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“Defund the police” is one of the most shockingly terrible slogans I’ve heard in my life. I know a lot of life long Midwestern Democrats that gasped in utter d

“Defund the police” is one of the most shockingly terrible slogans I’ve heard in my life. I know a lot of life long Midwestern Democrats that gasped in utter dismay when they heard this term and saw that yup, this is in fact what our party is going with. It inspired some of the most insane and vile hatred I have ever witnessed. Not being able to see that really just means you are out of touch with huge swaths of Americans of every political persuasion.

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a_shovel 5y ago
"Defund the police" is not a slogan. It's a policy demand. It's not designed to appeal to Midwestern life-long democrats. It's designed to fix a problem. The activists promoting the demand are out of touch with huge swaths of Americans, but by symmetry, that means huge swaths of Americans are out of touch with the activists who, through their activism, research, and personal experience, know the nature of policing in America is closer to Brookside, Alabama than to what their Elementary school teachers told them about the police.
- mindslight 5y ago
  > "Defund the police" is not a slogan. It's a policy demand ... designed to fix a problem The "police" in this article are not a cost center, but rather a profit center. So, problem fixed? I agree that the cancerous police budgets consuming municipal budgets is a problem, but the even deeper problem is that they're not bound by the law they purport to uphold. "Defund" does nothing to advocate for legal accountability, which is the primary problem.
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  There is no shortage of people all over the political spectrum who absolutely abhor the status quo of law enforcement in the US. You could have had the problem fixed already if you a) didn't go off half cocked with a stupid slogan that appeals to pretty much nobody b) thrown the conservatives a bone by abolishing the ATF or something.
  - ashwagary 5y ago
    Videos of unarmed people constantly being murdered by police had no effect on the public after activists shouted "defund the police". Silly. I'm more inclined to believe corporate media convinced people the phrase was an issue.... most people dont have a problem with it, they were just given an opinion to parrot.
tunesmith 5y ago
I like to contrast it with "black lives matter" by asking, if you literally succeeded, what would be the new reality. With "black lives matter" you'd be in a reality where everyone agreed that black lives matter. Which is great! With "defund the police" you'd be in a reality without any police forces. Not so great. Locally we have an organization called "stop having kids". It's so dumb. If they succeeded literally, humanity would die out. They say it's a great slogan because it gets people talking. That's a lousy defense.
s17n 5y ago
If you're trying to win elections, it's probably a bad battle to pick. But if you actually want to reform the police, it's a battle you are going to have to fight. I'll leave it to the galaxy brains to determine what the appropriate balance between the two is.

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a_shovel 5y ago

"Defund the police" is not a slogan. It's a policy demand. It's not designed to appeal to Midwestern life-long democrats. It's designed to fix a problem. The activists promoting the demand are out of touch with huge swaths of Americans, but by symmetry, that means huge swaths of Americans are out of touch with the activists who, through their activism, research, and personal experience, know the nature of policing in America is closer to Brookside, Alabama than to what their Elementary school teachers told them about the police.

mindslight 5y ago
> "Defund the police" is not a slogan. It's a policy demand ... designed to fix a problem The "police" in this article are not a cost center, but rather a profit center. So, problem fixed? I agree that the cancerous police budgets consuming municipal budgets is a problem, but the even deeper problem is that they're not bound by the law they purport to uphold. "Defund" does nothing to advocate for legal accountability, which is the primary problem.
throwaway0a5e 5y ago
There is no shortage of people all over the political spectrum who absolutely abhor the status quo of law enforcement in the US. You could have had the problem fixed already if you a) didn't go off half cocked with a stupid slogan that appeals to pretty much nobody b) thrown the conservatives a bone by abolishing the ATF or something.
- ashwagary 5y ago
  Videos of unarmed people constantly being murdered by police had no effect on the public after activists shouted "defund the police". Silly. I'm more inclined to believe corporate media convinced people the phrase was an issue.... most people dont have a problem with it, they were just given an opinion to parrot.

tunesmith 5y ago

I like to contrast it with "black lives matter" by asking, if you literally succeeded, what would be the new reality. With "black lives matter" you'd be in a reality where everyone agreed that black lives matter. Which is great! With "defund the police" you'd be in a reality without any police forces. Not so great. Locally we have an organization called "stop having kids". It's so dumb. If they succeeded literally, humanity would die out. They say it's a great slogan because it gets people talking. That's a lousy defense.

s17n 5y ago

If you're trying to win elections, it's probably a bad battle to pick. But if you actually want to reform the police, it's a battle you are going to have to fight. I'll leave it to the galaxy brains to determine what the appropriate balance between the two is.