By Jean DuBois
PATRIARCHAL SEE 3 June 2020 (ORCNS) - The ORCNS interviewed HHE Don Rutherford I, 5th Florentine Archfather about the current riots and protests in the Unites States, as well as lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Several months ago, the Archfather predicted the high likelihood of armed riots if the pandemic global lockdown and related economic problems such as business failures and unemployment continued. Here is that interview:
ORCNS: Thank you for meeting with us, Your Holy Eminence. Let's get to the main question. I understand several months ago that you predicted a high likelihood of armed riots in the context of the coronavirus pandemic measures. What led you to that conclusion?
Archfather Rutherford: Yes, that is correct. If the pandemic lockdown measures and subsequent economic turmoil, including threats to businesses, extremely high unemployment, and other uncertainties, continued for very long, I believed the conditions were ripe for a significant armed event.
ORCNS: The riots are happening in the USA. Was your prediction limited to the US?
AR: Not at all. I was speaking about the entire global situation. With the right conditions, it could happen anywhere.
ORCNS: Did you believe it was a foregone conclusion that there would be an armed uprising?
AR: No, I did not. There were plenty of opportunities to reduce the likelihood -- many of which I'm afraid were missed. There were also peaceful protests against lockdown procedures and economic hardship in various countries around the world.
ORCNS: So what do you think triggered the current riots in the US?
AR: First, let me point out that there are two things going on. First, there are lawless, violent riots. Second, there are peaceful protests against injustice. The two are obviously not the same. Let me focus on the first one, that is, the lawless, violent riots. The US situation, with the coronavirus lockdown and economic shutdown, created a delicate and precarious situation. All that was needed was a trigger, and that happened to come in the form of the unfortunate, brutal, and unjustified killing of a black man at the hands of a white police officer who played judge, jury, and executioner. The racial component further opens long-standing wounds. So, while there have been legal, peaceful protests against excessive use of police force and institutional racism, the tragic situation of a man's brutal murder was exploited as a prompt for violent riots -- which, I might add, have been primarily directed against innocent people.
ORCNS: But the lockdowns are ending and businesses are opening, right? Why didn't that prevent this outcome?
AR: Yes, but the effects of those lockdowns are continuing, and even more effects are happening as things start to catch up with society. In short, it takes time to stop the downward momentum and then reverse the trend. Restarting the economy on a societal or personal level is not at all like flipping a magic switch that makes everything better again instantly.
ORCNS: Do you think the US has a police violence problem?
AR: Unfortunately yes -- and so do many countries around the world. The militarisation of US police after the September 11 attacks seems to have created a greater culture of violence and domination among police as a whole. The power balance is tilted almost entirely in the direction of the police, and so they must exhibit far more tolerance and be willing to take far more from the public before retaliating. When they do push back, responses must be proportional and not out of anger. That is the responsibility that comes with their power. Right now there is too much of an "us vs them" mentality between the general public and the police. That is extremely counterproductive. Police certainly have a right to self-defence and a responsibility to uphold the law, but it must be done soberly and proportionately. Good officers know that.
ORCNS: What about institutional racism?
AR: This is a problem not just in judicial matters. However, in police situations, studies suggest that there is bias against black people, and perhaps most telling is that the bias is shown not just by white officers, but also black officers.
ORCNS: You mentioned good police officers just a minute ago. Do you believe there are good police officers in the USA?
AR: Of course there are. I hope most of them are. They need to rise up themselves and stand in solidarity against police brutality. They must work to remove those who are a disgrace to their uniform and those who get on power trips. When police get on arrogant power binges, people suffer, often with long-lasting or permanent consequences -- with little or no repercussion to the officer.
ORCNS: You were trained in statistics at Harvard and Georgia Tech, and your work at Harvard also involved social justice. Has that background helped you gain any insight into these problems?
AR: Yes it has. Black people in the US have a much higher arrest and conviction rate than white people, and that essentially tracks also with the poverty level in US society by ethnic group. It is a systemic and entrenched problem. Even if you eliminate institutional racism in police departments and the courts, the problem goes much deeper than that. And, of course, it does not only impact black people, but several other ethnic groups as well. Fixing the problem requires much more than simply training police in how to handle bias. And the problem goes well beyond police matters as well.
ORCNS: And you were involved in statistical work in the coronavirus pandemic as well, correct?
AR: Yes. Public health policy is driven by statistics. It is not so much the nature of the disease per se, but the likelihood of getting it and/or dying from it that really matters. Drawing on experience, my early calculations suggested infection and death rates much more like what other studies are now showing, unlike the "doom and gloom" predictions that were going on at the same time and led to a lot of the government responses we saw (and experienced) around the world. However, I was not at all the only person who came to similar conclusions from calculations. There were a good number of us saying the same thing. Unfortunately statistics were abused by the media, contributing greatly to societal panic around the world.
ORCNS: So, what do you think is the ultimate solution to the riots, racial problems, and so on?
AR: I wish I had a simple answer. First, society today does not respect life. Life is the most basic human right, and it is a necessary condition for all other rights since exercising those rights require one thing -- that you are alive. We cannot really begin to solve the problems of other rights until society learns to respect life.
ORCNS: Do you have any parting advice?
AR: Yes. I pray that all people take a moment to look inwardly and examine their own condition before judging others and before judging society. I pray that society will learn to respect life, for that is where healing and progress must begin. Define yourself by what you are for, not by what you are against.