A thought experiment on police abolition

in #hive-1223152 years ago

img_0.8744215105874601 source

Hello everyone, this is my first post in the Deep Dives community. I hope you enjoy it.

The United States has entered a post Roe vs. Wade era. This contraversial ruling that the Supreme Court handed down is creating more dissent. It's primetime to hate the U.S. for millions of people.

Hatred for the government inevitably gets directed at law enforcement. Duty bound police officers have to enforce the law, regardless of who they were created by.

In the Summer of 2020 thousands of Americans called for the police to be defunded. A smaller percentage of these protestors wanted to abolish the police completely. The idea of abolishing law enforcement wasn't born in 2020. It's been an idea held by post modernists, educators, and some Libertarians for a long time. The variable (Freedom==0_LE) is tempting to hard code into society.

Angela Davis, the civil rights activist and former Black Panther penned this article on police abolition in 2020.

Davis’s article is undeniably left of the equation. However, it’s nuanced and displays the intelligence, and passion she became famous for.

But the problem with authors who write about systemic racism is that, although they are skilled at forming compelling arguments for dismantling the patriarchy, when it comes to describing how to rebuild society, they get much vaguer.

These are Davis's only words on the subject of building a just society...

“Educators, organizers, artists, athletes, intellectuals — everyday people — can play a major role in introducing ways of imagining the future that are not tethered to the notion that only the police can be effective guarantors of safety and that prisons alone can assure the security of people who populate the “free” world.”

“Such new possibilities would include rewarding jobs, critical education, decent housing, accessible health care, recreation, and art for all."

Davis’s words are poetic, but they have the substance of a first-year sociology student.

Post Modernist's believe that once the patriarchy is gone all the world’s problems will end.

All I have to say about that is, good luck.

History is not on the side of the utopian. Attempts at building utopias have always ended horribly. This is because the challenges of building one guarantee that the “moral and just hero” does not stay moral and just for long.

Once the hero achieves his goal, he’s no longer a youthful idealist. Instead, he is the embodiment of the Tyrant King.

War is expensive and revolutionaries all over the world resort to filling their ranks with criminals. They must negotiate with organized crime, and often turn into gangs themselves.

Even the newly formed United States had to get the smugglers and pirates under control, who helped the rebellion. The architects of the U.S. Constitution weren’t perfect. They owned slaves, and the words “all men are created equal” only applied to white men of Anglo-Saxon ancestry at the time. However, they created the foundation for a system of government that can change and adapt over time.

Progress in the United States is slow, but it’s still progress. It’s certainly better than the utopias that descended into hellscapes throughout history.

The quickest way for a modern nation to collapse is to abolish law enforcement agencies.

A nation that lacks security can’t have a thriving economy or a just government.

When I analyze a political theory, I ask two questions…who benefits, and who loses.

In the case of Police Abolition, who benefits?

Police abolitionists obviously think the people will benefit. They think a Garden of Eden will sprout from the rubble of the worlds abandoned police departments.

Wrong

Only the very wealthy will benefit. Once the justice system is dismantled, the 1% will have their way with the country.

Free of laws…because there are no laws if they're not enforced…they will rob the municipality's, states and federal government of its property. Everything public, including land and utilities, will be divided up by elites.

They will portray themselves as modern day Robin Hood's, and do this in the name of the "people".

But nature abhors a vacuum.

The elite will hire private security for protection, and these mercenaries will become private armies. Attempts at true freedom by the people will be brutally suppressed.

You might be thinking things are already headed in this direction.

Actually…it’s not as bad as it can be.

This scenario has already played out in Russia.

After the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia’s oligarchy took full control of the country and drained it of its wealth.

Unemployed military and KGB officers joined the ranks of organized crime and began providing muscle for the elite.

Who Loses

The people, obviously. Without the luxury of private security, regular people will be forced into protection rackets.

The average Netflix binging middle-class will be preyed on by organized crime syndicates like the Italian Mafia, Hells Angels, MS-13, and every petty street gang that wants a piece of the action.

Additionally, minorities and the LGBTQ, will be violently oppressed by right-wing militias.

Despite the political ideologies of these militias, they are self-serving and will try to profit from violence by any means necessary.

The population of the United States will plummet as millions of American’s become refugees.

Even the internet won't be spared.

Because laws against data breaches will go unenforced cyber criminals will hijack the nations SCADA systems.

The internet will only be accessible to a privileged few. And using it will be treacherous.

The United States will become a human trafficking hub. Young American girls will become prized commodity's in the global sex trade. Human trafficking gangs will violently compete for the best trade routes along the coasts.

Human slavery will be overt, and return as an institution.

Left-wing radicals will try to fight back. This might include Antifa or some other other loosely organized group. They will be violently crushed unless they abandon their principles and participate in the drug and sex trade for funding.

The economy will descend into a depression. Wall Street will resort to levels of market manipulation that we’ve never seen before, and the middle class will disappear.

No one will be able to stop this. This is because abolitionists mistakenly believe power is derived from law enforcement. That's the farthest thing from the truth. Power is derived from wealth and influence. Eliminating law enforcement will do nothing accept liberate the elite to do more of what they want to do. The vacuum created will be filled with private security, who are accountable only to their employers.

Sort:  

Yay! 🤗
Your content has been boosted with Ecency Points, by @senseiphil.
Use Ecency daily to boost your growth on platform!

Support Ecency
Vote for new Proposal
Delegate HP and earn more

right. people complain and want to get rid of the patriachy, but offer no solutions for what will happen after that.. what is so good and magical that must replace it?

Yep. The Progressive Industrial Complex is not accountable for results. Getting what they want is actually bad for them. They want chaos.

😉😣

Dear @senseiphil, we need your help!

The Hivebuzz proposal already got important support from the community. However, it lost its funding a few days ago when the HBD stabilizer proposal rose above it.

May we ask you to support it so our team can continue its work?
You can do it on Peakd, Ecency, Hive.blog or using HiveSigner.
https://peakd.com/me/proposals/199

All votes are helpful and yours will be much appreciated.
Thank you!