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It isn't hyperbole that US cops are far more violent and unstable than the cops of other developed countries. Look at how many people Germany kills per year. No
by cryoshon 11y ago
It isn't hyperbole that US cops are far more violent and unstable than the cops of other developed countries. Look at how many people Germany kills per year. Now look at how many people China kills per year. Now look at the US...
- dionidium 11y agoDoes Germany have an equivalent to South Chicago or North St. Louis? Because we've got one of those in just about every major U.S. city. It seems relevant.
- Aissen 11y agoMaybe the question you should ask yourselves, is why you have those. Why are inequalities so high in your country ?
- mc32 11y agoIt's an interesting question. I think there are two things which are in play, at least: Guns are readily available and we have "a right to guns" so police have to presume civilians of any kind are potentially armed. Second, we are not the only country with wealth disparity, nor the one with the largest, but... We sell people on the idea that everyone can achieve the dream of living a middle class lifestyle. When people see this opportunity unrealized they feel someone must be actively working against the promise. In some cases there is some truth to that, in other cases it's wishful thinking, but in the end, and on the whole thankfully people don't just assign their station in life to divine assignment and do feel disenfranchised, unlike other places where people might just accept their "fate" as predetermined, to great extent. So lack of opportunity by itself don't create strife. It's lack of opportunity coupled with a dissonant promise unrealized that creates strife in our cities.
- aidenn0 11y agoI agree, but if the cops in the US are put in a naturally more violent environment, then it is unfair to solely call out their policing tactics as the cause for the violence, when the underlying problem is much deeper.
- dionidium 11y agoObviously! I'm only pointing out that the police are operating in this environment, as it exists today, too.
- panzagl 11y agoCompare the US to the EU, not any of the countries within it.
- bdcravens 11y ago* the war we wage on drugs * the war that drugs and alcohol wage on the impoverished * a large population that came out of the slave class and the long-lasting effects of poor integration * poor education spending and allocation Even if we put all our resources into fixing these issues, we're talking several years. You can't use that discussion as a talking point to deflect the violent realities that police in those environments face.
- lujim 11y agoSomething about this argument bothers me. It allows criminals to be victims of "the system". In certain areas the economic machinery has certainly sputtered out, but this question seems loaded to imply that some fat cat banker or politician pushed a button that instantly sucked the jobs out of an otherwise flourishing area. This argument is just a way to inject a well trodden political viewpoint into what might have otherwise been an interesting discussion.
- pelario 11y agoNope, the question is indeed inviting to a political discussion, but is not suggesting any answer. It is you that attribute that intention to the parent comment; I guess to avoid an otherwise interesting political discussion
- lujim 11y ago>"Maybe the question you should ask yourselves, is why you have those. Why are inequalities so high in your country ?" In my experience, anything that follows "Maybe the question you should ask yourself" is usually a statement not a question. Inequality is the cool thing to be frustrated with right now, especially with an election year coming up. Yes there is lots of inequality, yes it sucks, yes it's unfair. As far as blaming every social problem on the 1% or .1% that is where I'm ready to jump off the bandwagon. An interesting discussion would be something like "why did Detroit get left in the dust as globalization took off and what incentives could be used to help the next rust belt city from collapsing into an economic black hole?", or "what affect would offering more attractive small business loans to impoverished areas have?" An uninteresting discussion would be "If it wasn't for inequality we wouldn't have so many problems, our system sucks".
- drumdance 11y agoGermany has a ton of migrant labor, mostly from Turkey.
- dragonwriter 11y agoYes, it seems relevant as an effect of the government approach to its citizens, which includes (but is not limited to) the (compared to other developed nations) ultraviolent American policing.
- dionidium 11y agoI understand that that's a feeling that you have, but I don't think there's any evidence for your claim
- chrisBob 11y agoI love watching European cop shows where the lead detective goes into the house where he suspects he will find the killer, and pulls out his flashlight.
- chongli 11y agoPolice forces don't operate in a vacuum, they are composed of the citizens of the places in which they serve. Police, like prisons, should be viewed as a reflection of society. If Americans are going to be serious about eliminating police brutality and killing, they need to take a hard look at their own culture of guns, violence, and racism.
- happyscrappy 11y agoGermans don't cross an empty street against the light, hardly comparable.
- JupiterMoon 11y agoBrits do and our police shootings count is pretty low as well.