Elitism is Imperiling the Democratic Party
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“Defund the police!” is an excellent example of the pernicious elitism eating away at the working-class heart of the Democratic Party.
“Defund the police!”
It may sound great when shouted through a bullhorn. It looks good tagged on a police precinct wall, right next to the universally accepted symbol for anarchy. It makes for a nice trend on Twitter.
But “defund the police” it is a blatantly elitist idea.
Obviously, it is the easiest thing in the world for wealthy liberals, middle-class progressives, college campus revolutionaries and other privileged groups to call (on Twitter) to end a public service they don’t use and never need.
Being privileged in America means never having to call the police; never needing to. Never feeling threatened or scared, never being in any danger; neither falling victim to nor impacted by any form of crime beyond contact with the occasional speeder or inattentive driver.
Not ever needing to call the police is nice, but it is one privilege which is, quite unfortunately, not shared by everyone.
People who live in areas beset by high crime rates; poorer people, in other words, often have a completely different life experience.
People in high-crime areas want more policing; not less. Law enforcement departments in high-crime areas need more funding, more training, more support, more diverse hiring- which is the exact opposite of what they would get from defunding the police.
Defund the police won’t hurt the wealthy. Wealthy people and companies can always hire private armed security guards, as many as they need. The wealthy have gated communities, door men, security systems, bodyguards.
If law enforcement agencies in America were all disbanded outright tomorrow, there would be a massive boom in the private security sector on the very next day.
Defund the police won’t hurt the police; not at all. Upon a total abolition or major reduction of law enforcement in America, all the out-of-work police officers would immediately find work… with the many private security agencies which had sprung up like magic overnight.
