Culture Shock 7.1 - the Police problem in the US.

Many thanks to all who have been watching the previous culture shock video!!!
I felt the urge to follow it up, especially after learning what recently happened in Las Vegas I really had to say something. (Andrea "Dre" Hollingsworth)

Btw, the "brain fart" word I was looking for was "discrimination" and I also flubbed moments later saying "tomorrow" when I meant "yesterday".

Thanks for watching, please subscribe if you like me! And stay tuned because I have a couple big things on my mind for the next days!!

[philippearmbruster]

For a long time we in Europe had a romanticized image of America and we have a lot to be grateful for when it comes to the US - the great sacrifices Americans made to save Europe and the world during the 2nd World War, the Marshall Plan, holding the Soviet Union at bay, great inventions, jazz music, Hollywood, the list goes on. In a nutshell we thought that America was like other civilized countries just with more opportunities and more freedom.
Deep inside we kind of knew that freedom wasn’t for everybody in the US, but only for the wealthy and powerful, but it took this never stopping avalanche of viral videos for us to finally realize that the America in our mind doesn’t really exist and that the country functions very very differently when it comes to respecting human dignity and human lives.

[Feier_Salamander]

I watched the video. What saddened me the most is that these kids learned (again, after they already were afraid because of Goerge Floyd), that they have to be afraid of the police.
Being afraid of someone who is supposed to help you will lead to not getting help at all or solve your problems yourself, even with illegal measurements.

[RustyDust]

The problem with 'bad apples' is that most people forget the rest of the idiom:
"One bad apple spoils the whole damn bunch"
That's the whole idiom.
So if we apply that logic to the cops in the USA, even when you have only one bad apple per police precinct, that spoils the whole precinct, leaving NO good precincts left over.

When you add that idiom to a police education that focuses on giving "law enforcement officers" the idea that their job is 'enforcement' without sticking to the 'law' then you have 'enforcement officers' left over.
'Enforcement officers' are at least on the same page as 'subjugation forces', if not 'home terrorizing forces' similar to the Gestapo or the Stasi.

[carstenweiland]

In the US the police is often educated by retired army staff, to say it mildly - that brings the robustness of armed conflict methods into a civilian society (Yes also armed but that is not the point). Escalation of violence is programmed into the system, police officers are often undertrained and not supported in the case of a trauma - and there are bad apples too!

[Hexenkind]

Often times you think the police is afraid and is acting accordingly. The results are frightening.

[nadal]

I will never forget my first encounter with the US Police. It was New Years eve in the 90er and my family and i where in Las Vegas. My two older brothers were above 21 but i wasn´t so we decided to go to the streets to party with the crowd instead of any restaurant. We drank some on the room and then walked up to the strip from the MGM towards the Ceasars Palace. My brother had a party hat and a "partytröte" the kind that rolls out when u use it. Around the Baly´s Casino was a police patrol standing around and my left leaning brother always need to test his limits with the police. So he used his "partytröte" right in front of the police man, if you want you could say my brother towards the policemens face. I can´t exacly say what happend next, because it was so fast but the next I remember was my brother handcuffed on the ground. After the initial schock my father started to talk to the police and after some back and forth they agreed to let my brother go. I never got sober so fast O.o

[EbizzerHH]

Love your reaction and as a german I can't even imagine how this US cops treat people! Esp. black people never know if they survive a police control... it is disgusting and great, that you point that out and don't ignore it! ;)

[holgerlanz]

Applause to Youtubers like you. Serious subjects instead of "Oh, I love Germany because its beer, bread and Autobahn!". And yeah of course a thumbs up because only that you ARE concerned.

[mikecarmichael]

hi Eric

it is really the case that the American police are any occuption force. I grew up in the USA and I come from the working class.
I do know the police, I know which cops take money from drug dealers, etc...


Here the police are really taking care of the civilians, Erik I am of Irish blood.

may all living creatures be happy and free from suffering

regards
Mr Michael carmichael

[vorerstniemand]

An educator in my kindergarten looked similar to your self description at ~8:00. Everybody liked him

[prdvgl]

i started watching the video and at first i thought "oh this is probably from mid last year." THIS IS STILL HAPPENING!? how utterly incompetent are they?! how can anyone feel safe to be "guarded" by armed thugs who feel their authority threatened by a deaf woman sitting in her car!? and the gall to defend them? i don't even want to know what they said at that point... i'll still take a guess: "she made threatening moves" or smth?

[vorerstniemand]

As someone else said: If you need one, imagine getting a hug from me
Thats a very hard topic to talk about without getting emotionally torn up; its fine, shows humanity

[JW-nhor]

OVERLOADED comes into my mind when I think about America in every possible sense. That means that someone somehow will have to push the reset button and get the people of America and the world what they deserve. A happy life!

[j.a.]

I could totally see out police here in Austria telling teenagers to party somewhere where it is not their problem, because they might not have a problem with them partying a bit or drinking a bit before they are legally allowed to, but if they see it they can't just ignore it.
In my experience they can be lenient if they don't think a fine etc is necessary. Like my husband was speeding once because he felt sick, and when he was stopped by police they just followed him home (they might have even driven in front of him so he gets home faster, not sure) and let him go without a ticket.

[dikkiedik]

Dear Eric,
It's not a police thing ONLY.
It's a general and widely spread disrespecting of human dignity on many items and in many situations in the USA and the police is the very visible part of that, but it's way deeper and wider spread.. the low minimum wages etc, the healthcare, the social situation, the large inequality, the homelessness of all kind of groups, the gigantic amount of firearms under the population etc etc. Pres Biden displays a clear view on these items and tries to take the right steps in my opinion.
USA has a need to change urgently.
Germany changed under the pressure of the alied occupation forces, especially the USA. The first article of the German constitution is the marker.. gradually the EU grew and made Europe more respectfull and more social like it is today.
I was a police officer (sergeant) in the Netherlands for 38 years. So I understand the difficulties and dangers of policework. Sometimes I needed to correct a young fellow officer to be more respectfull to suspects, but everybody respected that comment. It doesn't matter what the suspect has done it's still a human being with a right to a certain dignity and you must respect that!

[thehikinghessian]

I want to emphasize what I already wrote in the comments there: We‘re pretty far away from being perfect or even acceptable concerning behaviour of some police officers in Germany, but the US police is a desaster. That‘s what happens when you take unfit persons, train them too little and give them too much power...

[arnodobler]

Hi Eric thank you!
I saw a video earlier (on Majority Report in YT) where a 73 year old woman with dementia was taken to the ground by a police officer and handcuffed - just because she did not stop immediately. She was also injured - terrible!
This is not just a few bad apples!!! There are so many videos here 🤮😭

[peter_meyer]

I'm with you on the topic of "bad apples", but as you also mentioned, these bad apples are protected by their colleagues.
IF a colleague speaks up, HE suddenly is a traitor, a bad guy. There's no difference to that in germany.

Regarding your first video: i linked it in a few comments, e.g. at Bill Maher's show and on Christopher Russel's latest video. Mainly because it's plausible for US americans, when an american tells about it, but also because it's just well presented.
AND, you deserve some attention on this channel.

[eisikater]

I think the main reason why German police isn't looking for trouble is to avoid paperwork. However, I don't like them very much, because almost every time when I returned from the Czech Republic by train, there were two men and a dog waiting for me, because "long hair + beard = marijuana", and they made me empty my pockets. I did that as slowly as possible to give the real smugglers a chance to escape.

[Metjammer]

Way too many bad apples, the tree is rotten in the Divided States. And it's getting a smell over here as well...