Why burn the flag?

Burn the flag for 4th of July!
The USA is NOT North Korea. So why, one might ask, why–and what is the point of burning an American flag on the 4th of July?
The neoliberal, capitalist police state have developed a different strategy for control than the totalizing states like North Korea, the GDR before the fall of the Berlin wail, or the USSR in its worst periods. It’s, obviously, highly selective in its oppression, by class and race, but the harsher realities and more visible suppression imposed on blacks and other semi-marginalized people, are a prime instrument of control of ‘favored’ classes.

This lesson is always clear: ‘this is what will happen to you if you take it on yourselves to exercise the rights you believe you have. Like … read the comments.

You know how they go: “If he’d not made eye contact with the cop! If she’d not asked for a warrant! If they’d just let the cops do what they…. ”
And after that, It doesn’t take many arrested, beat up flag burners, to create a powerful incentive to restraint, from acting on this perfectly legal act of free speech, an act, the only harm of which, is to cast doubt on oppressors and annoy their unthinking, patriotic supporters. Or any other act of legal dissent–it gets people thinking–even people like me, who don’t give no FUCKS… “is this an action (however legal), I’m ready right now to take on the several years of legal wrangling, post arrest–that will justify the disruption?

So burning a flag–involves a kind of legal triage. A totally legal act! But one, living in 2017 America, one has to weigh the significant consequences.
There are people now facing charges that could bring up to 70 years in prison, for begin swept up in a cop kettle at the J20 inauguration protests. Some, caught as observers, who had no part of the actions; some were street medics, there to treat and give medical aid to ANY who needed it, some were journalists–doing their constitutionally guaranteed duty.

Nope. This is not North Korea… but look how it works out. Look how effective it is in silencing dissenters. Those who might otherwise bring to light the horrific, violence being perpetrated across the planet on those we would exploit… and in push come to shove, exterminate! On those calling to account our rape of the environment, and those demanding that we stop our drive to pump gasses into our atmosphere–that will end human life on this planet!
So don’t think, cause I can burn that fucking flag–and you a million others do the same, that this is sign of how much better ‘we’ are…

Cause “we” aren’t. “We” are the ultimate machinery of Money and Death.