Sunday, April 24, 2011
Do We Even Need the Police and Military Anymore?
I have read an awful variety of opinions on this question in the recent past. Opinions from every different corner of the political spectrum. There are a great many who view the police and military with the greatest disdain and mistrust. I have to admit, there a many valid reasons for it. They have both grown to be symbols of a very broken system and world. They have both come to represent a system of repression and very much a direct opposition to freedom and democracy. In North America this has become more direct than at any time in the past. Combine this with the overwhelming dishonesty of our elected officials and we have the seeds of complete chaos. I only know one serving police officer and have tried to engage him in this conversation. I have been completely unsuccesful. I have absolutely no idea why he is so reluctant to discuss the issues but it disturbs me to an incredible degree. If I can not even get so much as one officer to enter into this debate with me, what hope do we have in getting law enforcement back on the side of the people?
The odds are not with us. I believe that we require our law enforcement people. I believe that along with teachers, they should be among our most honored members of society. This, however, completely relies on our ability to get them back to being agents of the people, not agents of a very select portion of our society. I have had the unfortunate opportunity to meet with some very sociopathic people in my lifetime. Some of them upstanding members of society. Some of them serving members of our military. Perhaps this has been the result of different types of brainwashing, perhaps not. I'll leave that to more expert testimony than my own. The bottom line is the fact that they exist, both here and abroad. The world can be a very dangerous place. I chose not to live my life in fear of that, but I can never completely ignore it. The experts can, perhaps, explain the origins of these types of people. We, as a species, may even be able to all but eliminate the underlying causes of their creation. The fact remains that we have them now. There are human beings committing horrors to rival anything we might ever see in the movies. We seem to be very creative that way. I won't even begin to list them here. I don't think I have to for anyone to see this reality. I think it must be obvious that we will need our law enforcement officials until such a day comes when any man, woman, or child can walk down any urban street with total safety, at anytime of the day or night and with the full confidence that should they need it, every single able bodied member of our society would run to their aid.
Until such a days comes, we better figure out a way to get our enforcement personnel to serve everyone's needs, not just the disguised needs of the rich.
The odds are not with us. I believe that we require our law enforcement people. I believe that along with teachers, they should be among our most honored members of society. This, however, completely relies on our ability to get them back to being agents of the people, not agents of a very select portion of our society. I have had the unfortunate opportunity to meet with some very sociopathic people in my lifetime. Some of them upstanding members of society. Some of them serving members of our military. Perhaps this has been the result of different types of brainwashing, perhaps not. I'll leave that to more expert testimony than my own. The bottom line is the fact that they exist, both here and abroad. The world can be a very dangerous place. I chose not to live my life in fear of that, but I can never completely ignore it. The experts can, perhaps, explain the origins of these types of people. We, as a species, may even be able to all but eliminate the underlying causes of their creation. The fact remains that we have them now. There are human beings committing horrors to rival anything we might ever see in the movies. We seem to be very creative that way. I won't even begin to list them here. I don't think I have to for anyone to see this reality. I think it must be obvious that we will need our law enforcement officials until such a day comes when any man, woman, or child can walk down any urban street with total safety, at anytime of the day or night and with the full confidence that should they need it, every single able bodied member of our society would run to their aid.
Until such a days comes, we better figure out a way to get our enforcement personnel to serve everyone's needs, not just the disguised needs of the rich.
