There are similarities to disease in our social unrest

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, September 16, 2020

The social unrest during this time of pandemic has me seeing relationships of scale that might not otherwise occur to me.

The Defund the Police movement can be viewed as a form of societal immunodeficiency virus, in that there is a general attack on taking away some, or all of the forces that protect society from disorder. The over aggressive law enforcement tactics that result in the death of citizens, particularly minority citizens, can be seen as a form of autoimmune disease, wherein those forces that should be protecting society end up causing damage and destruction.

Immunodeficiencies and autoimmune diseases are very difficult to treat in the body. Likewise reorganizing law enforcement practices and eliminating systemic racism are difficult to treat in the body politic. Killing the body in the attempt to apply a cure is not the answer.

Thomas J. Munyon

Marysville