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TechNickL t1_iy4dt8a wrote

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

I will go to the grave saying that the use of the specific language "defund" rather than anything else like "reform" or "replace" was at least partially an astroturfing op. It was so ridiculously easy to paint "defund the police" as unreasonable because for some reason the movement used step one of a multi step plan as their rallying cry.

If your local community decided they wanted to remodel the library, the campaign phrase wouldn't be "shut down the library".

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DJWGibson t1_iy4mbae wrote

It’s actually the opposite. We know who started (or at least popularized) the “defund the police” phrase and they meant it as “abolish the police” but felt using “defund” made it seem easier to swallow

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TechNickL t1_iy4mypn wrote

Elaborate on this cabal of anarchists that you purport exists.

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DJWGibson t1_iy4vzd0 wrote

Well, I can’t direct you to any anarchist, but there’s the advocacy group Black Visions Collective and people like the author of this editorial:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/opinion/sunday/floyd-abolish-defund-police.html

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TechNickL t1_iy520hb wrote

I don't think most people would say that author speaks for them, even most people who were saying to defund the police in 2020. Yes we'd all love to live in a post crime society where there are no criminals to arrest but the realistic path to that is definitely not to start by eliminating all police.

I remember at the time seeing posts about how "defund the police" actually meant "reduce the militarization of the police and redirect excess funds to social services to decrease crime at the source", radicals like that author were never the driving force, they just took the momentum and tried to run with it and they got their opinions disproportionately boosted because the headline "Abolish all law enforcement" gets clicks.

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DJWGibson t1_iy539t9 wrote

The problem is there’s two different definitions for “defund the police” and even people on the BLM side of the equation mean different things. And while not all will agree with the New York Times op ed, there’s a heck of a lot that do.

Which is the majority? 🤷‍♂️

Everyone believes their position is the most common. I support cutting police funding, funding social workers and mental health, and demilitarization. Am I part of the majority? I have no clue.

But since the term is unclear and to some people on both the left and the right it means “abolish” then it’s not really useful. No one knows what you mean...

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TechNickL t1_iy5542j wrote

That's kind of my point. I also saw posts about how using "defund" was 100% necessary to get the point across, which doesn't really make sense. Which is why I think there was an effort, on some level, to insist on the word "defund" in order to undermine what should have been unifying energy.

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