From: Technotranscendence (neptune@mars.superlink.net)
Date: Thu Nov 07 2002 - 14:25:49 MST
On Thursday, November 07, 2002 12:55 PM natashavita@earthlink.net wrote:
> "I should know better. The police can't protect us. That's not really
> their job. Their job is to give us tickets on various pretexts, taking
> our money for the state."
>
> I have been protected by the police on an number occasions.
> Two situations were very recent. The police were smart and
> effective. I would have been in a mess without them.
There you have it: a knockdown argument for government.:)
But more seriously, do you think the rest of what the police do -- from
handing out tickets for people without up to date car registrations to
busting people for smoking pot and beyond -- is thereby all good and
fine? One point that Bruce L. Benson brought up in his _The Enterprise
of Law: Justice without the State_ -- aside from the fact that one can
have security without police -- is that it's usually far easier to
enforce bad laws than good ones. E.g., it's much harder to track down
the guy who stole your car stereo than it is to hassle pot smokers (and
growers). (We also see the money in law enforcement flowing that way.
The surveillance aircraft and the like are used to go after vice crimes
and not real crimes. That's where the big dollars go.)
Cheers!
Dan
http://uweb.superlink.net/neptune/
"You wanna get high?" -- Towelie from "South Park"
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