{"id":1187610,"date":"2020-05-30T11:32:52","date_gmt":"2020-05-30T16:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyreckoning.com\/?p=109392"},"modified":"2020-05-30T11:32:52","modified_gmt":"2020-05-30T16:32:52","slug":"burn-baby-burn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1187610","title":{"rendered":"\u201cBurn, Baby, Burn!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post \u201cBurn, Baby, Burn!\u201d<\/a> appeared first on Daily Reckoning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Not far from our house lies Pimlico race course, site of the Preakness, the middle leg of the Triple Crown each year. Horse racing is big, or at least pretends to be, in Maryland.<\/p>\n

Pimlico during Preakness is bedlam. Our neighbors rent out their lawns for parking… then spend all the money they make to repair ruts in their lawns, bag beer cans and fast food wrappers and usher drunk millennials off to their next destinations.<\/p>\n

Okay, that\u2019s a slight exaggeration, but there are pros and cons to living near one of horse racing\u2019s most famous venues.<\/p>\n

Not far from Pimlico lies the neighborhood of Park Heights.<\/p>\n

You may recall Park Heights was the ignition point for three days of rioting in Baltimore in 2015. Buildings burned. Bands of teenagers looted various dollar stores and 7\u2013Elevens.<\/p>\n

At one point, a group of them marched to the Inner Harbor and tried to lay waste to an upscale shopping mall.<\/p>\n

The mayhem was sparked by the death of Freddie Gray while in custody of the Baltimore police department.<\/p>\n

A Ringside Seat to Chaos<\/b><\/h2>\n

We watched the whole drama play out on CNN like the rest of the world, often commenting things like: \u201cHey, look, there\u2019s the McDonald\u2019s we stopped by on the way back from soccer practice the other night.\u201d<\/p>\n

The distance between our neighborhood and Park Heights is only a couple miles. But the social divide is a canyon.<\/p>\n

During the Freddie Gray protests in Baltimore in 2015, over 285 businesses were destroyed. Over $10 million of small business property value went up in smoke overnight.<\/p>\n

Our employees got an advanced preview of what it would be like to work from home during the Pandemic\u2026 because they were too afraid to work downtown. A band of protesters marched right down St. Paul street under the windows of what was at the time our customer service center.<\/p>\n

Like Minneapolis today, the National Guard was called out. A curfew was imposed.<\/p>\n

We feel for the folks of South Minneapolis this week.<\/p>\n

The Spark That Lit the Fuse<\/b><\/h2>\n

On Memorial Day, we saw iPhone images of George Floyd, a petty criminal, a black man, get his neck crushed by Derek Chauvin, a white cop. Just what we needed following weeks of claustrophobia, eh?<\/p>\n

Now Minneapolis is burning as mobs have looted and torched stores \u2014 and police stations (doesn\u2019t look like they\u2019re not practicing social distancing. What would Dr. Fauci say?).<\/p>\n

\"IMG<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: CNN<\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

Since the riots began Monday evening in Minneapolis, over 170 businesses have been burned, looted and vandalized.<\/p>\n

One \u201cprotester\u201d said yesterday that they\u2019re coming for the suburbs next. Reassuring for suburban Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

Protests have also spread to other cities like Los Angeles, Denver, Memphis and Columbus. Though on lesser scales.<\/p>\n

Things are quiet here in Baltimore, or at least no louder than usual — for now anyway.<\/p>\n

One Minneapolis woman asked poignantly on NBC news: \u201cWe understand the anger. Police brutality is wrong. But what does any of this prove?\u201d<\/p>\n

She was standing in front of a building smoldering after having been torched by protesters the night before.<\/p>\n

Insanity Is Rare in Individuals, the Rule in Groups<\/b><\/h2>\n

One thing we know is that crowds often bring out the worst in people. \u201cInsanity in individuals is something rare,\u201d said Nietsche \u2014 \u201cbut in groups,. parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule.\u201d<\/p>\n

To protest injustice is certainly worthwhile. But to loot and burn down the stores of people who had nothing to do with the injustice? That\u2019s a different story.<\/p>\n

In the process they destroyed many jobs of those who needed them most during this time of crisis. Where\u2019s the justice for these victims?<\/p>\n

