4 ms·

From an American perspective: it's because police are idolized and worshipped on the nightly news just about every single day. Growing up, speaking ill of the p

From an American perspective: it's because police are idolized and worshipped on the nightly news just about every single day. Growing up, speaking ill of the police was second only to speaking ill of God himself, and this isn't an exaggeration. There are no cops in my family, but this reverence is still held. My family is quite religious, and I wonder if that plays a factor (I would suspect it does).

nkrisc 7y ago
Blind faith and trust in authority is a hallmark of many religions and often a praised trait in an individual.
- HarryHirsch 7y ago
  The various denominations of Christianity tend to view government as a manifestation of the divine order. It's easy to see how that can degrade to blind submission to whoever sits in power. The official Catholic position is here: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7W.HTM http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7W.HTM
HarryHirsch 7y ago
In the US, the police force is locally raised and what training they receive at the police academy is short and poor. There is no attempt to form them into an anonymous "arm of the law", they are just locals enforcing local mores. If the people would approve of the sheriff jailing a black teenager by mistaking the birdshit on his car for cocaine (https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/zmj9gx/nothings-happening-to-the-officer-who-misidentified-bird-shit-as-cocaine-in-the-arrest-of-a-young-black-man https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/zmj9gx/nothings-happening...), the cops will do just that. That would explain why even when people distrust the government they approve of the police, simply because they are not the government from far away imposing an alien law, they are the local posse keeping order.
- deogeo 7y ago
  As a counterpoint, the Chinese police in Hong Kong are exactly an anonymous arm of the law (masks included), specifically because it would be harder to get locals to be so cruel to their own. It's little surprise people want to keep at least some sovereignty local.
  - satya71 7y ago
    Depends on the who the "own" is. Local police in most cities are quite brutal to people of color.
newnewpdro 7y ago
It's just another form of tribalism, picking teams, and blindly supporting your chosen team. Religion is the same, pick a team and throw critical thinking out the window. Supporting police vs. the criminals, there's an implicit dichotomy: who do you support? if you're not with us, you're against us. You don't support the criminal team, do you? Go blue! Blue lives matter! Employment: which company is your team? You must be employed, now go choose one, and let your employer even define talking points for defending its poor behavior at family gatherings. [0] Politics: Red or Blue, pick one and always vote your color no matter what the consequences. Once people are engaging in teams, they're largely no longer thinking critically about the substance anymore. It's no longer relevant, the priority is being aligned with their peers. It's quite dangerous, like mob mentality. [0] https://www.forbes.com/sites/krisholt/2019/12/02/facebook-made-a-chatbot-to-help-workers-handle-relatives-awkward-questions-over-thanksgiving/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/krisholt/2019/12/02/facebook-ma...
- a1369209993 7y ago
  "If I'm either with you or against you, then I'm against you. No matter who you are, no matter what you stand for."
  - newnewpdro 7y ago
    Who are you quoting?
    - Porthos9K 7y ago
      The hero we don't deserve.

nkrisc 7y ago

Blind faith and trust in authority is a hallmark of many religions and often a praised trait in an individual.

HarryHirsch 7y ago
The various denominations of Christianity tend to view government as a manifestation of the divine order. It's easy to see how that can degrade to blind submission to whoever sits in power. The official Catholic position is here: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7W.HTM http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7W.HTM

HarryHirsch 7y ago

In the US, the police force is locally raised and what training they receive at the police academy is short and poor. There is no attempt to form them into an anonymous "arm of the law", they are just locals enforcing local mores. If the people would approve of the sheriff jailing a black teenager by mistaking the birdshit on his car for cocaine (https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/zmj9gx/nothings-happening-to-the-officer-who-misidentified-bird-shit-as-cocaine-in-the-arrest-of-a-young-black-man https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/zmj9gx/nothings-happening...), the cops will do just that. That would explain why even when people distrust the government they approve of the police, simply because they are not the government from far away imposing an alien law, they are the local posse keeping order.

deogeo 7y ago
As a counterpoint, the Chinese police in Hong Kong are exactly an anonymous arm of the law (masks included), specifically because it would be harder to get locals to be so cruel to their own. It's little surprise people want to keep at least some sovereignty local.
- satya71 7y ago
  Depends on the who the "own" is. Local police in most cities are quite brutal to people of color.

newnewpdro 7y ago

It's just another form of tribalism, picking teams, and blindly supporting your chosen team. Religion is the same, pick a team and throw critical thinking out the window. Supporting police vs. the criminals, there's an implicit dichotomy: who do you support? if you're not with us, you're against us. You don't support the criminal team, do you? Go blue! Blue lives matter! Employment: which company is your team? You must be employed, now go choose one, and let your employer even define talking points for defending its poor behavior at family gatherings. [0] Politics: Red or Blue, pick one and always vote your color no matter what the consequences. Once people are engaging in teams, they're largely no longer thinking critically about the substance anymore. It's no longer relevant, the priority is being aligned with their peers. It's quite dangerous, like mob mentality. [0] https://www.forbes.com/sites/krisholt/2019/12/02/facebook-made-a-chatbot-to-help-workers-handle-relatives-awkward-questions-over-thanksgiving/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/krisholt/2019/12/02/facebook-ma...

a1369209993 7y ago
"If I'm either with you or against you, then I'm against you. No matter who you are, no matter what you stand for."
- newnewpdro 7y ago
  Who are you quoting?
  - Porthos9K 7y ago
    The hero we don't deserve.