{"id":26742,"date":"2020-08-30T14:17:09","date_gmt":"2020-08-30T18:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=26742"},"modified":"2020-08-30T14:18:20","modified_gmt":"2020-08-30T18:18:20","slug":"heres-the-scam-blm-is-running-against-the-usa-looting-is-okay-because-its-reparations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=26742","title":{"rendered":"Here’s the scam BLM is running against the USA: \u201cLooting is okay because it\u2019s reparations\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

These People Want to Convince Everyone That Looting Is A-Okay<\/h1>\n

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(Psst: The FTC wants me to remind you that this website contains affiliate links. That means if you make a purchase from a link you click on, I might receive a small commission. This does not increase the price you’ll pay for that item nor does it decrease the awesomeness of the item. ~ Daisy)<\/em><\/div>\n
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by Daisy Luther<\/h3>\n

As an American, most of us strongly support the concept of peaceful protests. However, when things turn violent, when property gets destroyed, when buildings and cars are set on fire, and when businesses are looted, rational people can agree that this is wrong.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, a whole bunch of irrational people are being given microphones and they\u2019re trying to tell us all why looting is not just okay, but actually awesome.<\/p>\n

Looting is okay because it\u2019s \u201creparations\u201d<\/h2>\n

First, there was the woman who spoke after the Magnificent Mile in Chicago was looted so ferociously that Mayor Lori Lightfoot pulled the drawbridge open to keep people out of the downtown area. I recently wrote:<\/p>\n

According to a Black Lives Matter activist and organizer, Ariel Atkins, it was just \u201creparations.\u201d Atkins believes that anything the looters wish to damage or steal is owed to them. She made the radical statement at a solidarity rally in front of a Chicago police station, where people were gathered to support those who had been arrested.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care if somebody decides to loot a Gucci\u2019s or a Macy\u2019s or a Nike because that makes sure that that person eats. That makes sure that that person has clothes,\u201d Ariel Atkins said at a rally outside the South Loop police station Monday, local outlets reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a reparation,\u201d Atkins said. \u201cAnything they want to take, take it because these businesses have insurance.\u201d (source<\/a>)<\/p>\n

At a time when more people than ever in the United States were willing to get on board and protest police brutality and racial violence, entitled statements like the one made by Atkins have served to return us to a place of absolute division. (source<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Atkin\u2019s statement was made at a solidarity rally in front of a Chicago police station where people were gathered to support those who had been arrested for pillaging the Windy City.<\/p>\n

Looting is okay if they \u201cneed\u201d the item.<\/h2>\n

According to a document obtained by\u00a0Red State News<\/a>, Diana Becton, the district attorney of Contra Costa County, California, has changed up how looters are charged during a state of emergency.<\/p>\n

Theft Offenses Committed During State of Emergency (PC 463)<\/strong><\/p>\n

In order to promote consistent and equitable filing practices the follow[ing] analysis is to be applied when giving consideration to filing of PC 463 (Looting):<\/p>\n

1. Was this theft offense substantially motivated by the state of emergency, or simply a theft offense which occurred contemporaneous to the declared state of emergency?<\/p>\n

a. Factors to consider in making this determination:<\/p>\n

i. Was the target business open or closed to the public during the state of emergency?
\nii. What was the manner and means by which the suspect gained entry to the business?
\niii. What was the nature\/quantity\/value of the goods targeted?
\niv. Was the theft committed for financial gain or personal need?
\nv. Is there an articulable reason why another statute wouldn\u2019t adequately address the particular incident? (source<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oh. Well. If you\u00a0need<\/em>\u00a0those shoes and purses, then it\u2019s totally different.<\/p>\n

And yes, before the barrage of comments, I know that Red State News is biased. So is CNN. So is the New York Post. They\u2019re all biased. If I could only use unbiased sources, I\u2019d have maybe 3 articles on current events on this website. If you want to hear directly from District Attorney Becton, you can\u00a0check out her opinion piece on Politico right here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rioting and looting are okay because they\u2019re \u201cjoyous and liberatory\u201d<\/h2>\n

Vicky Osterweil is the author of the book,\u00a0In Defense of Looting.<\/em><\/a>\u00a0I\u2019m sure it\u2019s a super nice book despite that misleading picture of a crowbar on the cover.<\/p>\n

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Osterweil landed an interview with NPR to tout her opus and first provided a definition.<\/p>\n

When I use the word looting, I mean the\u00a0mass expropriation of property, mass shoplifting during a moment of upheaval or riot<\/strong>. That\u2019s the thing I\u2019m defending. I\u2019m not defending any situation in which property is stolen by force. It\u2019s not a home invasion, either. It\u2019s about a certain kind of action that\u2019s taken during protests and riots\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026It tends to be an attack on a business, a commercial space, maybe a government building\u2014taking those things that would otherwise be commodified and controlled and\u00a0sharing them for free<\/strong>. (source<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Then she continued to laud looting, almost poetically explaining the \u201cnumber of important things\u201d that looting does. (Emphasis mine)<\/p>\n

It gets people what they need for free immediately<\/strong>, which means that they are capable of living and reproducing their lives without having to rely on jobs or a wage\u2014which, during COVID times, is widely unreliable or, particularly in these communities is often not available, or it comes at great risk. That\u2019s looting\u2019s most basic tactical power as a political mode of action.<\/p>\n

It also\u00a0attacks the very way in which food and things are distributed. It attacks the idea of property, and it attacks the idea that in order for someone to have a roof over their head or have a meal ticket, they have to work for a boss, in order to buy things<\/strong>\u00a0that people just like them somewhere else in the world had to make under the same conditions. It points to the way in which that\u2019s unjust. And the reason that the world is organized that way, obviously, is for the profit of the people who own the stores and the factories. So you get to the heart of that property relation, and demonstrate that\u00a0without police and without state oppression, we can have things for free\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2026Looting strikes at the heart of property, of whiteness and of the police<\/strong>. It gets to the very root of the way those three things are interconnected. And also it provides people with\u00a0an imaginative sense of freedom and pleasure<\/strong>\u00a0and helps them imagine a world that could be. And I think that\u2019s a part of it that doesn\u2019t really get talked about\u2014that riots and looting are experienced as sort of joyous and liberatory.<\/strong>\u00a0(source<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And also, if you\u2019re worried about violence, don\u2019t be as long as you don\u2019t \u201cfeel\u201d violent. (Emphasis NPR\u2019s)<\/p>\n

Ultimately, what nonviolence ends up meaning is that the activist doesn\u2019t do anything that makes them\u00a0feel\u00a0<\/em>violent. And I think getting free is messier than that. We have to be willing to do things that scare us and that we wouldn\u2019t do in normal, \u201cpeaceful\u201d times, because we need to get free. (source<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I suspect if you are aggressively defending your hard-earned property against looters, folks like Vicky Osterweil won\u2019t give two hoots whether you felt violent or not.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, Osterweil herself is white. Here\u2019s\u00a0her bio and photo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Not everyone was impressed with NPR\u2019s publicity for the author.<\/p>\n