Don't blame me, I voted for the other guy. (Politics General)

@GothArts  
I want to know what law enforcement you respect, and why.

Pay attention to how the communists lambast law enforcement. How they make it problematic and want to do away with it. How “oppressive” and “unjust” it is. How the people should “rise up”!
 
And pay close attention to how little they say about what they will do after the police are gone…

@silbasa  
Well, Violet did have some sophistry about… well, I can’t remember what they were called, but basically good police but not called that.

@GothArts  
There is nothing wrong with having a stutter. As someone who also stutters, I kind of find it insulting that so many people are using this as proof that he’s supposedly senile.

@Latecomer  
My State in the US.

@GothArts  
And why do you respect them? Do you think they are not the corrupt enforcers of the status quo Violet and others lambast?

This website is headed for the terrorist watchlist.

I ain’t one of them ACAB folk, I respect my community and it’s enforcers cause without them I would be dead and so would you. The police check up on my workplace to make sure were safe. I got family in the police force.

@GothArts
 
And I just call the coroner if someone seriously threatens me.

@Ebalosus  
You do you.

South America is right there if you don’t want police.

@GothArts  
A lot of people have family in the police - that doesn’t make it good or honest on it’s own. Are you sure you’re not just in a section of society which benefits from them?

@GothArts
 
It’s the response I give to people who say that “you’re all ACAB until someone breaks into your house or threatens to assault you.” While thankfully no one has broken into my house yet (I don’t have a suspended sentence to my name yet), people have threatened to kill me IRL…which I just ignore because I know that statistically 99.9% of people don’t have the wherewithal to actually assault someone who isn’t threatening or doing anything untoward.
 
As for the 0.1% that would that I may encounter one day, I hope that they make better life decisions in their next life, lol.
 
@ᏰᎯᎠᎻᎬᎯᏒᎿ
 
And prison is right there if you want free housing, food, and healthcare.

@Ebalosus  
You’ve seriously killed people?

@ᏰᎯᎠᎻᎬᎯᏒᎿ
 
No, hence the lack of a suspended sentence. I abhor violence, but at the same time understand that I’m one serious injury away from complete disability, hence I’m not one to take chances with people seriously threatening me IRL.
 
I’m all ears if you know of an effective semi-automatic less-than-lethal personal defence weapon that’s good out to 30 metres, as I’d prefer not to kill people.

@Ebalosus  
Testicles.

@ᏰᎯᎠᎻᎬᎯᏒᎿ
 
Yeah I think I’ll stick with guns (which is also my solution to fanatical fascists who’s minds can’t be changed).

@Ebalosus  
I’ve been threatened several times, that doesn’t mean I’ll blow their head off.
 
If someone was going to harm you they’d catch you off guard.

@Latecomer  
It’s simple common sense. We need the Police.

@ᏰᎯᎠᎻᎬᎯᏒᎿ
 
That’s highly unlikely to happen to me, since I don’t have any enemies that I’m aware of, thus any threats I’m likely to encounter are of the in-the-moment variety (like most other poor people; I’m not rich enough like Zincy to have people plan on coming after me).
 
Regardless, it shows that the cops can’t protect people in real-time. Crime prevention and mitigation isn’t crime elimination and perfect safety after all, and while an institution (or institutions; no reason for there to be just one) for the former _{(prevention and mitigation)} makes sense, there’s also a lot that can be done further up the chain to help mitigate the need for lots of police. Public housing and easy and affordable access to mental healthcare does a lot more to prevent crime than more police and/or more prisons, for example.

@Ebalosus  
Palito Blanco comes to mind.

@MagpulPony  
There’s a lot of things we need - doesn’t mean we have to respect them if they don’t deserve it.

@Latecomer  
Good thing police deserve it then.

@silbasa
 
“Police” can be reimagined and be completely different than we’re used to. For example, the version in the Zapatista communities or in Rojava which are more community policing than the totalitarian/militarized/surveillance version we have in the West traditionally.
 
We’re all, socialist or not, forced to navigate the current society in which we live. One may hate the police yet have no other choice but to rely on them for safety or some other logistical requirements. Critics like to manipulate this fact to critique the position of socialists (or others) as if it exemplifies hypocrisy rather than provides evidence of the totalitarianism of the system overall.
 
The fact that one sometimes literally has no choice but to engage with the police is the problem. The same goes for the fact that it’s nearly impossible to function in society without a smartphone, etc. A socialist doesn’t engage with the police because they like it (this would be a contradiction) they do so (assumedly) because they have no other choice.

@MagpulPony  
Well, if you think so.