The police aren’t going to be defunded so it’s something of a moot issue. But it would not necessarily be a step upward if the police were replaced merely with private mercenaries, armies of social workers, ordinary criminals, or left/right ideologically/racially-driven vigilantes. I view pan-anarchism/pan-secessionism as a means of working around and/or, to the degree such as thing is possible, resolving cultural/ideological/ethnic conflicts. Having the state collapse only to replace it with a 100-faction civil war would not be a good plan.

By Tom Woods

Some people on the Left are saying “defund the police.”

Why am I not jumping up and down with excitement?

Because it matters to me what they replace it with.

Because I’m dealing with people who believe in bullying and intimidation of individuals and businesses. If you think the world is 12% more complicated than their Manichaean worldview allows, why, you’re a “white supremacist” who should be silenced.

If you’re not discussing what they think you should discuss on social media, your “silence” is “violence” (but when some of them burned down your business, this was understandable exuberance).

Note that you and I are not allowed to hector people about what they should be discussing on their social media timelines. No cause we may have believed in at any point in our lives is as important as theirs.

When the SJW left decides a cause is important, everyone rushes to validate them: every corporate CEO, every university president, every Hollywood celebrity.

A little strange to describe people as “marginalized” who can summon that level of groupthink at the drop of a hat.

Over in the UK Brendan O’Neill, the ex-Marxist, makes note of the contrast between the supposedly “marginalized” and everyone else:

Britain feels so alien to me right now. Woke spoilt brats have the free run of the streets while working people are prevented by law from going to their jobs or the pub. Young people with the correct PC views can gather in public, express themselves and even tear down statues with no consequences whatsoever, while everyone else is still being sternly warned to stay at home. Correct-thinkers can gather in massive crowds, while others can’t even visit a church, or attend a football match, or have a family gathering. This is the hierarchy of political correctness in action: if you have the right views, you can do what you like; if you don’t, then you are a second-class citizen who deserves to rot in lockdown and occasionally be shamed for thoughtcrime. It’s deeply sinister. There will be a pushback soon, surely, just as there was in the Brexit referendum. That mission to “take back control” is far from over.

Imagine “community patrols” operated by people like this, people who lecture the whole world for their lack of empathy, but who caricature everyone who disagrees with them. They themselves can gather in demonstrations numbering in the thousands, but it would be a health hazard if your mother’s funeral had more than 10 people — and if you complain about this, they’ll say it’s just because you want a haircut.

Where’s their empathy?

And am I supposed to be excited about having my “security” looked after by people like this?

Here’s what you can expect from that security, by the way, according to the president of the Minnesota City Council:

Mmmkay.

On CNN she said, when asked what would happen under her system if your house were being broken into, that maybe it’s about time for privileged people to get a taste of what the “marginalized” feel like.

(Don’t believe me? I’ll play you the recording in episode 1669 of the Tom Woods Show, coming out later today.)

Oh, and one more thing: when they say “defund the police,” they don’t even mean it. Here’s something circulating all over Facebook:

Well, that’s super.

In a few days I’m releasing a free eBook on the problems with the police and the libertarian solution, so I’m not just being critical.

But yes, I need to see what is going to replace the police, given that the Minnesota city council president looks forward to a “police-free future.”

The same would hold true if the left decided to “defund the schools.” You’d be out of your mind to celebrate that. They haven’t suddenly embraced freedom, so what could this mean? It sure could mean that, since they still believe in a monopoly system, your kids will now be herded into “community centers” that will make you long for the government schools.