From violent Occupy protests, to unwarranted raids on the Oaksterdam medical marijuana school, to the unprecedented and unconscionable mass murder of seven students by a former student at Oikos University, it appears that residents in Oakland are receiving an expected education in the hard knocks and vagaries of life.
The right to learn, the right to ingest controlled substances, and the right to protest all seem to be under threat of state sanction. In reality, the people of Oakland are taking back their town following years of oversight and intense police control, which neither ended significant state intervention of protected the rights of the people. My prayers go out to the families and community members who have suffered following the worst mass murder on a college campus in California's history.
I also hope that Oakland will press against the unwanted intrusions of the state against the individual liberties of the people, and I also hope that they learn how to protest unjust collusion of Big Government and Big Business without harming themselves or their mission.
The current governor Jerry Brown was the mayor of this troubled city for eight years. Though he may have failed to inculcate a culture of respect and rule of law in one city, it appears that the citizens of Oakland are learning to overcome challenges to the peace and recovery of their city.
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