I agree, dividing murderers by skin color is stupid.
Does it not follow that our view of murder is incoherent? Coherent thinking is clear, easy to follow and logical. The opposite of coherent is disordered, and that was my point. Our view of murder is as dis-ordered as the incoherent act of murder. Are the two disorders related? Do they play off one another, and form a mutually reinforcing incoherent rationale for murder? Yes, I believe they do.
I am saying that murder laws are incoherent because we are incoherent. We, as a society, do not consider all murders equally. We classify murder on arbitrary factors including both the murderer’s and the victim’s race, age, gender, social status, job, motivation, and speed of death. As a result, we find ourselves defending, excusing, condoning and justifying murder.
The opioid epidemic and toxic waste disposal are two examples of just how extreme our disordered thinking truly is. We actually call the long, slow, painful murder of hundreds, even thousands of people “white collar crime” (as though those murders were worthwhile, unavoidable, even essential).
If the Sackler family were black, they would be convicted murderers. If the victims of toxic waste disposal were white, CEOs would be convicted murderers. I do not need to prove this; it proves itself by virtue of the number of murderers who freely walk among us. Just because a murderer is not convicted or even charged, does not mean he is not a murderer – (if not for him, dead people would still be alive).
The idea that poor people commit more crimes than rich people astounds me. Nonetheless, I can see the reason people believe that is true. Simply put, people define criminals differently. For example, a man who steals baby formula is a criminal, while a man who allows poison in his baby formula factory is a CEO. Which man is responsible for the baby’s death: the man who stole the formula, or the man who allowed the formula to be poisoned?
Justice has to make sense, or it is not justice. Racists make no sense because they do not think clearly. When we try to combine justice and racism in our minds, we end up licensing murder, rape, and torture. Again, I do not need to prove this: it’s already proved itself thousands of times.
People cannot hold onto orderly and disorderly thinking at the same time. If we want to make sense to ourselves, and each other, we must choose orderly or disorderly thinking.
More than anything, I want us, as a people, to start making sense. If we make sense, our systems, and institutions will make sense as well.
