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Yeah actually I was homeless for years and once had the police destroy my entire possessions in front of me, another time beat me senseless then arrest me and r

Yeah actually I was homeless for years and once had the police destroy my entire possessions in front of me, another time beat me senseless then arrest me and refuse me medical treatment for the broken teeth and ribs they caused. The judge made it clear if he saw me again I was going to jail for years. I was 17. And you know what it wasn't the power of the state that let them do that shit either. It was a rural area where those people held all the meaningful power there was, and the libertarian dream is that we all live like that and call it freedom. Run my mouth where I want to about this I earned it with the gaps in my teeth you'll see while I do.

skinnymuch 4y ago
Woo thank you. Initially I was afraid someone who has been homeless had been duped into buying into into our neoliberal status quo wet dream. Only blaming the govt. Thankfully that’s not the case.
throwaway0a5e 4y ago
The reason those cops and judges got to do those things is because of state authority. We all just kinda "agree" that the state is the only entity that gets to use violence to enforce its rules. When normal people do that shit we call it vigilante justice at best or a street gang at worst. (And then we send the state after those people). Would your dental situation not be better in a society where the locals did not consider <whatever your transgression was> worthy of using state resources to punish? Would you not have been better off in a society where the cops didn't have the resources at their disposal to respond to such petty manners? Would you not have been better off had they just left you the f alone? If you weren't actively harming anyone agents of the state never should have been involved in your business let alone arrested you.
- giraffe_lady 4y ago
  No, do you have first hand experience with deep rural areas? If those men hadn't been agents of the state they would have found another way to do those or similar things, because that is what they wanted to do and they sought out the power that would allow them to do it. I do support abolishing the police and all forms of carceral justice, for what it's worth. Possibly the state too, sure, eventually. But I do not accept, right now that diminishing all forms of the state in favor of elevating personal and corporate power is a reasonable path.

skinnymuch 4y ago

Woo thank you. Initially I was afraid someone who has been homeless had been duped into buying into into our neoliberal status quo wet dream. Only blaming the govt. Thankfully that’s not the case.

throwaway0a5e 4y ago

The reason those cops and judges got to do those things is because of state authority. We all just kinda "agree" that the state is the only entity that gets to use violence to enforce its rules. When normal people do that shit we call it vigilante justice at best or a street gang at worst. (And then we send the state after those people). Would your dental situation not be better in a society where the locals did not consider <whatever your transgression was> worthy of using state resources to punish? Would you not have been better off in a society where the cops didn't have the resources at their disposal to respond to such petty manners? Would you not have been better off had they just left you the f alone? If you weren't actively harming anyone agents of the state never should have been involved in your business let alone arrested you.

giraffe_lady 4y ago
No, do you have first hand experience with deep rural areas? If those men hadn't been agents of the state they would have found another way to do those or similar things, because that is what they wanted to do and they sought out the power that would allow them to do it. I do support abolishing the police and all forms of carceral justice, for what it's worth. Possibly the state too, sure, eventually. But I do not accept, right now that diminishing all forms of the state in favor of elevating personal and corporate power is a reasonable path.