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Luddites and cops: a generally unrecognized reason why police abolition is going to meet enormous resistance from corporation and their government agents (a thread):
1) The Luddites were weavers in small textile factories powered by water wheels, hence located alongside rivers.
1) The Luddites were weavers in small textile factories powered by water wheels, hence located alongside rivers.
2) When factory owners refused them higher wages, they wrecked the expensive power looms they worked on.
3) Because the factories were in rural areas, near rivers, there were no troops nearby to prevent this, and no scabs easily available to replace the Luddite weavers.
3) Because the factories were in rural areas, near rivers, there were no troops nearby to prevent this, and no scabs easily available to replace the Luddite weavers.
4) So factory owners decided to move the factories to cities, using coal power instead of water. In cities, soldiers could protect the expensive looms, and scabs would be readily available. They could break the unions.
5) As more factories did this, it turned out soldiers had...
5) As more factories did this, it turned out soldiers had...
... other obligations, and also often turned out to be on the side of the strikers.
6) So police units were started to suppress strikes and defend factories, instead of soldiers. For this you need a lot of police.
7) But most of the time, there are no strikes. Boring for cops!
6) So police units were started to suppress strikes and defend factories, instead of soldiers. For this you need a lot of police.
7) But most of the time, there are no strikes. Boring for cops!
8) So cops were given a lot of other random stuff to do, both to disguise their main purpose as union-busters and to keep them occupied.
9) they found lost people, answered noise and nuisance complaints, wrote reports, dealt with mentally ill and unhoused people, etc.
9) they found lost people, answered noise and nuisance complaints, wrote reports, dealt with mentally ill and unhoused people, etc.
10) But cops had signed on to smash heads in riots. To shoot rioters dead. They hate all this peacekeeping and report writing.
11) But powerful people still want cops around to put down riots. Like they're doing right now. That's their main purpose and what they like best.
11) But powerful people still want cops around to put down riots. Like they're doing right now. That's their main purpose and what they like best.
12) What I'm saying is, there's no way to reform cops. Their violence and anti-worker mentality is a feature, not a bug.
13) But in a world where workers got a fair shake, we could easily do without cops. And without cops, we'd be more likely to win our fight for that world.
13) But in a world where workers got a fair shake, we could easily do without cops. And without cops, we'd be more likely to win our fight for that world.
(I'm not saying we should do without peace-and-safety people. But they would be organized differently, and have different goals, than cops do. Most of them wouldn't be armed, for one thing.)
