It doesn’t mean I think every cop is personally bad in their private life. It means that it doesn’t matter how good or bad a cop is as a private individual. As soon as they put on that uniform they become the enforcers of unjust laws, and the enforcers of persecution against minorities, journalists, workers taking collective action, environmental and climate activists, human rights activists…the list goes on.
All cops are bad because the very nature of being a cop overrides any personal merit the cop may otherwise have.
Very interesting, thank you for this input. This is the kind of insight I was looking for. I guess I was focused on this part:
It doesn’t mean I think every cop is personally bad in their privateprofessional life.
But as you say, merely participating in the system makes them bad. Not individually, but as a concept.
In that case, I think it’s important not to blame the cops, but the system. Because we all know there are many of them who are not trying to uphold the unjust laws, but the just laws. Sometimes in life you have to take the good with the bad, and surely that is what many officers are doing.
All those individuals are trying to do is make a positive impact on their community, and protect its members.
So in this type of reasoning, I think we’re putting the focus on the wrong thing, the cops. Whereas we should be putting the focus on regulators, law makers, etc.
I believe that all cops are bad.
It doesn’t mean I think every cop is personally bad in their private life. It means that it doesn’t matter how good or bad a cop is as a private individual. As soon as they put on that uniform they become the enforcers of unjust laws, and the enforcers of persecution against minorities, journalists, workers taking collective action, environmental and climate activists, human rights activists…the list goes on.
All cops are bad because the very nature of being a cop overrides any personal merit the cop may otherwise have.
This video by Thought Slime explains quite well what is usually meant by ACAB, and explains what the alternatives are: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk5xnEL8mYg
Very interesting, thank you for this input. This is the kind of insight I was looking for. I guess I was focused on this part:
But as you say, merely participating in the system makes them bad. Not individually, but as a concept.
In that case, I think it’s important not to blame the cops, but the system. Because we all know there are many of them who are not trying to uphold the unjust laws, but the just laws. Sometimes in life you have to take the good with the bad, and surely that is what many officers are doing.
All those individuals are trying to do is make a positive impact on their community, and protect its members.
So in this type of reasoning, I think we’re putting the focus on the wrong thing, the cops. Whereas we should be putting the focus on regulators, law makers, etc.