There is a subtext to the Zimmerman controversy that I have yet to see fully explored, but is probably the most important aspect of the trial.
Steve Roney (h/t: SDA) almost touches upon it, but it gets lost in his larger argument that Zimmerman was a working-class man acting uppity:
Of course, this is more or less what the police would do; and it is obviously not a hanging offence when they do it. The problem is that Zimmerman, though in fact legally entitled to do this, was not formally qualified. He was acting above his station, in the minds of the professional elite, including “professional” journalists.
One can see how this would ring all kinds of bells, if subconsciously, in the typical newsroom. What professional group is more threatened by citizen volunteerism these days than the media? Zimmerman and those like him are to them an existential threat. It was in their vital interests to take him down by whatever means necessary.
While Rebel University touches upon the fringes of the issue:
By suing the HOA and winning this settlement, Martin’s parents have helped ensure that the crime rates go up in their own community, since other HOAs will learn from this and determine that having a neighborhood watch is an unaffordable risk. Having a neighborhood watch guarantees that there will be confrontation between the watchers and the “suspicious people”. That creates the possibility that the watchers will be attacked by the “suspicious people” and that creates the possibility that some of the watchers will defend themselves with lethal force. It is unavoidable. The HOA lawyers will determine that having any sort of neighborhood watch is unaffordable.
If you’ve been following the Zimmerman trial even slightly, you’ve probably seen the accusation that he was acting like a ‘wannabe rent-a-cop’ or something similar a number of times, due to his involvement in his local neighbourhood watch. As The Crimson Reach stated, the entire premise of the moral outrage against Zimmerman was due to the fact that “Zimmerman found Martin suspicious, followed him in his car, called it in, got out of his car.”
This is what the left finds offensive. This is what the Cathedral finds offensive. This kind of behaviour is what the Cathedral is trying to eliminate through Zimmerman’s show trial.
They do not want you to get out of the car.
Zimmerman did.
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If we look at the history of Zimmerman, he was a model citizen with a minor black mark or two from his youth:
At the time of the shooting, Zimmerman was employed as an insurance underwriter and was in his final semester at Seminole State College for an associate degree in Criminal Justice. In one of his interviews with police he stated his goal was to become a judge.
In early 2011, Zimmerman participated in a citizen forum at the Sanford City Hall, to protest the beating of a black homeless man by the son of a white Sanford police officer. During the meeting, Zimmerman called the behavior of officers on duty “disgusting” and detailed officers napping while on duty and refusing to take on difficult assignments.
…
From January 1, 2011 through February 26, 2012, police were called to The Retreat at Twin Lakes 402 times. During the 18 months preceding the February 26 shooting, Zimmerman called the non-emergency police line seven times. On five of those calls, Zimmerman reported suspicious looking men in the area, but never offered the men’s race without first being asked by the dispatcher. Crimes committed at The Retreat in the year prior to Martin’s death included eight burglaries, nine thefts, and one shooting. Twin Lakes residents said there were dozens of reports of attempted break-ins, which had created an atmosphere of fear in their neighborhood.In September 2011, the Twin Lakes residents held an organizational meeting to create a neighborhood watch program. Zimmerman was selected by neighbors as the program’s coordinator, according to Wendy Dorival, Neighborhood Watch organizer for the Sanford Police Department.
Zimmerman was a normal person who cared about his community and acted to protect it. He voluntarily took on the mantle to watch his neighbourhood for suspicious activity and to stand up against police corruption.
George Zimmerman worked to build organic community. Any normal person would be thrilled to have a neighbour like Zimmerman keeping an eye out on things.
That is why he was made an example of.
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In this particular case, he saw this suspicious-looking individual in his neighbourhood after a period of break-ins and other crimes. Like a concerned citizen who cared about his community, he reported the incident to police, then followed to keep a look out on the suspicious individual.
That was his crime. He cared about his community enough to try to keep it safe. He got out of the car.
And that is the whole point of this fiasco. It is the whole reason they rage against “stand your ground”. It’s the whole reason they fight gun freedom.
The Cathedral does not want you to get out of the car. The Cathedral does not want you to protect yourself or your community. The Cathedral does not want you to be able to trust your neighbours.
