Quote:
Originally Posted by stinkubus
The federalist system mostly ensures that locals can exercise that sort of authority. The public is so scared of crime or indifferent to the brutality that no one, other than the victimized communities, cares enough to want to force it to stop.
Historically I don't think national police forces are better. They are probably worse. I just listened to a podcast on the history of Haiti. One thing that happened was there was a long series of terrible authoritarians leading up to the US occupation (1915-1934). The governments had little reach into the countryside though. During the occupation the strength of the central government and its institutions increased and made possible the later and more thorough tyranny of Papa Doc. I just mention it because I was listening yesterday and its not that widely known. There are better known examples of terrible national police forces.
Ultimately I think the problem is that people are pretty easily frightened and often callous. I'm not feeling like there are any great solutions though. Education and eternal vigilance aren't a lot to pin your hopes on. I think in anti-authoritarian moments people have to actually dismantle/reduce the tools of oppression and not just bask in the glow of some enlightened leadership and the genius laws and administrative processes they invent.
Last edited by microbet; 02-09-2018 at 12:07 PM.