Which makes me wonder if I as a Dane am morally justified in gathering a few friends, breaking into these influencers homes, kicking them out, and just take up residence.
The thing about Might Makes Right is that hypotheticals aren’t a signal of strength.
What would happen if you tried? You’d probably get in an altercation. People would be injured. The local police would be called to break it up. And nobody would care that you were trying to prove a rhetorical point.
I suppose there is no moral obligation for me to obey American laws, if there is no moral obligation for America to obey international laws.
To borrow a quip from Brandon Lee Mulligan
Laws are threats made by the dominant socioeconomic-ethnic group in a given nation. It’s just the promise of violence that’s enacted and the police are basically an occupying army. You know what I mean?
But in a hypothetical “might makes right”, cops aren’t ever safe either and don’t act with impunity of the courts and the consent of the governed. Police stop being police, and are just people with a slightly above average level of force in a mad max world.
If they thought the job sucked before with high rates of PTSD and suicide, just wait.
But in a hypothetical “might makes right”, cops aren’t ever safe either and don’t act with impunity of the courts and the consent of the governed.
Cops operate as armed gangs with staked out turf. They’re safe, broadly speaking, because they have a collectivist attitude towards their own defense. If you fuck with one cop, you are inevitably fucking with the entire department. And police departments - particularly in big cities - have enormous amounts of money, capital, and manpower to deploy against individuals and small groups in opposition.
If they thought the job sucked before with high rates of PTSD and suicide, just wait.
Not remotely high enough.
And the job doesn’t suck. It is highly coveted, both for the amazing pay/benefits - some of the best in the public sector and regularly well above the local median - and for the slew of “fringe” benefits that come from gang membership - prosecutorial immunity when engaged in drug/human trafficking, assault/battery/spousal abuse, vehicle crimes, intoxication, etc.
Public safety personnel die by suicide at a higher rate than the general population. For example, Violanti et al. (2013) found that detectives and
criminal investigators had a higher suicide rate than the general population, and Dixon (2021) found that rates of suicide among public safety personnel are higher than rates of death in the line of duty. Various
job-related factors contribute to these tragedies in law enforcement officers, including repeated exposure to life-threatening situations, the strain of
shift work on sleep patterns and relationships, ready access to firearms, prior military experience, and
the demographic profile of law enforcement, which predominantly comprises White males, a group
already at elevated risk of suicide (Dixon, 2021; Stanley et al., 2016; Violanti et al., 2013). In contrast,
factors contributing to the suicide of correctional officers remain less clear, largely because of high turnover rates (Malik et al., 2023).
Go more local and you’ll find the starting officer pay regularly outruns the median salary and benefits. The NYC median salary is $73k. Houston is $56k. You can find officers in smaller towns earning less. But they’re inevitably in a township with residents that are even poorer.
And, again, this is just baseline salary. Police Unions regularly secure 1.5x - 2x overtime pay compensation, resulting in some curious compensation figures
Houston senior police officer Matthew Davis’ annual salary was about $90,000 this past fiscal year. He made nearly $170,000 more in overtime.
It was not an anomaly. Davis has collected more in overtime than his base salary every year since at least 2020, and was previously disciplined for participating in an overtime scheme involving fabricated witness claims on traffic tickets. He is part of a growing pattern among the city’s highest-paid traffic enforcement officers who routinely collect overtime earnings that match or exceed their base salaries, a Houston Chronicle analysis found
Hardly the only department that’s been scandalized by this kind of misconduct.
The coveted nature of the job is little dicks want power to abuse.
Definitely one of the “fringe” benefits.
The job does suck.
Most jobs suck. Few include the number of perks afforded to entry level staff.
The thing about Might Makes Right is that hypotheticals aren’t a signal of strength.
What would happen if you tried? You’d probably get in an altercation. People would be injured. The local police would be called to break it up. And nobody would care that you were trying to prove a rhetorical point.
To borrow a quip from Brandon Lee Mulligan
But in a hypothetical “might makes right”, cops aren’t ever safe either and don’t act with impunity of the courts and the consent of the governed. Police stop being police, and are just people with a slightly above average level of force in a mad max world.
If they thought the job sucked before with high rates of PTSD and suicide, just wait.
Cops operate as armed gangs with staked out turf. They’re safe, broadly speaking, because they have a collectivist attitude towards their own defense. If you fuck with one cop, you are inevitably fucking with the entire department. And police departments - particularly in big cities - have enormous amounts of money, capital, and manpower to deploy against individuals and small groups in opposition.
Not remotely high enough.
And the job doesn’t suck. It is highly coveted, both for the amazing pay/benefits - some of the best in the public sector and regularly well above the local median - and for the slew of “fringe” benefits that come from gang membership - prosecutorial immunity when engaged in drug/human trafficking, assault/battery/spousal abuse, vehicle crimes, intoxication, etc.
https://www.zippia.com/salaries/police-officer/
Entry level $38k average $52. Not exactly amazing pay. The coveted nature of the job is little dicks want power to abuse.
Edit: from https://www.cna.org/reports/2024/03/Law-Enforcement-Deaths-By-Suicide.pdf
The job does suck.
NYPD pay is $60k starting and $125 after five years. That doesn’t include overtime or benefits. At 33k officers and counting, they’re the biggest department in the country. Base salary in Houston is $80k with Senior Officers earning as much as $140k.
Go more local and you’ll find the starting officer pay regularly outruns the median salary and benefits. The NYC median salary is $73k. Houston is $56k. You can find officers in smaller towns earning less. But they’re inevitably in a township with residents that are even poorer.
And, again, this is just baseline salary. Police Unions regularly secure 1.5x - 2x overtime pay compensation, resulting in some curious compensation figures
Hardly the only department that’s been scandalized by this kind of misconduct.
Definitely one of the “fringe” benefits.
Most jobs suck. Few include the number of perks afforded to entry level staff.
Oh look! Cherry picking. I didn’t know it was in season.
I think more cops should commit suicide to be honest.
Fire is cheaper. you could even alert them and make sure they get out ok. just sayin