We are all Responsible

"Society had a crime problem. It hired cops to attack crime. Now society has a cop problem." - Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker, 1980.

On September 24, 2011, New York Police Officer Anthony Bologna allegedly pepper sprays Occupy Wall Street protestors who have been cordoned off by a police barricade. What wa so alarming to so many was the nonchalant use of excessive force on seemingly unarmed, nonviolent protestors. While the ethos of the video and the producer can be debated, as well as the circumstance that led to the pepper spraying, the attack did occur and it has been captured on video. This incited international outrage and heightened tensions in an already volatile situation in Manhattan. This led to more demonstrations, allegations of police brutality, and even releasing of Bologna's and several other high-ranking police officer's private information by the decentralized hacktivist "collective", Anonymous. In the ensuing mayhem, one had to wonder to whom did the responsibility ultimately reside.

According to Latour, "It is neither people nor guns that kill. Responsibility for action must be shared among the various actants (Pandora's Hope, 180)."

If Latour is correct, and if Bologna is to be tried for his actions, then he is not alone. Bologna's superior officer must also go on trial, as must the psychologist who stated he was fit for duty, as well as the NYPD as a whole. The mayor of New York must also go on trial, as do the citizens who voted him into office. The distributor who sold the pepper spray to NYPD, the manufacturer of the spray, the manufacturer of the can, as well as the person who discovered that pepper spray could be used as a non-lethal weapon. The protestors, as actors in this scenario, must also go on trial, for they were willing accomplices in a crime. The protestor's families, as well as those of the offending parties, must also go on trial, as they are responsible for instilling the respective values in the actors in this scenario. The laws, which were ultimately granted by the Constitution, must also go on trial, as should the authors of such a document. Lastly, you and I should go on trial, for agreeing to live by such laws and to allow a society where people can be pepper sprayed for exercising perceived rights. We are also accountable for the hiring and appointment of individuals who make decisions regarding violent practices and extreme measure carried out on its citizens. 

That is quite a burden to bear, especially for something that is non-lethal. As someone who has had the experience of being sprayed with the exact same type of irritant, it is not particularly pleasant, but it isn't particularly harmful. Should we all have to pay the price? Latour thinks so. While this is an extreme example, Latour seems to agree: "That we are never alone in carrying out a course of action but requires a few examples (Reassembling the Social, 44)." 

If Latour is correct, then every thing is ultimately responsible in this hybrid assault.