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y'know i'm gonna jump off from this for a sec to talk again about "defund the police" and how i think it's actually good not just as policy but as messaging too https://twitter.com/spacetwinks/status/1336342196371460102
one of the problems in discussions about "defund the police" with libs is that they have a very narrow idea of what the actual primary end goals of "defund the police" are. frequently they think the only aspect of it is "cops shouldn't have carte blanche to brutalize people"
which, yes, of course they shouldn't, and if you're a full on abolitionist like me, you think the cops shouldn't exist period. but since lots of people think this is the *only* goal, they talk about different phrasing like 'reform' or strategies like 'better training'
now, that phrasing and those strategies don't actually work in regards to putting a cap on police brutality, but even if they did - they're not addressing many of the other issues that "defund the police" is.
it's addressing "have you seen the city budget lately?"
it's addressing "have you seen the city budget lately?"
'reform' and 'reimagine' and 'better training' and all that shit that's usually in the mix does not address one of the most important things that 'defund' does, which is how much of your local budget the cops get and how little everyone else gets. this is crucial in the demand.
your city, county, state somehow never has any money for public transportation, for healthcare, for schools, for parks or public goods of any kind, but somehow - 'somehow' - the cops keep getting more money, more of your city's budget, your tax dollars, every year.
"defund the police" addresses this issue and demands change, which none of the other suggested slogans or 'how do we make cops stop shooting people for no reason' strategies do. it's certainly a touchy issue, but it's a conversation that *had* to be broached eventually.
defund the police here is a very clear overton window shifter, because before it, discussions of police devouring local budgets frequently were not in the mainstream mix at all, even as people discussed 'reform' whenever another police shooting or act of brutality happened.
there is no way to broach this subject of police budgets that *isn't* going to generate conflict, isn't going to make people uncomfortable, because we've been very much marinated in the idea for decades, centuries, that Cops Are Good.
so instead of being wormy and weaseling around and trying to find a way to phrase things that doesn't anger anybody, people are looking to change the terms of the conversation entirely, because people understand there is no way around this. this is a bullet we've had to bite.
"defund the police" may not be seen as a good 'slogan' to people who see the matter entirely in terms of 'what are people comfortable with Right Now' and voting/electoral politics, but you need to see it as messaging meant to change the conversation and 'comfort' entirely.
and it's not seen as 'good messaging' for the matter of Making Cops Stop Shooting People, but as said, we already know that 'reform' hasn't gotten us any actual change, and also doesn't address the actual issue of those police budgets. "defund the police" is excellent for that.
