this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2024
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Abolition of police and prisons

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Abolish is to flourish! Against the prison industrial complex and for transformative justice.

See Critical Resistance's definitions below:

The Prison Industrial Complex

The prison industrial complex (PIC) is a term we use to describe the overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to economic, social and political problems.

Through its reach and impact, the PIC helps and maintains the authority of people who get their power through racial, economic and other privileges. There are many ways this power is collected and maintained through the PIC, including creating mass media images that keep alive stereotypes of people of color, poor people, queer people, immigrants, youth, and other oppressed communities as criminal, delinquent, or deviant. This power is also maintained by earning huge profits for private companies that deal with prisons and police forces; helping earn political gains for "tough on crime" politicians; increasing the influence of prison guard and police unions; and eliminating social and political dissent by oppressed communities that make demands for self-determination and reorganization of power in the US.

Abolition

PIC abolition is a political vision with the goal of eliminating imprisonment, policing, and surveillance and creating lasting alternatives to punishment and imprisonment.

From where we are now, sometimes we can't really imagine what abolition is going to look like. Abolition isn't just about getting rid of buildings full of cages. It's also about undoing the society we live in because the PIC both feeds on and maintains oppression and inequalities through punishment, violence, and controls millions of people. Because the PIC is not an isolated system, abolition is a broad strategy. An abolitionist vision means that we must build models today that can represent how we want to live in the future. It means developing practical strategies for taking small steps that move us toward making our dreams real and that lead us all to believe that things really could be different. It means living this vision in our daily lives.

Abolition is both a practical organizing tool and a long-term goal.

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[–] MrJameGumb@lemmy.world 97 points 4 months ago

It's pretty simple really. You piss off a hot headed cop by cursing at him. He knows if he arrests you there's like a 99% chance he won't get into any trouble for it, but you will be forced to endure weeks if not months of dealing with the after math and probably at your own expense. His desire to fuck up your whole life outweighs any concern he has of ever facing any repercussions for his actions.

[–] elbucho@lemmy.world 62 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Because a substantial number of cops are hyper aggressive, insecure pricks who operate mostly above the law, and very rarely face any meaningful consequences. Given that as a baseline, it's not surprising when one of them decides to completely fuck up your life because you dared to express your anger at them in a constitutionally protected manner.

[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Because a substantial number of cops are hyper aggressive, insecure pricks who operate mostly above the law, and very rarely face any meaningful consequences.

Which, I will always maintain, is the reason they wanted to become cops in the first place.

The old adage/belief that you have to respect a cops authority implicitly just because they're a cop gives people like this the shortcut to power that they can't get elsewhere because they're too stupid to become doctors or lawyers.

"I can earn respect through hard work. Or I can go to a basic police academy course for six weeks, walk out with a badge and a gun, and people have to respect my authority"

Cops are essentially Cartman from Southpark screaming about "Respectin' my authoritah".

[–] unmagical@lemmy.ml 57 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Because ignorance of the law is a valid argument for the violent arm of the state even though it isn't for the rest of us.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 40 points 4 months ago (1 children)

One time I was riding my bicycle to our city park. I had just started down the last stretch of back road to get there, and I was riding on the very edge of the road as I usually do where there's no sidewalks or bike lanes.

Anyways, a Marine Patrol truck came up behind me to pass, and there was nobody coming the other direction in the other lane, so he had plenty of room to pass. So what's the Marine Patrol driver do?..

As he starts to pass, he lays on his horn like an asshole. Not just a polite quick tap either, he really laid on it, as if I were in the way or something, when clearly I wasn't. He could have actually startled me and made me crash, but I'm not easily startled.

I didn't even look his way, I just threw him the middle finger. He said to me "You know I can arrest you right?". I said back "Fuck you, I knew you were there and I'm not in the road."

I guess the passenger in the truck told him that he was in the wrong, not me, because he didn't do shit but keep on driving to the park.

Fuck 'em LOL!

[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 4 months ago

Cagers have no idea of the life-threatening bullshit that bikers mostly survive on a daily basis.

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 34 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Because there is no consequence for a cop arresting you on "some bullshit they made up."

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca -2 points 4 months ago

There is here. \shrug

[–] samus12345@lemmy.world 29 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

You have to treat a cop like an abusive parent, because that's pretty much what they are - an authority figure with power over you that will happily abuse that power. Placate them and get the hell away as soon as possible.

[–] stabby_cicada 15 points 4 months ago (1 children)

The recent murder of Sonya Massey really underlines how accurate that is. Massey was fucking joking with the police. Everything was fine. They were there to help her. And then she made a joke the cop thought disrespected him and she was dead thirty seconds later.

It's so fucking sickening and it's exactly how abusive parents treat kids. You have to walk on eggshells 24-7 because there's no telling what will trigger a violent reaction in the abuser - and because the abuser is confident he'll suffer no consequences from his violence, he feels free to resort to violence at any opportunity.

[–] samus12345@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

Yeah. It fucking sucks when you know you're completely within your rights, but if the cop decides to murder you on a whim, they'll get away scot-free and you'll be dead.

[–] Empricorn@feddit.nl 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Because most cops are bullies that care more about forcing people to "respect" them than they do serving and enforcing the law. And the ones that don't feel this way are abused and harassed until they leave the force...

[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 4 months ago

Imagine believing that laws are reasonable and the basis for arresting people.

[–] sunzu@kbin.run 3 points 4 months ago

This one is subejct to the ol relaible maxim... fAFO Do you really want to FO with mentally ill person who has gun and license to kill

[–] StaySquared@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

Any reason for government to add a record to their database. Their utopia is every single citizen recorded in their database, not just social security numbers.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca -1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Wow. American cops sure have changed.