this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2025

677 points (97.3% liked)

196

17133 readers

3053 users here now

Be sure to follow the rule before you head out.

Rule: You must post before you leave.

Other rules

Behavior rules:

No bigotry (transphobia, racism, etc…)
No genocide denial
No support for authoritarian behaviour (incl. Tankies)
No namecalling
Accounts from lemmygrad.ml, threads.net, or hexbear.net are held to higher standards
Other things seen as cleary bad

Posting rules:

No AI generated content (DALL-E etc…)
No advertisements
No gore / violence
Mutual aid posts require verification from the mods first

NSFW: NSFW content is permitted but it must be tagged and have content warnings. Anything that doesn't adhere to this will be removed. Content warnings should be added like: [penis], [explicit description of sex]. Non-sexualized breasts of any gender are not considered inappropriate and therefore do not need to be blurred/tagged.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us on our matrix channel or email.

Other 196's:

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

677

Rule (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

42 comments fedilink hide all child comments

ID: teen @COMMIEdaughter posted: “please do not use words like “policeman” or “policewoman.” Use gender neutral terms like “tools of the capitalist bourgeoisie and enemy of the people”.”

top 42 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] [email protected] 62 points 1 month ago (3 children)

I'm old. I've always used "pig" instead.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 month ago

That's an insult to pigs.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago

Came here to say the same thing. "Pig" is a good gender neutral term and has universal appeal.

[–] ChicoSuave 9 points 1 month ago

Pigs are useful. Cops aren't.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 month ago

I believe the current term is "class traitor"

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Cop is short and gets the message across

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago

Capitalist Oppressive Person?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago (2 children)

just use the collective police. that way it non-specific, which if i were police person, i'd really like <3

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 month ago (4 children)

"Police person" also implies that police are people...

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

i kno, police bad. i jus don come from US so police here is not so bad at all. i really do feel safer when those peeps are around.

so dehumanizing, at least to me, seems unreasonable.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago

Oh, they're definitely people, just class betraying, oppressive, abusive people, who dedicate their lives to work exclusively in service of even more oppressive and abusive people, in exchange for some power to trip on.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

Police Entity. Pronoun "it".

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

They're people. Dehumanizing anyone is gross and wrong.

[–] Eheran 0 points 1 month ago

They love it, because they target "the other side", because "they deserve it". Said every bad person ever.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

I couldn't give two fucks what a bastard would like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[+] [email protected] -13 points 1 month ago (7 children)

Until someone assaults you and you’re running like a bitch towards your nearest police station. We need to push for police reform, demeaning and treating them like enemies pre emptively will not help any of your causes, it only entrenches them further as tools of the state instead of protectors of the people (would you protect someone that hates you for no reason other than you are a part of the system, like everyone else?)

[–] rockSlayer 25 points 1 month ago (1 children)

be nice to the class traitors, they might betray us less

[–] [email protected] -4 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Be nice to people, that’s all.

But I don’t see what’s productive about demonizing the police when we both know that the first thing you’ll do when someone breaks into your house or whoops your butt is call the police. Or do you think you can bring justice to perpetrators in your own terms with your own hands?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I wasn't going to engage, because lets be honest, there's no point, but I happened to scroll past these the other day, and you've given me a good opportunity to use them, and others might enjoy, so:

"but if we don't have the statemurder squad, who will fill out paperwork after my house is robbed and laugh when i ask will i get my stuff back"

It is a privilege to think the police will protect you

bootlicking noises

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Damn generalizing a large group of people always works out great right?

I really hope you never need an officer for anything, but if you do I hope you’ll remember this conversation and maybe walk away with the right lesson.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

Assuming they're able to walk after the officer is done protecting and serving them. If you can call the police or approach an officer without concern then you don't understand the reality a lot of people live in.

[–] rockSlayer 12 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I only contact the police when it's absolutely necessary, which is to say I've never contacted the police. Cops are only capable of making a situation worse.

If my apartment had a break in, the only reason to call them is to file an insurance claim, which only matters if they walk off with 1 of 4 items worth more than $500. If I were mugged or had my ass beaten, there's a nonzero chance that I wouldn't even bother with a hospital let alone cops.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Just because you haven’t needed them yet doesn’t mean that you might need them sometime in the future. Best keep that in mind.

I don’t see any point in spreading vitriol about people anyways. They’re just like anyone else, a cog in the machine, trying to make a living. And just because some are bad, doesn’t mean that all of them are bad, and maybe we could stop more of the bad ones from popping up if we tried to understand what makes them bad. I’m willing to bet that the answer is the same as it is for any other worker that does a bad job: they’re being exploited with terrible working conditions, low pay (for the risk), high stress and peer pressure from others that strayed from their values because of the above. But I guarantee you that most cops don’t enter the force with bad intentions.