If you see Kitty Genovese, the Cathedral wants you to walk past. If you see a crime being committed against someone else, the Cathedral wants you to ignore it. If you see a suspicious person in your neighbourhood, the Cathedral wants you to ignore him.
Why?
So your neigbourhood loses social capital. So you can not trust your neighbours to watch out for you and your home. So you are forced to rely on the police and the state for safety rather than your neighbours.
They want you to destroy your trust in your neighbours and your local community so you become dependent on the state for security.
The Cathedral can not simply outlaw organic community-building and looking-out for your neighbours because that would enrage too many and would show their hand, which depends, in a large way, on being subtle. But someone died in this case in a possibly questionable manner, so the Cathedral had an opportunity to make an example. Zimmerman was the example.
Zimmerman was persecuted by the state for the purpose of making you think twice about helping your neighbour.
If I see someone suspicious in my neighbourhood and think of keeping an eye out on him? I remember Zimmerman: maybe I shouldn’t, it could escalate and I could become the next 2-minute hate target.
I hear what might be a cry for distress? Not my problem, it’s probably nothing and even if I intervene I could become the next Zimmerman.
I see someone rooting around in my neighbour’s backyard? If I intervene I could be the next Zimmerman.
Then, once everyone’s to afraid to intervene, out come the Kitty Genovese stories. I cried for help, why did nobody came to my aid? Someone robbed my house in broad daylight, why did no one intervene? A dozen people saw me being mugged, why did no one help me? Crime and drugs are rampant in my neighbourhood, why is nothing being done? This is the tenth time my garage has been tagged and my garbage overturned, why are my neighbours doing this to me?
The inevitable conclusion, I can’t trust my neighbours. I’m not safe in my neighbourhood.
Whatever the useful idiots might parrot, that is the whole purpose of this farce.
They want you to question yourself when you hear someone in trouble. Eventually, when enough people question themselves and do not intervene because they do not want to go risk a year-long trial, death threats, and public opprobrium, community trust collapses, because nobody is intervening to keep neighbourhoods safe.
Eventually, organic community dies, and the police and the state can step in.
The long march progresses.
“You can’t trust your neighbours, but you can trust us. We’re from the government and we’re here to help you.”
Excellent!
Oh my, this is a definitive article!
Reblogged this on Deconstructing Leftism and commented:
Organic community building is what we need most.
Excellent. Shared on FB.
We all agree that a young man has died, and this is horrible. You’ve done something that ALL should do. You’ve dissected a media narrative. Right or wrong, you’ve put effort into trying to explain how – and why – the funded media would put so much effort into one particular ‘news’ story — in a world where we all know people that have been lost — gone — without their story becoming a media event — a day to day coverage on all popular channels through all popular resources — that lasted for more than a year around the globe.
Let this be a pre-class in ‘Dissecting Influence of Media Programming 101″
Congratulations to you, Free Northerner, for finding clarity in your ability to utilize the intelligence and talents that God has given you. Most men have failed to realize that because they chose NOT to be in positions of influence, the happy world they wish for has not formed. They need to listen to you and to Vic : http://bit.ly/13SNNNO so they can be on the road to understanding and influence.
Any problems when blacks organize to protect the community?
Tribalism is eventually going to make a comeback. When the law becomes the enemy of order, people are going to find ways around it. If you cannot trust your community, it is time to find another. As people condense, they will become more insular and build bonds with each other.
The state can try, but as they lose their trust capital, their jobs are going to face increasing resistance. “Never heard of it.” “Oh, all our cars are broken, Special Agent Smith.” “Well, that is odd. Can I see your paperwork, again?”
Organic community will go underground. It can hide there, while looking dead on the surface. March right over it, and it will lie in wait.
The Shadowed Knight
Very good analysis, and original, which is a feat given the flood of commentary this has stirred up. You can tell the Cathedral saw this as a prime lever to move opinion by the pile of lies told about it in the media, from edited tapes to soothsaying voice analysts.
