Not necessarily because if “all” is taken to be a universal “all” then this implies that they would still be bad under a different structure. It’s not clear from the statement alone what “all” refers to: “all” under this system or “all” under all possible systems. I have definitely seen a lot of people say it should be interpreted in the latter way.
But where I live cops don’t really do anything about theft anyway, to your point. The community watches out for thieves, who exist primarily due to systemic poverty. Until we solve that issue I’m forced to take precautions like locking doors, hiding valuables, etc.
Of course. But I’m not necessarily imagining the abolition of police in an unchanged modern society. It should also be combined with a large reduction in or elimination of private property rights, more local autonomy, housing security, elimination of car culture, and probably other things I’m not thinking of. These reforms will help rebuild local community and eliminate the perceived need for police. Some kind of peacekeeping force will probably still be necessary but it should be structured very differently and have different goals and incentives.
The imaginary world some people here live in or want to perpetuate is so absurd. Tell me you have not even bothered to check your own confirmation bias against a history book without telling me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police#Ancient
Maybe if you guys really want to spread anarchist narratives and really want them to succeed, don’t spread misinformation at least? In my experience, anarchy is inherently a whitewashing under charisma an existing superimposed power system by another superimposed power system that’s whitewashed by more amiable rhetoric. Cue oxymorons like “The Anarchy Police”, which as idealistic as it is, hides under its rhetorical veil the people who will inevitably have to rise and impose the power system as the arbiters of democracy, fairness, and “representing society”, imposing the oxymoron of a power system they criticize in the first place. This essentially has the whole system live in denial of what it is and inevitably dooming it to corruption, as opposed to working to make a flawed but existing system less flawed.
The actual thing that’s preventing you is your fear of violent consequences, and I can assure you that those consequences will still exist without police intervention.
I don’t like ACAB as a slogan because it sort of focuses on cops as bad individuals rather than the systemic harm of policing.
I don’t really care whether cops are good or bad people. That’s a distraction. I care about dismantling harmful systems.
The system prevents every cop from behaving benevolently.
The slogan emphasizes that no prize may be won by seeking a cop who is good. There are no good cops because there are no cops free from the system.
Does calling all cops bastards not imply that it’s a structural problem?
It does imply it but as a mass slogan I think it should be a bit more explicit.
Not necessarily because if “all” is taken to be a universal “all” then this implies that they would still be bad under a different structure. It’s not clear from the statement alone what “all” refers to: “all” under this system or “all” under all possible systems. I have definitely seen a lot of people say it should be interpreted in the latter way.
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When did “dismantling a badly broken current system” = “never having law enforcement again?”
If I’m not using it, sure.
But where I live cops don’t really do anything about theft anyway, to your point. The community watches out for thieves, who exist primarily due to systemic poverty. Until we solve that issue I’m forced to take precautions like locking doors, hiding valuables, etc.
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Amazing that people somehow survived without police for millions of years. Maybe they were smarter back then.
I think that’s because they lived in close-knit communities where people knew each other. The police are a modern solution to a contemporary problem.
Of course. But I’m not necessarily imagining the abolition of police in an unchanged modern society. It should also be combined with a large reduction in or elimination of private property rights, more local autonomy, housing security, elimination of car culture, and probably other things I’m not thinking of. These reforms will help rebuild local community and eliminate the perceived need for police. Some kind of peacekeeping force will probably still be necessary but it should be structured very differently and have different goals and incentives.
I’m with you! We could, at the very least, start policing the police but I wouldn’t mind an entirely different system altogether.
They lived in cities with millions of people.
Police weren’t invented until I think the 1800s?
I was replying to that timeframe.
Here are outlined systems of law enforcement since ancient times.
E: Whoops, someone beat me to it.
The imaginary world some people here live in or want to perpetuate is so absurd. Tell me you have not even bothered to check your own confirmation bias against a history book without telling me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police#Ancient
Maybe if you guys really want to spread anarchist narratives and really want them to succeed, don’t spread misinformation at least? In my experience, anarchy is inherently a whitewashing under charisma an existing superimposed power system by another superimposed power system that’s whitewashed by more amiable rhetoric. Cue oxymorons like “The Anarchy Police”, which as idealistic as it is, hides under its rhetorical veil the people who will inevitably have to rise and impose the power system as the arbiters of democracy, fairness, and “representing society”, imposing the oxymoron of a power system they criticize in the first place. This essentially has the whole system live in denial of what it is and inevitably dooming it to corruption, as opposed to working to make a flawed but existing system less flawed.
Even now, calling the police doesn’t stop burglaries, it just might get you shot
Exactly… do police sometimes to helpful things? Yes. But overall I think they do more harm than good.
The police won’t stop you now.
The actual thing that’s preventing you is your fear of violent consequences, and I can assure you that those consequences will still exist without police intervention.
That’s called a library economy, and we definitely need it if we want to avoid climate catastrophe