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[–] JohnPaulJones ago 

Sure but we don't live in a dictatorship. While I don't like our federal government being as strong as it is, they are still liable to the people through the election process. The problem as I see it is these communities continue to vote for people that wish to further entrench this current form of government. You cannot force people to do what is best for themselves. There are plenty of examples across the country of economically depressed communities that have looked to new governmental philosophies and have found economic growth and improving standards of living. I can't make socialism work, no one can. Until these communities take responsibility for their conditions no governmental system is going to make their lives better. Some will just make their lives less bad. The reality is that cops are civil servants of the local governmental structure. They are hired by elected officials (indirectly) and are accountable most often to the office of the mayor. You only have to look at the Baltimore riots to see the failings of this argument. In a city with a Black mayor, police chief, and for the most part police force, the people felt that they were being systematically racially oppressed. How could this be? They were represented by their own communities. This wasn't an instance where an ethnically diverse city had own group oppressing another. The truth here is that no amount of policy can overcome reality. If there aren't jobs or opportunity where you live you need to either go somewhere else (which is basically the story of the USA) or implement systemic changes at a grass roots level to improve social outcomes.
While the federal government does sometimes arrest citizens it is most often for violent crime or immigration crime. The feds can only enforce federal law. This puts the overwhelming majority of police interactions outside their jurisdiction.
With that in mind while I support drug law reform (and have done so with my money), I do not consider it a moral imperative to save people from themselves. They are fully capable of making choices to benefit themselves.

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[–] SeanBox [S] ago  (edited ago)

It doesn't matter who is in charge of a neighborhood as long as the goal of every police force is to force its citizens into slavery. I simply proposed a broad solution that solves multiple problems at once. I just feel like the majority of today's youth learn that Lincoln abolished slavery in school and never give it a second thought until it's too late. While we may not see exactly eye to eye on my proposal I will say I appreciate your thoughtful commentary on the subject.

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[–] JohnPaulJones ago 

The goal of the police force is not force its citizens into slavery. Police in general come from the communities they serve. They also receive more public scrutiny collectively than any other subset of public servants. They are just people trying to do an impossible job. Externalizing responsibility for the condition of these neighborhoods is not the way out. The only way these neighborhoods are ever going to turn around is if the people in these neighborhoods stand up for them. Get rid of the poverty pimps and race baiters. Stop looking for people to blame and start looking for people to help. While there are systemic issues that can be addressed no amount of reform is going to fix the problem until these people can admit to themselves the nature of the problem.