Show Me Your Papers
Remember this?
A student was sitting in a library, minding his own business, when police officers doing random ID checks (in a library?!?) demanded he show his ID. He told them to go away and stop bothering him. They tried to arrest him. He didn’t get excited about the idea.
Apparently what he should have said was: “wow yeah arrest me! That’s the appropriate thing to do for a lack of paperwork!”. He should have “done what he was told”, as people are saying in the comments, because when someone with paperwork behind them and an officially paperwork-sanctioned badge tells you to do something, nothing else is important.
Instead he peacefully resisted the harassment. They then began to torture him with a tazer. In the library. Where nobody has ever been hurt before.
This is what happens when people value paperwork instead of relationships. This is what happens when people are too lazy to get to know each other or even just ask around about each other. This is where the road leads that begins with “Identity Verification”. This is why it cannot be objected to strongly enough.
In other news, this is also why YouTube is changing the world. More on that soon.
September 5th, 2007 at 8:34 am
Fucking fascism. Though I remember times and places where this guy and some oround would be beaten on the spot. And the one who recorded a video would be arrested.
This all is possible because, except the few who opposed the force in the library, everybodyu off-the-spot doesn’t seem to care: “He should have done what he was told”.
September 7th, 2007 at 2:50 am
Ack! Did the blog eat my comment?
September 10th, 2007 at 1:24 am
Bugger - looks like it did
Well, I remember swearing a lot and asking if these idiots got fired.
And I recall commenting on dandellion’s comment about people not stepping in and saying that in repressive societies that would be down to fear, but in free societies it can be down to trust in the authorities that they know what they are doing.
Jeez - it sounded better the last time sent it.
HBA
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