Reply #69: no police, or at least rotating responsibility

[Michael Costello]

In most dicussions of these societies there would be no professional police force. If a police force was needed at all it would be rotating, sort of like countries where everyone at a certain age must enter the military. But what are people going to be arrested for? Selling marijuana? That would probably be legal. I mean look at the USSR - crime there skyrocketed along with poverty after the Soviet Union dissolved. You hear stories of tourists being robbed with machine guns in Brazil, but that is another society of wealth disparity. I don't see the need for the manufacture of many luxury items to rip off anyway. The police would be less necessary, with no professional police force in existence.

The US can be pictured as an ocean where 1-2% of the population is living in luxury on a yacht, 20-30% are in rowboats with a hole in them, 60-70% are holding on to a piece of floating wood, and 5% have no means of support or are drowning. It is a constructed situation designed to make people think virtually anyone would do anything to become a rich parasite living off everyone else. I do not think that's the case, I think most people would be happy working a decent job 35-40 hours a week, with security, a home, a car, food on the table and time with family and friends. Most people want money for security, not a desire to wear diamonds and whatnot.

And I would be a hell of a lot happier with direct democracy than the current tyrannical and imperialist rule of the wealthy. I'm sure mistakes would be made, but look at the current situation - the US has had Abu Ghraib's for decades, really (read about Dan Mitrione in Uruguay, among others). I have more faith in my blue collar neighbors than Paris Hilton.