IMO, the BLM protests are largely political grandstanding, and will mostly disappear if Biden is elected, the same way the anti-war protesters disappeared when Obama was elected.
For example, progressive Democrats dominate the government of Minneapolis from the city council to the congress to the governorship. How much more power do they need? If they really wanted to reform police, they could've done so decades ago.
So why haven't they?
I would argue that being pro-government and anti-cop is an inherent contradiction. Using violence to enforce government mandates is the whole point of cops. Without cops to threaten imprisonment and death, the law would be mere suggestions, and many would not choose to obey.
Without cops, how do leftists propose to collect the taxes for their wealth transfer programs? How are leftists going to seize privately owned guns? How are leftists going to enforce every penny ante regulation from plastic straw bans to the height of roofs?
I see no indication that leftists want to reduce the number of taxes and laws they want enforced. If anything, progressive candidates promise more laws, more taxes...and therefore more need for cops to enforce them.
Sure, they might shift around the budget from uniformed cops to social worker cops. They might cry crocodile tears when the next person is strangled by cops enforcing cigarette taxes.
But they like being able to threaten people with imprisonment or death if they fail to obey. And until that changes, all their protestations about how much they care about reducing cop violence is just so much hot air.
For example, progressive Democrats dominate the government of Minneapolis from the city council to the congress to the governorship. How much more power do they need? If they really wanted to reform police, they could've done so decades ago.
So why haven't they?
I would argue that being pro-government and anti-cop is an inherent contradiction. Using violence to enforce government mandates is the whole point of cops. Without cops to threaten imprisonment and death, the law would be mere suggestions, and many would not choose to obey.
Without cops, how do leftists propose to collect the taxes for their wealth transfer programs? How are leftists going to seize privately owned guns? How are leftists going to enforce every penny ante regulation from plastic straw bans to the height of roofs?
I see no indication that leftists want to reduce the number of taxes and laws they want enforced. If anything, progressive candidates promise more laws, more taxes...and therefore more need for cops to enforce them.
Sure, they might shift around the budget from uniformed cops to social worker cops. They might cry crocodile tears when the next person is strangled by cops enforcing cigarette taxes.
But they like being able to threaten people with imprisonment or death if they fail to obey. And until that changes, all their protestations about how much they care about reducing cop violence is just so much hot air.