If the reverse is true, you are positing that American society, the most wealthy society in the history of Earth, is so dangerous that we need jackboots and APC

If the reverse is true, you are positing that American society, the most wealthy society in the history of Earth, is so dangerous that we need jackboots and APCs in the streets. I don't buy it for a second. I think cops should be unarmed, and if they are armed, they should at least pretend to be as brave as their propaganda portrays them as and resist shooting people even if it puts them in danger. EDIT: To be even more clear, when you are not literally in a state of existential civil war, deploying militarized police is a political judgement not an evidence based one. It is a tool of para-military force used against the less powerful by the more powerful. I would argue that paramilitaries are never appropriate in civil society, even in a state of war.