You can't compare what is happening in the US now to what happened where you grew up. The story of your Canadian village reflects what I have always been saying here, that police don't create law and order - culture and society do. Your culture was shattered, and the authorities attempted to replace it with police and proselytizers selling something contrary to your tradition.
Most of those in the streets come from privileged and even wealthy backgrounds. Moreover, whatever existed of a culture in the US has been shattered by Marxist social engineering. Look up the stats for the white poverty and despair. It's frightening. Education failures, drug addiction, violence....And worse, those kids are ignored - simply because they are white and therefore have some imagined privilege by virtue of skin color.
Your village had its traditional culture and values to return to. What do Americans have to return to? The culture that built the country has been deemed racist and oppressive. Instead, the authorities want to replace it with police and utopian edicts selling something that is not only contrary to tradition, but totally without any record of success in world history. (Pretty effective records of bringing in genocide and mass death and destruction, though.)
The first and most basic step is for people to respect others, and respect their beliefs. The media, politics and even education have been working toward just the opposite. Without mutual respect, there can be no conversation, no moving forward.
I don't see that happening. I think it's far more likely that the country will be reduced to 3rd world status and many will die. It's already half-way to the first target.
I'll change my opinion when people stop attacking their fellow citizens and start talking.
You've made some great points, thanks for the insight.
There are ways to reduce the violence, but IMO requires a complete paradigm shift. Most people in my village haven't returned to tradition exactly, that's because they really don't know how anymore. They don't speak their language or live off the land. For the most part, they've just changed the way they look at things, and accept change. They know pain and suffering and have learned to cry. Rather than argue they choose to laugh.
Those guys that laughed at me are a good example (because I was eating wild plants). They don't go out on the land, they wear Nike shoes, NY Yankees ball caps, wear bluetooth earbuds listening to downloaded music, walk around looking at their Iphones on FB, drive to the local store across the street, eat processed food and take what they can get from the government. They've embraced the myth, but who am I to judge? I can only let them live the way they choose to live and that's okay with me. I would only create dissonance if I scolded them. Media perpetuates the charade. It's about taking personal responsibility IMO.
Make America great again might not be such a bad idea after all, if we just do things differently. But returning to the way things were won't work, because people don't how to get there (and was it really so great afterall), we must move forward. That's where education plays a huge role IMO. A lot of teachers need to be re-educated and supported. Why do we have school shootings? I'm so thankful I don't watch TV anymore, my brain was on fire.
And as you said, we need to have respect and open dialogue without fear of repercussion, but respect must be mutual, not forced. What if both sides in this debate, even people in this thread, began to listen to one another instead of trying to bash each other, burying any possibility of discourse with memes. The more potent and extreme, the better. It's easier to repeat and blame than to think for oneself and change. I know, because I've been there and I'm trying to do things differently now. What if we offered our leaders solutions in exchange for our allegiance, rather than follow blindly?
I actually grew up in a big city. A pretty normal upbringing - far from the stereotype. I went to church on Sundays. My best friend was a black immigrant, my next best friend was Jewish. I went to a mostly all white school. We played cowboys and Indians and hockey on outdoor ice. I watched Batman and Star Trek. I had one native friend. He and I often skipped school to go watch subtitled Kung Fu movies at the afternoon matinee with the money we made from a paper route. Bruce Lee was my hero, I hardly remember seeing a cop. My older brother stayed with grandparents on the Rez. I remember when JFK, Martin Luther and Malcolm X were killed, but I didn't understand the implications for the US at the time - we need people like that again to lead us out of the darkness.
Better yet, we need to be able to re-educate ourselves, and it is possible if we have the tools and the will to do so. Thanks for being a great sounding board
@Domainace, your outlook of the future of America is what I have feared, and that most Westerners probably do too, but are afraid to look.