As a non black person I would rather have a brutal and racist police force, than one that can't get anything done. In Singapore the police run for cover when there is a riot, then emerge en masse to harass political dissidents. At least I have grudging respect for the US police.
As a non black person I would rather have a brutal and racist police force, than one that can't get anything done. In Singapore the police run for cover when there is a riot, then emerge en masse to harass political dissidents. At least I have grudging respect for the US police.
Totalitarianism vs anarchy is not a choice, both should be despised.
And I don't get the rationale behind saying "as a non black person". As a human being, you should be concerned anytime any person is abused by people who abuse their power. That's just basic human empathy.
In addition to that, there's the understanding of human behavior that should make you despise it. As their power increases and remains unchecked due to a lack of punishments for bad behavior, no true systemic checks against their behavior, and a lack of people with clout standing up to them, there are fewer and fewer barriers in place to stop them from coming after others because they know nothing will happen.
Nubbinator, in response I will observe the following:
ONE
Me pointing out that I am non-black does not suggest that black lives don’t matter. That’s your own stretched conclusion. Rather, it is an acknowledgement of a potential bias or different starting point in my assumptions. Which is that the police are not a ‘racist occupying force’ but exist to keep order. (The order itself may be unjust but it is not the police’s duty to create a just social order.)
The police are properly to be controlled by elected officials and civilian authorities. If you are not happy with the conduct of the police, either elect a new police commissioner or get your mayor to appoint a suitable commish (depending on what your local political system does.) The fact that the black mayor, black police commissioner, and majority black city councillors of Baltimore have not seen fit to reform their police department suggests that it is not an electoral issue that greatly matters to the two-thirds black population of Baltimore.
‘Basic human empathy’ suggests that we should respect the views and values of these people. Remember, when people are actually voting and making coolheaded decisions, they may be thinking: “I hate the racist corrupt police, but they are still better than the thugs in my crime ridden neighbourhood. So long as the bad guys are scared of the police, I’ll hold my nose and accept things as they are.”
And that’s how I would have voted too. I did not say it was a pleasing choice.
TWO
This is not the first time I have heard Singapore described as a dictatorship, a totalitarian state, a fascist state or whatever. That fails spectacularly in describing the state of affairs here.
I call this an electoral monarchy because the political culture in Singapore most resembles the political culture in another island country at a particular point in its political development.
When Hobbes was writing the Leviathan, the large majority of English people and most Europeans believed in absolute monarchy. Many people were deeply upset that a (literally) unholy alliance of property owners and religious fanatics did away with their monarch. If everyone could vote in 1651, they would almost certainly have voted for their existing monarchs.
Hobbes has since been superseded in Europe, but it took them a long time. Royalists were still influential in 20th century Europe. At present a number of countries still believe in the Hobbesian view of politics, including Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and Bhutan. The populace will vote enthusiastically for their king! Local monarchs still command a lot of respect and moral authority in many African and Arab countries. Political evolution takes time.
I do not think authoritarianism is necessarily despicable, or even that it can develop unchecked and escalate endlessly. The Western world is influenced by the example of Nazism and Niemoller’s words. Every authoritarian system has its own natural limits. Kim Jong Un for instance is very powerful but he is still restrained by the need to appeal to his own ruling clique that supports him in his daily affairs.
As for the police departments in the USA, they can always be restrained every election cycle. The question is whether voters actually want to.
Now let me tell you this unvarnished reality my dear Nubbinator and fellow geeks. You guys are NOT going to vote for police reform. You may grumble, but when the next election comes you will vote for the incumbent with more name recognition or the guy from your preferred political party. That’s how Americans always vote.
