The Police State Has Arrived

SB wrote:

One thing defenders of militarized policing might want to consider is the fact the US municipal police forces are already among the most militarized in the world in terms of basic equipment. Yet, US urban crime rates, and murder rates in particular, are among highest in the developed world, if not the highest.

Do you actually think a little MORE militarization is suddenly going to reduce rates even to average first world levels, let alone to zero?

We get that you're all "anti-crime" (versus the pro-crime libs), but do you actually think this is going to reduce crime for any sustained period of time in absence of other measures?

This is quite apart from the question of the cost to civil liberties of putting soldiers in the streets.

Be honest. You don't actually want to reduce crime. You just like the prospect of a carnival of cruelty and repression against racialized poor Americans and undocumented immigrants.

Membrane* wrote:

SB wrote:

One thing defenders of militarized policing might want to consider is the fact the US municipal police forces are already among the most militarized in the world in terms of basic equipment. Yet, US urban crime rates, and murder rates in particular, are among highest in the developed world, if not the highest.

Do you actually think a little MORE militarization is suddenly going to reduce rates even to average first world levels, let alone to zero?

We get that you're all "anti-crime" (versus the pro-crime libs), but do you actually think this is going to reduce crime for any sustained period of time in absence of other measures?

This is quite apart from the question of the cost to civil liberties of putting soldiers in the streets.

Be honest. You don't actually want to reduce crime. You just like the prospect of a carnival of cruelty and repression against racialized poor Americans and undocumented immigrants.

I think firstly you are making the classic mistake of concluding a false correlation where there is none. You are assuming that the advanced weaponry of municipal police forces are somehow causing more crime. This is a false inference. They are not. Rising crime rates and advance police militarized weaponry/resources are two independent variables that are not caused by each other. You have been duped by federal studies and universities that conduct research with poor Gaussian statistical bell curve models. These fail to deal with real world uncertainty and fool researchers into believing that two things can be related when they are not.

Membrane* wrote:

To add to the above. Crime rates were up over a number of years for a multitude of reasons and explaining all of them would take a whole thesis. This would be hours of typing so it’s too much to discuss, but the problem of crime is intensely multivariate.

We on the left must in addition to understanding how we allowed a police state to now coalesce (a separate issue for serious in depth reflection) must also consider ways to prevent crime before it proliferates. Reducing income inequality, improving education quality, amending the constitution to appeal the second amendment, increasing funding for mental health and drug rehabilitation, all of these ideas are the tip of the iceberg.

SB, you are absolutely right. The actions of the administration have been a complete affront to our civil liberties and even violates our right to due process. It is beyond astonishing that this has happened. It will probably continue to get worse with Trump and the ilk easily able to convince hundreds of thousands of unemployed resentful Americans to sign up for ICE, the National Guard, or Active Duty military knowing perfectly well they will be harrassing and abusing innocent civilians. There will be enough troops for every major city and the federal budget for the troops is unlimited.

We on the progressive left must unite and take back the House and Senate in 2026. It is the only glimmer of hope this country has.

el vud wrote:

Membrane* wrote:

To add to the above. Crime rates were up over a number of years for a multitude of reasons and explaining all of them would take a whole thesis. This would be hours of typing so it’s too much to discuss, but the problem of crime is intensely multivariate.

We on the left must in addition to understanding how we allowed a police state to now coalesce (a separate issue for serious in depth reflection) must also consider ways to prevent crime before it proliferates. Reducing income inequality, improving education quality, amending the constitution to appeal the second amendment, increasing funding for mental health and drug rehabilitation, all of these ideas are the tip of the iceberg.

SB, you are absolutely right. The actions of the administration have been a complete affront to our civil liberties and even violates our right to due process. It is beyond astonishing that this has happened. It will probably continue to get worse with Trump and the ilk easily able to convince hundreds of thousands of unemployed resentful Americans to sign up for ICE, the National Guard, or Active Duty military knowing perfectly well they will be harrassing and abusing innocent civilians. There will be enough troops for every major city and the federal budget for the troops is unlimited.

We on the progressive left must unite and take back the House and Senate in 2026. It is the only glimmer of hope this country has.

^ Perfect example of how delusional and out of touch is your average leftist.