Saturday, January 30, 2010

Law Enforcement

The existence of law enforcement is one of the great embarrassments of humanity. It ranks with racism, greed, war, homophobia, and religion. Law enforcement is irrefutable proof of our inability to control ourselves. We, as a species, cannot behave. The necessity for rule-enforcing professionals is evidence of this. Compounding this dysfunction is our impotence to effectively remedy it. An effective solution to a problem solves that problem. Law enforcement does not solve. It treats, and poorly at that. It does not cure our disease. It treats the symptoms. Often it even fails to do that. The real comedy of this is the fact that our behavioral problems are being treated by other people with the same problems. A human is a human. A law enforcement official is a human pretending to be something more than he is. This, however, is just an act. It is an appeal to power. It’s all they have, because they are aware of their own fallibilities and limitations as people. They know that projecting the power and authority of something more than human is the only way to maintain their façade. I believe there are good cops. Perhaps even most begin their careers in law enforcement with good convictions. However, the nature of their occupation makes that an incredibly difficult thing to sustain. A law, like any idea, is only worth what is gained from it in execution. It is only as good as it is applied. Gravity is not an idea or a law. Gravity simply is. Gravity does not need its truth to be defended. Gravity does not need anybody’s help. If you think you can disregard gravity, go right ahead and try. A law is simply an idea. A law is a suggestion, and only as relevant as it is enforced. Our esteem of and belief in our own laws is just another indication of our overestimation of our own authority to determine what is right and what is wrong. The only difference between good kids and bad kids is that good kids don’t get caught.
 

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