To take things to the level of politics, you can call mass political movements like Fascism and Communism a madness of crowds.<\/p>\n

Maybe that\u2019s why at times like these I think of Jos\u00e9 Ortega y Gasset…<\/p>\n

The Revolt of the Masses<\/b><\/h2>\n

Ortega was from the old school in Europe, a gentleman of Spanish origin. Think white suits and fedora hats. Maybe a glass of wine and some fine conversation among the ruins.<\/p>\n

In 1929, he foresaw the rise of fascism and extreme nationalism. Which dictated the structure of lives for men, women and children all over the world for most of the 20th century.<\/p>\n

Big ideas, bad results.<\/p>\n

His 1929 work The Revolt of the Masses<\/i>, \u201ctraces the genesis of the \u2018mass-man\u2019 and analyzes his constitution en route to describing the rise to power and action of the masses in society\u201d [from Wikipedia\u2026 I\u2019m cheating a little here, but it\u2019s still good information for you].<\/p>\n

Again from Wiki: \u201cOrtega is throughout quite critical of both the masses and the mass-men of which they are made up, contrasting \u2018noble life and common life\u2019 and excoriating the barbarism and primitivism he sees in the mass-man.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Fascist and Syndicalist species,\u201d wrote Ortega, \u201cwere characterized by the first appearance of a type of man who \u2018did not care to give reasons or even to be right, but who was simply resolved to impose his opinions. That was the novelty: the right not to be right, not to be reasonable: \u2018the reason of unreason.\u2019\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

The Revolt of the Masses<\/i> was a seminal work in the early 20th century. And I have to admit the first couple of times I read it, I didn\u2019t really understand what Ortega was trying to get at.<\/p>\n

But having now lived through the last couple of political cycles, oy, I understand a heckuva lot more.<\/p>\n

It ain\u2019t a reality show anymore. It\u2019s reality. OK, enough windy political philosophy<\/p>\n

So, to return to that woman in Minneapolis asked, what does<\/i> it all prove?<\/p>\n

The Thin Veil of Civilization<\/b><\/h2>\n

It proves that we all live within a very thin veil of civilized behavior. The pandemic is what it is\u2026 but the anger and violence resides very close to the surface and is not very far away.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re seeing it come to the surface in Minneapolis and in other cities right now. It\u2019ll be something else that brings it to the surface tomorrow.<\/p>\n

If the economy sinks into full-blown depression while Wall Street thrives, you could see similar scenes.<\/p>\n

Let me conclude with a personal story…<\/p>\n

Several years ago, I was selected to sit on a jury for a murder trial here in Baltimore.<\/p>\n

The prosecutor had a written and audio confession. He had a live witness testify that he\u2019d been at the scene. He had photos of where the incident had taken place. A full description of the events and corroboration from police reports at the scene.<\/p>\n

When the defense got up to cross\u2013examine the live witness, he asked: \u201cIt wasn\u2019t possible for you to be at the scene, was it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d said the witness.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd why is that?\u201d asked the defense attorney.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I was in prison at the time,\u201d the witness replied.<\/p>\n

A few gasps in the courtroom… and some frenzied typing from the court reporter… later confirmed that the witness was, indeed, in prison at the time.<\/p>\n

Oy.<\/p>\n

We, the jury, were released. What fate befell the defendant? One thing for sure, he wasn\u2019t convicted.<\/p>\n

A thin veil of civilization.<\/p>\n

Regards,<\/p>\n

Addison Wiggin
\nfor The Daily Reckoning<\/i><\/p>\n

The post \u201cBurn, Baby, Burn!\u201d<\/a> appeared first on Daily Reckoning<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post “Burn, Baby, Burn!”<\/a> appeared first on Daily Reckoning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today Addison Wiggin speaks on: The Revolt of the Masses…. Rioters lay siege to Minneapolis…<\/p>\n

The post “Burn, Baby, Burn!”<\/a> appeared first on Daily Reckoning<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724,366,4334,4335,2708,4336,463],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187610"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1187610"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1187611,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187610\/revisions\/1187611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1187610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1187610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1187610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}