armed person's face with belligerence while you son is in their car is unwise and dangerous). I wish he had been calm and collected, because then I would have been typing about immoral police officers, and I could have given this guy his props.
No, I do not agree that on the whole police are liars. I believe many are, and many are not (sadly, far too many are, I will agree). I also believe stereotyping people with such a generalization is short-sighted and unfair. I train with multiple police officers, and I hear about the good and the bad. I have been on the bad end of police misconduct, and have spent multiple years on probation for no reason because of it, but that doesn't mean that every cop is evil. I have heard people say insulting and unacceptable things on forums, bit it doesn't mean that "forum posters as a whole are assholes." It means those specific ones are.
Being right is not all that matters, even for one concerned with reality. In reality, being right on one issue can make you wrong on another. For example, your pregnant wife asks you if she looks fat or generally worse. You are right if you say yes. You are more right if you soften the blow, sacrificing purely being correct in order to not be a jackass or demoralize her. So how is it not living in reality to examine whether now is the time to show how right you are?
Standing up for your child is one thing. Overly aggravating the officers holding him is another. I think this would have been resolved much quicker, with the child out of the car in less time, if the guy would have calmed down. Instead, the kid had to wait through a long standoff. I'm not saying he should walk away, I'm saying he should use a reasonable tone at times, rather than trying to get a rise out of the cops. A strong parent puts aside his desire to show how right he is in favor of his child's well being.
Your friend's situation is not a good analogy. It is a wonderful showing of power in numbers, and standing up for yourself. However, this looked like the cops had either driven the kid home and asked why he was unsupervised, or detained him to ask about the same, and the guy flipped. There was no threat of arrest that I saw, so his antics could only have delayed the cops in making a decision to let him go. Either way, there is a higher chance that the cops decide to arrest the kid on some BS technicality after this showdown than there was before the dad went crazy. That's why I'm saying his actions are selfish, rather than protective.
He went beyond protecting himself with film. He kept trying to get the police to commit to statements with logical fallacies and false premises (treason, intl' law), and kept going after the son was released. His goal was either to pursue $$ out of a lawsuit, or post himself online as a hero. It's obvious from his tactics and comments, especially towards the end.
Emphasizing his points further was not getting through to these cops, who had ceased listening to his rant early on. It's not like arguing even harder was going to get them to say, "holy crap, you are right. I am so sorry." The emphasis was for his video audience, who we assume are not Lilliputians. Therefore, he was going over the top.
The Universal Declaration of Rights can be misunderstood if interpreted based on one sentence at a time. Just because some American decides that he doesn't want to listen to cops, doesn't mean he can just declare that he is no longer American. This guy didn't found another country, or try to switch citizenship and get stopped by the cops. He just tried to cite intl' law to confuse the issue. The declaration has no bearing on this situation, but rather discusses when a group wants to become independent. Even then, though, there is much more to the process than that one simple sentence...just ask Palestine.
And what international law violations is he talking about? This is a domestic issue. Take this to the UN and see what happens - they will laugh you out of the room. He also mentions treason and a few other intense accusations that make no sense. My point is, if he focused on the basic issue, he's be much easier to side with. As it stands, I think everyone involved except the kid was being an asshole. One other thing: I don't base my opinions on youtube votes. First of all, I don't care about what people on youtube think, and second, who knows why they voted it up? Maybe they just enjoyed the video. How many people have voted up crazy videos of evangelists, nutcases, etc? A vote up is for entertainment, not agreement.
Exactly my point. For him, the argument was the victory. It should have been, and only been, getting his son released, but instead, he focused on the argument. This is real life, not a debate. You win by not getting screwed by the police, and not marking your son as a target for local officers in the future. You win by teaching your child composure in stress situations, the downsides to picking fights with authority figures, and proper ways for an intelligent, educated human to debate.
Overall, I am not siding with police in general, or these police specifically. They were wrong, and the father stepped in. I actually agree with most of your points, and some of the father's. What I am saying is that the father acted in a ridiculous, over-the-top manner that was unnecessary at best, and dangerous at worst (getting in an armed person's face with belligerence while you son is in their car is unwise and dangerous). I wish he had been calm and collected, because then I would have been typing about immoral police officers, and I could have given this guy his props.