this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2025
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I don’t want to imply that older systems were superior, just wanted to point out historical alternatives. Saying this beforehand because I noticed that the way I talk makes people think I’m endorsing stuff I’m not.
For most of human history there was no such thing as an institutionalized state police force, and yet law and order existed for millennia. To over simplify, you would have multiple powers that would try to mediate (or fight). As an example, in medieval Europe you’d have a local lord, guilds and the church, all with some form of guards to represent their interests. And you as an individual would likely belong to such a community. Also specifically the church would go out of its way to mediate problems of other people and prevent issues before they arise, both as community building and power projection (obviously).
The police of today are mainly here to protect property and maintain the status quo, they try to act like mediators, but in such conflicts they mainly come to pacify you so someone else can handle you. Personally my main issue is that we pretend like they’re much more than a civil suppression force. Like for some reason cops are still the main way states handle suicidal people, like jesus christ…
guards implemented today to represent interests would most definitely be from mega corporations, or whoever paid the most money. I would much rather have the government enforce laws than that.
Well, police is a force of mega corporations. In a corrupted landscape, there is no difference.
Well, directly is worse than indirectly
Yup, hence the disclaimer :)
I was mainly trying to point out that completely different systems are possible and that we today are COMPLETELY lacking any kind of peaceful mediation and prevention efforts or rather, to be more precise, such efforts are being actively attacked by people claiming personal responsibility (and usually advocating for more guns and or police too…).
But the state realizes we need SOMETHING, so it just sends in people with rifles who have the right to spontaneously and severely mess up your life or even murder you in cold blood with minimal consequences if any. The amount of times in the US a 911 caller got shot themselves almost immediately after the cop’s arrival always sends chills down my spine. Cops are trained to prioritize their own absolute safety over anything else, which includes the victim’s safety. They are not here to serve or protect us.
If I’m ever in a situation that would require more than just filing a report, I’m not calling the cops simply for my own survival. I would need to be in a situation with an active shooter to even consider calling the cops, where the presence of another shooter acting as a soldier wouldn’t decrease my survival rate.
Your concerns are valid to some extent but I think these instances, while awful, happen much less often than you make them seem