Stop-And-Seize Turns Police into Self-Funding Gangs
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Stop-And-Seize Turns Police into Self-Funding Gangs
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Re: Stop-And-Seize Turns Police into Self-Funding Gangs
#2> With government unable to pay police as much as they need or would like, police are confiscating their revenue directly from the populace.
Where does the author think the funding comes from in the normal situation? It's confiscated from the populace just the same. What is this elusive property of the government that makes it not a self-funding gang which is not present in any part of the government (e.g. police in this case) but present in the whole?
Re: Stop-And-Seize Turns Police into Self-Funding Gangs
#3> With government unable to pay police as much as they need or would like, police are confiscating their revenue directly from the populace. Where does the author think the funding comes from in the normal situation? It's confiscated from the populace just the same. What is this elusive property of the government that makes it not a self-funding gang which is not present in any part of the government (e.g. police in…
With governments you get to decide the makeup and leader of the gang.
Thats... quite a fundamental difference.
Re: Stop-And-Seize Turns Police into Self-Funding Gangs
#4> With government unable to pay police as much as they need or would like, police are confiscating their revenue directly from the populace. Where does the author think the funding comes from in the normal situation? It's confiscated from the populace just the same. What is this elusive property of the government that makes it not a self-funding gang which is not present in any part of the government (e.g. police in…
This 'elusive' property is the idea that taxes are an indirect method of funding the police (as it is re-proportioned via much bureaucracy), while seizures directly fund the policeman's wallet.
Obviously the latter is much more dangerous, because there's a self-reinforcing cycle where the police spend their entire time stealing, instead of doing their government-defined jobs.
Indirection is important. It allows someone to give you goals that are productive, otherwise you would just steal from your employer instead of working for them (so they would give you money).
Re: Stop-And-Seize Turns Police into Self-Funding Gangs
#5> With government unable to pay police as much as they need or would like, police are confiscating their revenue directly from the populace. Where does the author think the funding comes from in the normal situation? It's confiscated from the populace just the same. What is this elusive property of the government that makes it not a self-funding gang which is not present in any part of the government (e.g. police in…
With governments you get to decide the makeup and leader of the gang. Thats... quite a fundamental difference.
Within a specific form of government when it is properly running within a system with minimal corruption, you get to decide the makeup and leader of the government... in theory.
In practice, the average person has no say over who is ruling them.
Re: Stop-And-Seize Turns Police into Self-Funding Gangs
#6> With government unable to pay police as much as they need or would like, police are confiscating their revenue directly from the populace. Where does the author think the funding comes from in the normal situation? It's confiscated from the populace just the same. What is this elusive property of the government that makes it not a self-funding gang which is not present in any part of the government (e.g. police in…
Distribution of violence makes the differences: taxes are applied to the majority and there's an established and predictable pattern for this way of wealth transfer from the populace to the government, while stop seizures apply to a very small group but in a much more impactful (for that group) way in an unpredictable manner.
Re: Stop-And-Seize Turns Police into Self-Funding Gangs
#7> With government unable to pay police as much as they need or would like, police are confiscating their revenue directly from the populace. Where does the author think the funding comes from in the normal situation? It's confiscated from the populace just the same. What is this elusive property of the government that makes it not a self-funding gang which is not present in any part of the government (e.g. police in…
From taxes, which although complex, are still well publicized and listed and it's easy to know how much you need to pay and when. You also (generally) pay these based on your income level.
That's completely different from have arbitrary amounts of cash confiscated from you at arbitrary times.
Re: Stop-And-Seize Turns Police into Self-Funding Gangs
#8> With government unable to pay police as much as they need or would like, police are confiscating their revenue directly from the populace. Where does the author think the funding comes from in the normal situation? It's confiscated from the populace just the same. What is this elusive property of the government that makes it not a self-funding gang which is not present in any part of the government (e.g. police in…
This is a pretty interesting point that i haven't though much about before.
I suppose one problem with confiscation vs. taxation involves incentives. Taxation incentivizes governments to create healthy economies to increase revenue whereas confiscation incentivizes police forces to violate property rights arbitrarily.
Another problem at present is there is much less oversight of confiscation than of taxation and maybe confiscation is less predictable than taxation.
Re: Stop-And-Seize Turns Police into Self-Funding Gangs
#9> With government unable to pay police as much as they need or would like, police are confiscating their revenue directly from the populace. Where does the author think the funding comes from in the normal situation? It's confiscated from the populace just the same. What is this elusive property of the government that makes it not a self-funding gang which is not present in any part of the government (e.g. police in…
With governments you get to decide the makeup and leader of the gang. Thats... quite a fundamental difference.
The police in this instance is following the law made by leaders you've supposedly decided on.
Re: Stop-And-Seize Turns Police into Self-Funding Gangs
#10> With government unable to pay police as much as they need or would like, police are confiscating their revenue directly from the populace. Where does the author think the funding comes from in the normal situation? It's confiscated from the populace just the same. What is this elusive property of the government that makes it not a self-funding gang which is not present in any part of the government (e.g. police in…
From taxes, which although complex, are still well publicized and listed and it's easy to know how much you need to pay and when. You also (generally) pay these based on your income level. That's completely different from have arbitrary amounts of cash confiscated from you at arbitrary times.
I think you're responding to an anti-government troll who is being deliberately obtuse about the difference between civil asset forfeiture vs tax collection. Unfortunately statements like theirs muddy the waters between something that most sane people find acceptable (government tax collection) vs something that most sane people find abhorrent once they know about it.