I
woke up in the middle of the night with a shocking realization. I realized that
I am weird. This isn’t a new revelation. I have always been weird. But I
suddenly realized that I was weird in ways that I didn’t feel comfortable with.
Usually, being weird meant being socially unacceptable and either I moved, or
my neighbors moved. But since my ego and I are not ready to part company, I
realized that I needed to cope with this. I have some beliefs that are logical
yet disturb me deeply.
I
realized that I don’t like the police. As individuals, I like cops. Most of
them are idealistic, service minded, professionals. They do a difficult job.
But I realized that the mafia guy who came around demanding protection money
actually offered a better service. If a gang of hoodlums came around, causing
trouble, Antony and his buddies would show up and hurt them bad if they didn’t
leave. I pay them so they would want to protect me, so that I could continue to
pay. The cops would write a report or maybe sit at the corner store eating
donuts. It’s not that the cops don’t want to protect me. Cops get paid by the
government so they have no vested interest in helping me. They have a strong
interest in listening to what the government tells them to do. When the
government is a democracy, it means that the government is working for the
people and the police are working for the people. Unfortunately, the
United States is no longer a democracy. A recent study at Princeton and
Northwestern University has declared the US an oligarchy. The government, the
police, and the military, serve a new master; powerful business organizations
and a small number of affluent Americans
Another
problem is that the police are required to protect everyone, including the
criminals. They can’t beat them up, even when they catch them in the middle of
a violent crime. I think it is a natural human instinct to punish criminals and
having to play by such rules, and by going against their instincts, cops go a
little crazy. That is unfortunate, but it is one of the things that makes America
great.
So I
am thinking that I would like someone, a face, a real person, that I can talk
to, someone who has my interests at heart. I was hoping that America, in all of
its greatness and glory, would provide that. I thought that if I voted for
someone that it meant that he would represent me. I hope that if I paid taxes,
the armed forces and the police would aim their weapons at the enemies of the common
good, and fight to uphold our fine beliefs. Otherwise, I am paying taxes so
that some rich person can afford an army and a police force, in which case I’d
rather pay Guido and his boys. They’ll get the job done.