Bingo. In a healthy society the citizens and ploce acting together keep the community safe. This was the type of society my grandfather grew up in. My wife was at a Lowes store about a year ago. She saw a man shoplifting and notifed a store clerk who also witnessed the theft. “Why won’t you do anything?” she asked the clerk. “We are not allowed to stop them”, he replied. My grandfather and most men of his generation would have grabbed the thief and held him until police arrived. I am not my grandfather and I would choose to do nothing. The law is on the side of the thugs, and I would be vulnerable to a lawsuit or worse. A lot of money has been made by destroying my grandpa’s community and all of its infrastructure only to rebuild it in the suburbs and then the exhurbs. It is now common to visit towns that have had the original town bypassed in the sixties, and then that bypass was bypassed again in the nineties. Things will start getting interesting soon. We can no longer afford to leave perfectly good houses and buildings to thugville, and rebuild endlessly.
@ S_McCoy: No problem at all. If blacks self-policed and started building organic community rather than leaving the state-supported race hustlers and criminals in charge, it would be a great boon to black communities.
@ SK: Organic community has to be built intentionally now, it will not just spontaneously arise, but it is not the type of thing that can be eliminated.
@ tg: It is sad what we have lost.
People with suspicious minds will see suspiciion where ever they look.
What suspicion did Zimmerman have except a Black kid in a hoodie.
Zimmerman disobeyed the police instruction to stay in the car and shot dead a black kid in a hoodie.
If Martin had a suspicion that some loonie was stalking after him while he went about life and if Martin had a gun he should have stood his ground and shot Zimmerman dead.
Spot. On. This episode is a small but telling part of the battle between The State and The Civil Society.
The Civil Society has a government, but such a government is constrained by rules. The State, in contrast, brooks no constraints. It aims to be free and all-powerful. So it must destroy The Civil Society.
@ jim: You wouldn’t find a young, unfamiliar man in a local, gated community, carrying himself like a wannabe gangster, covering his head and face with a hoodie somewhat suspicious? You are a very trusting man.
Also, stand your ground only applies if there is a reasonable fear of harm. Being followed and nothing else, would likely not be considered reasonable.
If in the unlikely event that Jim Wild’s comment is sincere and he is not a troll his comment is insightfulfully obtuse. The entire point of this post is that the police, state, media, etc. have no right to tell Zimmerman to stay in his car. He has the same right to walk aroud his neighborhood as Mt. Martin. What was at stake in the case was not only the basic right of self defense, but the right of free citizens to defend their own communities. If Zimmerman had followed Martin and attacked Martin and the resulting attack had resulted in Martin’s death then Zimmerman would have been guilty of murder. The jury did not find this to be the case. I think it is likely that a significant proportion of society would actually prefer a police state. I just wish they would be honest about it. Perhaps Mr. Wild would care to comment? Should the state have the authority to order a person to remain in a car? Should the state’s representatives be the only persons allowed to be armed? Should citizen neighborhood watches be illegal–too dangerous? In some areas I think the answer is yes! Some portions of the country have a citizenry that cannot be trusted to police themselves. These regions of the country tend to have a lot of people who look like Mr. Martin and that is problematic. How does one justify a police state for the black portion of the country and not for everyone else? Hence the need for a police state for all. Black people are actually asking to be saved from themselves (or from the criminal portion of their communities) This attitude is fairly common among black females. Please get the guns out of our community! Please stop the killing! They at least realize that in the absence of a police state the problem will not get better.
Positively brilliant.
Too clever by half, I’m afraid. This is a race case, all else is peripheral. It exploded because of two things, this guy’s name was Zimmerman instead of Garcia, and a police report that had five magic little letters under Zimmerman’s name: w-h-i-t-e, following the standard racist practice of dumping Hispanic crime into the white category to inflate white crime stats and deflate non-white crime stats, largely as a means of selling open borders. It was those five little letters that ignited the hate-fest, and it explains the reason why you’ve never heard of Daniel Adkins.
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So you defend murder.
I guess to fascist scumbags murder is OK if the victims are Jews, woman, Black (or in general non-Whites). You are not Christian, you are the followers of Satan, the scum of the Earth, the assholes who should be condemned to work in Chinese or Indonesian sweat-shop and after 2 years still preach about the merits of anarcho-capitalism.