I was chatting with an acquaintance earlier today. I said something to the effect of “I would consider it the worst parenting fail if my daughter became a cop”. This acquaintance then asked why that was, probably with about 50% indignation and 50% genuine curiousity.
Honestly, I kind of drew a blank. Like, I know how to explain it in a long post or like a missive, but I really couldn’t think of how to explain to someone who probably isn’t a leftist in just a quick comment. So I just went with:
“Well all they do is beat up on black kids”
Which… is of course correct. But tbh I fell that answer is just missing a lot. A beat later I almost said something about how cruel they are to homeless folks around here but by then moment had passed.
How would you all explain - in the span of a single one-liner - why cops are bad? I’m not looking to knock someone over with my impressive rhetoric or whatever. Not looking to convince them. Just so I can feel I articulated my position correctly. Just got my own sense of pride. Help me out here.
If the person is on the left: cops are the first line of defense for neoliberalized fascism and will be the people arresting and killing is when we build enough power to pose even a minor threat to the capitalist order.
To someone that doesn’t know anything about politics: cops are there to protect business owners’ interests and not public safety to the point that they actually make all of us less safe just to make sure some storefront continues to “look nice” or someone struggling with a drug addiction gets additional pain.