Police And Government Tip Their Hand: Major Investments In Riot Gear Signal Anticipation Of Widespread Crackdowns
One interesting thing people consistently note about having lived in repressive, fascistic cultures and periods of time–think pre-war Nazi Germany–is how incremental and subtle the buildup of repression and government control was. Of course, history is littered with the opposite tale, times when explosive violence led to a new regime of repression being installed, but the old cliché about the frog in the pot of cool water not moving as it is slowly brought to a boil does apply in many, many instances.
We’re not sure which we might be looking at in upcoming months in the US and in other parts of the world, but one thing is certain: the government of the US and a few other select nations seem to be planning something that involves turning the burner all the way up to high.
The evidence for this mindset is circumstantial and it is indirect, but nonetheless alarming. To wit, globally, sales of riot gear have increased substantially in the US, Iran, Egypt, Russia, China and Thailand, according to a report by Sandler Research, an industry research and market forecasting company.
The premium research company, which gets paid an awful lot of money to predict market trends, anticipates the growth rate of riot gear sales to reach 5.3 percent over the next four years, including must-have items for the fashion-conscious fascist like drones or unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as “…special vehicles that are equipped with water cannon and reservoirs have been designed for security personnel, for use in areas of conflict to handle large crowds and demonstrations.”
And where might there be “large crowds and demonstrations” coming up here soon? Well, Cleveland, for one–where the trust-fund baby turned candidate for what’s left of the Republican Party is going to be spouting his trademark reality show bon mots–is spending about $20 million to improve security measures in advance of the convention, including 2000 new sets of full-body riot gear.
Indeed, the clever boys and girls at Sandler Research are quite bullish on the chances of market improvement in the Americas:
“The militarization of the police department and other law enforcement agencies in the Americas has encouraged the use of advanced riot control equipment. The disputed circumstances of shooting unarmed 18-year-old heightened existing protests and civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, US in 2014. Rifles, NWLs, and heavy vehicles were used to control the crowd and growing protests during this incident.”
Right. Because someone should at least make some money off the Ferguson riots, right?
Another signpost indicating a potentially violent near future is Lloyd’s of London, the infamous insurer urging preparedness for civil unrest which can potentially bloom into what it terms a “political violence contagion” which, it says, “…have become more frequent, and the contagion effect ever more rapid and impactful.”
All in all, it should be an interesting summer. The temperature seems to be rising already, in fact. Let’s hope it doesn’t reach the boiling point before we can get out of this pot.
http://disinfo.com/2016/04/new-report-proves-police-preparing-for-rioting-on-a-national-scale/