"A Dangerous Servant and a Fearful Master"
Race Riot Roundup, Part 2
The far left has always hated the police because they are the enforcers of private property—and because they are the first line of defense against violent revolution. We tend to view anarchy and totalitarianism as opposites, but they really aren't. When public order breaks down, that is a grant of power to violent fanatics, giving them free rein to destroy institutions they oppose and to intimidate and shake down political opponents. So hobbling or disbanding the legitimate authorities is always the first part of their platform.
Hence the slogan that has come to be adopted as the chief agenda item of the protests: "Defund the Police."
Gee, Officer Krupke
This is obviously a disastrous idea, so naturally the mainstream media apologists have swung into action to explain it away. The same people who assured us that Antifa is just "anti-fascist" because, duh, it's in the name, are now assuring us that "Defund the Police" does not actually mean defunding the police.
Defunding the police does not necessarily mean getting rid of the police altogether. Rather, it would mean reducing police budgets and reallocating those funds to crucial and oft-neglected areas like education, public health, housing, and youth services.
That would perhaps be more convincing if it weren't followed by this: "(Some activists want to abolish the police altogether; defunding is a separate but connected cause.)" I guess putting that in parentheses is a way of letting us know we are not expected to ask any further follow-up questions.
Even in this softer, evasive form, what "Defund the Police" means is: send in the social workers.
The rest of this edition is available only by e-mail to paid subscribers.