Letter from an occupier

We don’t need police

The police, as well as all of the other apparatuses we have clearly adopted directly from the horrific terror states of the 20th century, must be opposed as strongly as possible. We must address the fundamental principles of justice on which the concept of the “police” is based. Protecting property and forcing the normalizing fascistic “order” on the people are the primary functions of the police of today. Such an institution is nothing more nor less than the upper class nakedly oppressing the majority of society with violent force. We should not pretend that there is any legitimacy to the ‘police’ at all. We don’t need them. Look into the sociological data of real police forces – responding to what any of us would consider actual significant crimes accounts for an insignificantly tiny percentage of their activity. Many of us feel that we would sooner trust any other individual than trust a police officer. Tolerating this nightmarish occupying army, or the totalitarian state they represent, only ensures that we will live in increasingly authoritarian repression in the future.

I hope I have helped you to understand why people are out there yelling at cops and breaking windows. Every one of us has something to contribute toward the project of forming a post-capitalist society. For those of us who are ready, willing, and able, bringing about the end of neoliberal capitalism and the totalitarian violence that defends it is amongst the most urgent and important projects we could engage in. Perhaps some of you may even be compelled to join in.

Op-eds are long-form opinion pieces published by request or solicited by Saugerties Times. They do not reflect the views of this newspaper or Ulster Publishing. If you’d like to respond to this piece, or have an idea for an opinion article, write editor Will Dendis at [email protected]

Advertisement

 

Only a fraction of the material published in each week’s Saugerties Times makes it to our website. To read all about local government, schools, people of interest, arts and entertainment, classifieds and the region’s best calendar, subscribe today for just $30 a year: https://ulsterpublishing.com/pages/subscribe

 

There are 2 comments

  1. sir edmund the green

    Awesome, Noah, hit the nail on the head! Hydrofracking, tarsands, Mt.Topremoval, and climate chaos are just the symptoms.

  2. Ezekiel

    I would find a way that does not interface with the Power ‘Elite’, in order to not include violence in the equation, Occupy natures structures for increased harmony with evolution.
    We dont really want to occupy Wall street, we need to de-occupy Wall street we should kidnap as many power elites as possible in a nonviolent way commandeer them, and show them love. But why waste time with all that when we can nurture and heal ourselves, unplug unplug unplug, from Wall mart,

Comments are closed.