Honestly there's a lot that I'd wish to continue to clarify and dispute here in order to defend my own viewpoints but part of my hope in resigning staff positions here was that I'd be able to log on occasionally and enjoy some Pokemon without needing to have an argument every single time, so I'm not very inclined to continue to attempt to do so.
As I noted in my original goodbye post, I had no interest in turning something personal and sweet into a long-winded political post. I think there's a fair few debate threads for those purposes which I do not read or post on. I think you have failed to see certain things in terms that are broader than black and white (if you'll excuse the extremely poor phrasing). I can say "I think some people who are cops aren't inherently bad people" without that meaning "the police is a good institution". I can also say "there are some good cops" without that meaning "and the problem is just with a few bad cops" - the latter of those two statements obviously would be completely erroneous and based on absolutely no real evidence.
I'm glad that you do not choose to use "ACAB" to attack the character of people and instead use it only to refer to an institution, but I think you're also wise enough to know that this is not the case for everyone. I included that line in my original post because someone who I consider to be a friend was extremely concerned for his personal safety and that of his family due to his current employment, and I found that bothersome. I think it's pretty cool to say that a good cop is one who quits but I also think it's pretty privileged to not at least acknowledge that "just quit lol" simply isn't an option for many people in this country, especially right now.
If you're continuing to look to educate me, I think you're failing to realize that this is an issue on which I have already been educated. If you're looking to change my mind about something, I think you're failing to realize that we share almost all of the same views on this issue and we're nearing the point of arguing over semantics. If you're looking for me to apologize for the contents of my original post, that is something I have no intention of doing as I still stand by what I felt at the time of writing it. So again, all I ask is that you consider your audience right now and what you hope to achieve by preaching to the choir over my choice of words.
I thought I made it quite clear ("I'm speaking in this thread not to make or lose friends, not to insult you, as you have taken it, but to have important discussions, such as the meaning of ACAB and why the police is systemically bad") that my target audience was not you. I was engaging with this because I did not want a rhetoric promoting ACAB as unhealthy and dangerous (it actually calls for a change society desperately needs) circulating in a largely leftist area unopposed. I used this conversation to make my thoughts on the police known. If you don't want to have this conversation, don't.
No, this is actually not a semantic conversation - at all! It's about rhetoric (mentioned above). Your words have an impact. They convey something. I want to state again that you chose to comment on one specific thing, and this was what I took issue with.
I'm not going to respond to your second paragraph as it is another mindless interpretation of individuals rather than societal institutions.
The only other point you made in your point was that some cops maybe do not have the class privilege of being able to quit. While this could be taken as an interesting and valid point in a vacuum, you're making it here in a way that can't be considered anything but bad faith. You're making this point to say "a significant (as in, worth mentioning) number of cops probably strongly dislike the system but they just can't afford to lose their job" - it's absurd in the context. However, feel free to educate me on the number of cops that come from disadvantaged backgrounds. More importantly though, you make no mention of the fact that police are a part of the force in our society enforcing the class structure that's creating this problem.
I'm also sorry to hear about your cop friend. We do both agree that this movement should not be detrimental to anybody's safety. However, the number of police brutality murders (1143 in 2018) to police felonious deaths (55 in 2018) numbers roughly 20:1. I will continue to be angry when the conversation is disproportionately shifted to cop safety - right wingers are doing this enough.
I hope I didn't ruin your goodbye post. I ask that if you don't want to talk about politics, then don't. I will continue to, because it angers me that we are still fighting for our basic rights.
Sources:
https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/nationaltrends Data for 2018, taken at time of posting.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallm...increased-last-year-infographic/#31c253d31189 Data for "Feloniously killed" cops in 2018, taken at time of posting. Original source for this is claimed to be from the FBI.
Both sources reflect only U.S. deaths.
If this was your goal, you could have used a different thread like General News Discussion Thread.
