Posted by
Andrews on Saturday, April 26, 2008 8:24:50 PM
I was reading comments on the IMDB when I ran across
a post full of socialist rhetoric. It was nothing unusual, the normal complaints about the rich oppressing the poor, no one being able to get ahead, the usual. One thing that did strike me in this post, and in socialist thought in general, is the idea that the police exist solely to abuse and oppress the poor and working class.
As the son of a police officer, who also grew up surrounded by police officers, I have to ask, who do these socialists think become cops? Do they think Ivy League socialites are lining up to attend the police academy?
The poor and working class BECOME the cops. So why do these socialists, who all ascribe to some theory of "class solidarity", think the police are somehow the tools of oppression? In my experience, police are more likely to give working class and poor people a break, rather than oppress them. But I suppose I am a tool of the oppressors as well, being a conservative, so I suppose my memories are suspect.
Actually, this brings up a related point. I have often seen black activists who claim the police are inherently racist. And in one respect, I will give them credit. I have seen relatively harsh views of black criminals among one group of police officers.
Black police officers are much more judgmental than any other group I have seen when it comes to black criminals. Then again, this makes some sense. White officers may buy into the "I was oppressed, so I can't help it" argument. Black officers, on the other hand, are every bit as black as the criminals, and likely grew up in just as harsh an environment, yet they did not turn to crime. It makes sense they would be less forgiving.
But I am straying from my original point. I still need to figure out exactly who leftists think becomes a police officer. If they are such enemies of the working class, they can only come from the wealthy oppressors, so apparently there are whole lot more Harvard alumni in the ranks of law enforcement than I thought.
Correction: My original link was to the wrong post. I am trying to find the correct comment and will link it as soon as I find the correct one.
Correction #2: The link has been fixed. Scroll down to the review by user whitecarrot2001.
POSTSCRIPT
And before someone asks, yes the title is a reference to the episode of
The Young Ones where Neil wrote to the bank, starting his letter "Darling Fascist Bully Boys".