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The concept of defunding the police is not an attempt to eliminating the police force. It is just a name that tries to capture the fact many US police forces l
by jussij 6y ago
The concept of defunding the police is not an attempt to eliminating the police force.
It is just a name that tries to capture the fact many US police forces look more like an army than a typical police force found in other parts of the world.
That is what needs to change.
- hvdfhbj 6y agoThat is the "sanewashed" version of the slogan, yes. Ultimately it's classic motte-and-bailey, a slogan that means entirely different things depending on whether you're playing attack or defence at any given time.
- triceratops 6y agoIf you're aware there are multiple interpretations of the slogan, why not assume good faith, and debate the "sane" meaning of the phrase? Most people are centrists, so the "insane" interpretations are never going to get any sort of audience any way. Debating the "insane" interpretation is easy - a cheap win.
- hvdfhbj 6y agoWhile in general I agree with the idea of debating the strongest version of your opponent's ideas, I think it's okay to call out a clear motte-and-bailey when you see one, and require the other team to come back with a sensibly-phrased proposition to debate. If you tell me "We should kill all the Jews, and by 'Kill all the Jews' obviously I mean that we should increase capital gains tax by two percent" then I'm not going to debate capital gains tax with you, I'm going to tell you to go away and come back when you stop using words in such a deliberately ridiculous way.