Authoritarian Contol: A Necessary Evil?

Police on alert as crowds gather for Lakers' championship game

Source

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said  "extraordinary measures will be in place" to prevent unrest. Beck said the LAPD deployment will be "four or five times larger" than last year's response and include hundreds of patrol officers and specialized tactical units on foot, horseback, bikes and motorcycles.

I thought this would make for and interesting discussion on the complacency of society towards living in a police state.

A lot of people here, for whatever reason, have this idea that martial law is going to be declared and the government will suddenly (and without reason or resources) relocate 300 million people. What they don't realize is that we already live in an authoritarian society. One that has progressed from one local town sheriff who had only the town's safety in mind to a police department with tens of thousands of officers determined to fine you for going 75 in a 65 zone on the highway. They don't realize we live in an increasingly authoritarian society hell bent on making you afraid of both the law and those who enforce it. We are becoming accustomed, slowly but surely to increased government and authoritative control over our lives. We even believe it is a good thing. We believe we need to be controlled because we are wild animals that will rape and murder each other if we are not kept on a leash.

From kindergarten we are taught to have unquestioning respect and obedience towards authority. This creates a naturally rebellious behavior in most humans. These kids act out as adults and cause us to feel that having a police response such as the one in the article is a necessity. We feel this is for our "own good" and we complacently sigh and shake our heads and move along.

My personal opinion is that the presence of this authority is what causes these riots in the first place. It is that natural human urge to be free and able to do what you please. The TPTB through years (hundreds of) of under-education and grooming has created a sector of society that is prone to acts of violence and conversely created a sector of society that feels a "police state" as it were, is necessary for their own safety and protection. We ALL without exception fall into one of those sectors of society. I am willing to admit that even I do.

We have been taught that we cannot protect ourselves. We cannot help calm and control our fellow man. We need the police to do it for us.

There are many, many people that pride themselves at breaking the law. That is because they know what we at ATS also know, that laws have devolved from statutes that help secure our safety into an oppressive web of trip wires that explode in the faces of innocent and guilty men alike. Those that were innocent are so jaded they become guilty because they feel it doesn't matter either way. They are the rebellious sector that TPTB can use to say, "See! Authoritarian law enforcement is necessary to save you weak people from yourselves because we all know you need to be saved and you can't save yourself."

I believe that humans are more than capable of enforcing rules amongst themselves without needing authority to oppress them into it.

This is of course all my very personal opinion. I would like to hear what you have to say about this and the article. Even if you don't care. Please don't leave without giving your two cents. Everyone's opinion matters to me.

Also, if you haven't already please take a look at my friend Protoplasmic Traveler's epic thread: All Roads Lead To Rome

[edit on 6/18/2010 by dbloch7986]

I would prefer they deploy too many police instead of too few for the Laker's game; win or lost there's always a group of people that want an excuse to break things and cause general mayhem.
While I basically agree with the rest of your post and think were living in a totally authoritarian society this is one occasion that I feel justifies the use of large numbers of police. We all saw what happened after the Rodney King verdict was handed down, they don't care to repeat that scenario.
What I don't get is that people will riot over a game but do nothing about their rights being taken away. I find it amazing how worked up people get over a ball game of any kind, they treat it like it's a life or death situation

Where has Protoplasmic traveler been? I haven't seen him in a while.

[edit on 18-6-2010 by Asktheanimals]

reply to post by Asktheanimals


I agree 150%. It seems people are more willing to riot over sports than their own rights. Its ridiculous. And your thoughts about wanting more police is exactly what I am talking about. Most people feel that way. This situation is the perfect example of how TPTB reinforce that opinion in all of us.

I hope Proto stops by to give his thoughts on this. I haven't seen much of him either.

Must be more of an L.A. thing than just sports or Lakers fans... (From what I've heard people and the police there have an long ongoing angsty regard for each other. And the history of it shows the bad reputations given to both sides aren't that unwarranted.) Saying it's sports is just ignoring that it's an excuse for something they've been itching to do. Any situation that could draw a large crowd onto their streets is likely to result in similar behavior.

Back in the '90s there were rallys for the victories of the Bulls 7-peat streak, and there wasn't too much in the way of riots or outright vandalism. Much more recently, there was a parade and celebration when Blackhawks got the Stanley Cup. Other than a few stupid people getting too drunk and an officer that obviously had no ATV operator training, there was little in the way of incidents with the police.

Sure, Chicago isn't without it's share of violence. But the folks here typically don't use sports or other events as an excuse. (And that's even with the Cubs/Sox Northside/Southside baseball rivalry.)