• @[email protected]
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    311 months ago

    Trouble with that theory is that I think regular people won’t hear something like ‘All Cops Are Bastards’ and immediately think ‘well they probably don’t mean all cops’. It literally says it there.

    Maybe because I’m Scottish living in Scotland I’m separate from the US side of the movement/argument but knowing so many good people in the service who have probably done more for their communities than some people spray painting on walls it just sounds so blatant. If it was a different slogan then I doubt people would have an issue with it but not everyone hears all the details about what it apparently means online or whatnot, they just see the words.

    No desire to be pedantic at all, just explaining why a lot of folk won’t get behind the message.

    • @[email protected]
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      911 months ago

      ACAISAETOSOOSBTNOTPI or All Cops Are Inherently Supporting And Enforcing The Opressive Systems Of Our Society By The Nature Of The Policing Institution doesn’t quite have the same ring to it though.

      I mean I get it, “ACAB” sounds a bit like an over-reaction and I wouldn’t use that term to talk about Belgian cops, but within leftist circles like lemmy I think it’s an acceptable shorthand since 90+ percent of people already understand The Discourse™ on some level.

      • @[email protected]
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        611 months ago

        Haha that acronym gave me a chuckle.

        Yeah I get it, I just don’t like when things are reduced to all x’s are y’s, think that kind of polarised thinking isn’t helpful when the world has a whole lot of grey in it. Equally if someone is happy to post a comment like that online I don’t think there is anything bad about chatting it through like reasonable humans.

        • stevedidWHAT
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          111 months ago

          Social meanings of words out weigh dictionary definitions, that’s just how being social works

      • @kaffiene
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        311 months ago

        I’m very left wing and I hate the ACAB slogan.

        • stevedidWHAT
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          111 months ago

          I’ve never heard a progressive, liberal or democrat call themselves “left wing” before

          Thanks for expanding my world view!

          • @kaffiene
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            311 months ago

            I’m not American so labels like democrat and liberal mean nothing to me. Consequently I have no idea what you’re trying to insinuate

            • stevedidWHAT
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              111 months ago

              It was a legitimate thanks for being you

              • @kaffiene
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                11 months ago

                I’m sorry - I’m a bit dense sometimes when it comes to interpreting comments on the net.

                Follow up question: is left wing a loaded term in US politics? It doesn’t seem to me that US conservatives mind being called right wing?

                • stevedidWHAT
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                  11 months ago

                  No need to apologize haha

                  And I don’t think so, it’s just another word for progressive or any other number of synonymous words which equate to “we want to push society out of stale behaviors and encourage constant reevaluation and adjustment.

                  Some people just can’t handle that sort of thing for one reason or another

      • @[email protected]
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        111 months ago

        PEB

        Policing Enables Bastards

        Meanwhile, “ACAB” is obviously wrong and disrespect to anyone who signs up to get fired for being a good cop.

        Don’t need to say literally wrong things that have to be re-explained, even if it is catchy. Be The Change!

        AACABAL! (All ACAB’rs Are Lazy!) :)

        • @kaffiene
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          311 months ago

          See, that expresses that it’s a systemic issue and that consequently some cops are bastards without damning everyone who is part of a large diverse group. It’s even a simpler acronym. Brilliant

      • @[email protected]
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        011 months ago

        I mean how about instead of hyperbolizing, we actually find a good acronym that does less to push people away from our world-view? If the problem is the system, find an acronym about the system. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but if we don’t genuinely think every single cop is bad, we should stop saying it, no?

    • @kaffiene
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      211 months ago

      As a New Zealander, I feel the same way about ACAB as you. I definitely have issues with the Police and I definitely think they’re a racist institution (NZ stats back that up) but ACAB is a shitty slogan IMO