[–] Eheran 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Speaks so much about the people here that you get downtown for such basic things. People are just too dumb to see that they are no different to their enemy.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

People are not really evil, they’re just ignorant. Every one thinks their beliefs are the ones that will make everything right, even if it perpetuates wrong. The end justifies the means for people of all kinds of idealistic backgrounds. Which is why I don’t get mad and simply defend my point and try to talk sense into them. It’s up to them whether they attempt to correct their ignorance or not though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

[email protected]

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

"Yet you participate in society, curious! I am very smart."

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Not what I said at all. I said that because you both participate in society and have no option other than to participate in it you should be empathetic towards them. That’s all.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

I have a little bit of empathy for the people, but not for the position nor the system.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

We need to push for police reform,

Police reform would inevitably mean replacing a significant fraction of the police, because most police officers aren't qualified to do their supposed jobs.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yes I agree.

But the notion that no police at all is a good idea is absolutely ridiculous. I can empathize if you live in a place where the police force is fully corrupt but this is systemic, it’s the same thing that causes poor communities to have more crime. Now I could start saying that poor people are criminals and I would be flayed alive (rightfully so), but it is the exact same thing as saying that all cops are criminals or abusers. Some of them are, many of them maybe, and in some places most of them but that in itself is not a problem inherent of the concept of having someone to protect the peace and make sure that rules are followed.

It betrays a real lack of critical thought imo.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

More police in an area CAUSES more crime to happen. And what's our response to higher crime? MORE COPS!

What useful responsibilities they do have could all be replaced by other people. Most of those do not need to be armed hotheads who don't fully grasp laws they're supposed to enforce.

[–] you_dont_666 1 points 1 month ago

Please show some evidence for your claim that police cause more crime to happen.

[–] undergroundoverground 9 points 1 month ago

Youre right, the police do have a monopoly on violence and will kidnap you for meeting violence with violence, as they can't have their monopoly or their authority questioned. Although, I don't consider that a good thing, myself.

The role of the police has and will always be to protect the assets of the rich. Everything else they do is a side hustle to justify their authority. Please dont get me wrong, some of those side hustles are very important but that's not what they're for. Nearly every modern police force is built on either or a combination of the British police officer or the American. One started as a private security force to protect wealthy peoples assets from starving people during the bread riots and the other was founded by slave catchers.

Every single police force started out that way and i just don't think you can build from or reform-away that kind of foundation.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

TL:DR: We just need to put the boot on a different foot and surely it'll stop stepping on our necks!

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yes surely having no police is a good idea. Leopards will definitely not eat your face.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Read a book.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I read lots of books. Maybe you should read more books, they help with empathy and critical thinking skills.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I don't have time to explain everything to you, go here -> https://theanarchistlibrary.org/special/index and then we can talk. The state is not and never will be your friend, hope this helps! <3

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I don’t need it to be my friend. I just need it to contain human violence by having a monopoly on it. You might see that as a negative, but I see it as a positive and history is obviously on my side as well, because we would have not achieved the things we have without states. You might think I lack imagination, that there are other possible systems but the truth is that all I have to do is look at the beings that are 99.99% like us to understand how we would exist without a state. We already lived like them and decided that giving the monopoly over violence to the few was better and led to more stability.

I agree with the sentiment though, humans will never be truly equal while some hold the authority to exert violence and others don’t. Once we invent God we can hand over the monopoly to it, and then we can be equal.

[–] abbotsbury 6 points 1 month ago

Until there is even a mere noticeable minority of cops in a coalition to support and implement reforms, they are all my enemy. If the problem is systemic, which it is, then everyone who willingly stays in the system without trying to change it is an enabler at best.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

It isn't preemptive to see cops as our enemy, for they're already taught to view the public as an enemy. The reform we need isn't even what gets discussed by anybody who wants to "work" with police.

Public safety needs to be gutted and rebuilt from the ground up, with cops only handling situations where someone might need to die. There is no non-lethal violence. Any instance of cops using any form of violence carries the risk of someone dying. We shouldn't expect them to be anything but violence machines; a last resort to any issue, not part of a front line.

If their unions don't hate you, you're never gonna actually accomplish anything. It's not a good strategy to ally with people who get upset at being anti-cop. In the US, politicians who say "fuck the police" are better off than any respectability politician. We've heard nothing but meaningless platitudes for years, and people are tired of it. The "safe" politicians have provided no safety, and people are too scared to trust them any longer.