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Poll after poll shows that the military is the most respected institution in American life. Crucially for this conversation, it has an excellent esprit de corp.

Poll after poll shows that the military is the most respected institution in American life. Crucially for this conversation, it has an excellent esprit de corp. The kind of self-pity that we now see among the police is something that would not be tolerated for even 5 minutes in the military. So it is an excellent model when we consider how to reform the police.

seanmcdirmid 5y ago
> Crucially for this conversation, it has an excellent esprit de corp. There have been plenty of scandals in the USA military that have sullied its reputation. "Poll after poll" is just anecdotal, and not born out in practice. > So it is an excellent model when we consider how to reform the police. Militarizing the police is not the answer. Imagine if the police acted like those MPs at Abu Ghraib.
- biztos 5y ago
  I don't think the parent is suggesting the police be militarized; rather that they could look to the US military's experience in combatting organizational racism and improving both professionalism and cohesion. The US military has had its share of scandals but I have yet to see that degrade the normative US opinion of our "soldiers," namely that they do a hard job on our behalf and deserve respect and gratitude for that.
  - seanmcdirmid 5y ago
    I don’t think soldiers have any kind of special reputation, at least among non southern urbanites. They do a job that they get paid for, some of them are good, a few are bad, etc… there is a swath of the country that holds that in high regard, especially in the south and in rural areas, but that isn’t normative in all areas.
    - lkrubner 5y ago
      While the numbers might bounce around from year to year, we should look at the long-term trend, which is that the military has been the most trusted institution in the USA at least since 1992: https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/06/29/the-institutions-americans-trust-most-and-least-in-2018-infographic/?sh=1c237d592fc8 https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/06/29/the-in... Soldiers have a special reputation.
- guythedudebro 5y ago
  Imagine if the police acted with the military's ROE. I think I'd have seen a lot less civilians murdered by police in the past few years.
  - dreamsicle 5y ago
    These are the ROE's that permits them to bomb a car with water bottles and kill 10 civilians without recourse? Careful what you wish for there... You should look up the ROE for a roadblock.
Jerry2 5y ago
> Poll after poll shows that the military is the most respected institution in American life. Not even the military is safe anymore: >Trust in the military is dropping significantly, new survey suggests https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2021/03/10/trust-in-the-military-is-dropping-significantly-new-survey-suggests/ https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2021/03...
- lkrubner 5y ago
  While the numbers might bounce around from year to year, we should look at the long-term trend, which is that the military has been the most trusted institution in the USA at least since 1992: https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/06/29/the-institutions-americans-trust-most-and-least-in-2018-infographic/?sh=1c237d592fc8 https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/06/29/the-in...

seanmcdirmid 5y ago

> Crucially for this conversation, it has an excellent esprit de corp. There have been plenty of scandals in the USA military that have sullied its reputation. "Poll after poll" is just anecdotal, and not born out in practice. > So it is an excellent model when we consider how to reform the police. Militarizing the police is not the answer. Imagine if the police acted like those MPs at Abu Ghraib.

biztos 5y ago
I don't think the parent is suggesting the police be militarized; rather that they could look to the US military's experience in combatting organizational racism and improving both professionalism and cohesion. The US military has had its share of scandals but I have yet to see that degrade the normative US opinion of our "soldiers," namely that they do a hard job on our behalf and deserve respect and gratitude for that.
- seanmcdirmid 5y ago
  I don’t think soldiers have any kind of special reputation, at least among non southern urbanites. They do a job that they get paid for, some of them are good, a few are bad, etc… there is a swath of the country that holds that in high regard, especially in the south and in rural areas, but that isn’t normative in all areas.
  - lkrubner 5y ago
    While the numbers might bounce around from year to year, we should look at the long-term trend, which is that the military has been the most trusted institution in the USA at least since 1992: https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/06/29/the-institutions-americans-trust-most-and-least-in-2018-infographic/?sh=1c237d592fc8 https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/06/29/the-in... Soldiers have a special reputation.
guythedudebro 5y ago
Imagine if the police acted with the military's ROE. I think I'd have seen a lot less civilians murdered by police in the past few years.
- dreamsicle 5y ago
  These are the ROE's that permits them to bomb a car with water bottles and kill 10 civilians without recourse? Careful what you wish for there... You should look up the ROE for a roadblock.

Jerry2 5y ago

> Poll after poll shows that the military is the most respected institution in American life. Not even the military is safe anymore: >Trust in the military is dropping significantly, new survey suggests https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2021/03/10/trust-in-the-military-is-dropping-significantly-new-survey-suggests/ https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2021/03...

lkrubner 5y ago
While the numbers might bounce around from year to year, we should look at the long-term trend, which is that the military has been the most trusted institution in the USA at least since 1992: https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/06/29/the-institutions-americans-trust-most-and-least-in-2018-infographic/?sh=1c237d592fc8 https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/06/29/the-in...