3 ms·

I'm sorry, where were you when the authoritarian shift from the "war on terror" and "war on drugs", spearheaded by the american right, balooned police budgets a

by ATsch 6y ago

I'm sorry, where were you when the authoritarian shift from the "war on terror" and "war on drugs", spearheaded by the american right, balooned police budgets and was used to justify massively arming the police and giving them the right to stop and detain nearly anyone? If you don't agree with that, I guess there's still the fact that the US left has vocally called for a major dismantling of the police and removal of many of their protections this summer. If you don't believe the scales were tipped long ago, that should definitely have done it.

peteretep 6y ago
> where were you when the authoritarian shift from the "war on terror" and "war on drugs" In parts of the world where "authoritarianism" has a different meaning from where you are, apparently.
- ATsch 6y ago
  I like your extremely selective responses, just responding to a strawmanned half sentence. Of course, it's only ever authoritarianism when the others do it. Interestingly, the George Floyd protests actually caused an order of magnitude more deaths by police than the months of protests in Hong Kong. That isn't the whole picture of course, but it is enlightening how only one of these events is regularly described as authorization. Always the exception.
  - peteretep 6y ago
    > but it is enlightening how only one of these events is regularly described as authoritarianism That's because authoritarianism is: "a form of government characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of a strong central power to preserve the political status quo, and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic voting" Hong Kong has great police. The problem for Hong Kongers is that they're in service of an authoritarian government. The US has terrible police, but that's not because of authoritarianism.
  - koheripbal 6y ago
    Your comments belong on Reddit, no HN.

by ATsch 6y ago

peteretep 6y ago

> where were you when the authoritarian shift from the "war on terror" and "war on drugs" In parts of the world where "authoritarianism" has a different meaning from where you are, apparently.

ATsch 6y ago
I like your extremely selective responses, just responding to a strawmanned half sentence. Of course, it's only ever authoritarianism when the others do it. Interestingly, the George Floyd protests actually caused an order of magnitude more deaths by police than the months of protests in Hong Kong. That isn't the whole picture of course, but it is enlightening how only one of these events is regularly described as authorization. Always the exception.
- peteretep 6y ago
  > but it is enlightening how only one of these events is regularly described as authoritarianism That's because authoritarianism is: "a form of government characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of a strong central power to preserve the political status quo, and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic voting" Hong Kong has great police. The problem for Hong Kongers is that they're in service of an authoritarian government. The US has terrible police, but that's not because of authoritarianism.
- koheripbal 6y ago
  Your comments belong on Reddit, no HN.