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Benu5 t1_iy305nv wrote

Reply to comment by DJWGibson in A conversation on a bathroom wall by Pcolocoful

Police and Prison Abolition is not an overnight process. It's a long term objective that will likely take at least a century. Whether or not our door writer knows this is up in the air, but it doesn't mean the idea is a fantasy.

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DJWGibson t1_iy3ja4g wrote

It kinda is a fantasy.

Even countries with the lowest crime rates in the world such as (Iceland, Japan, Switzerland) have police. Society doesn't work without some law enforcement.

You can have universal basic income, increased funding for social workers, decriminalization of drug abuse, and other good programs but there's still going to be bad actors, crimes of passion, angry drunks, and just plain greedy assholes trying to take advantage of others.

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Benu5 t1_iy5ea55 wrote

None of that is incompatible with Police and Prison Abolition.

Probably the best text to start with would be 'Are Prisons Obsolete?' by Angela Davis

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DJWGibson t1_iy5lg3h wrote

How is police abolishment not incompatible with the fact that not a single modern society functions without a police force???

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Benu5 t1_iy7p6t6 wrote

Because it's a process that would take AT LEAST a century, hence what contemporary societies are doing isn't particularly relevant.

Prison and Police Abolition is a goal to try and work towards gradually, not an overnight policy change, read the book.

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DJWGibson t1_iy87kwn wrote

>Because it's a process that would take AT LEAST a century, hence what contemporary societies are doing isn't particularly relevant.

Which makes it outright impossible.

That's a longer term goal than any human society has attempted. 25 presidencies, 50 election cycles, and three or four generations. Reshaping society for a world we don't know the needs of. Will there even be a recognisable USA in 100 years?

Construction projects that take a decade are hard to manage, and they have a clear goal and blueprints.

>Prison and Police Abolition is a goal to try and work towards gradually, not an overnight policy change, read the book.

I'll buy prison abolishment. I think there are better ways to handle incarceration and rules breakers.

But police? You need someone to keep the peace. There's always going to be someone who breaks the rules. The job of policing needs to fall on someone. And if not a public police force then it becomes the job of the military OR private security firms and corporate security, which is dystopian as fuck.

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