Martin

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2000
56,913
I suggest you spend a weekend or two around 79th and or read up on chicago in the 70s/80s even 90s then you will see how that rhetoric works, take out law and order and none of the examples you mention would make any sense. We re a nation of softies who get on with our blackberry dates and 13$ cocktails and on the very top of that list of people to thank for that with no close second are law enforcement agencies.

you see it's easy to sit at the comfort and safety fo your home and talk about how unclean a 'garbage' cleaners' job is
You see if you had a bacteriological epidemic then you wouldn't have that problem in Chicago at all, they'd all be dead long before that. You know what is the single biggest cause of death throughout history? Disease. So you're not bothered with that, you're saying we should all recognize what an important job cops are doing out there. But by all means let's take our medical protection for granted. It's not like it's important.

Two can play this game. Cops are NOT super special. That's propaganda. The fact is that if you were put into a situation where you had to be responsible for someone's protection, you would do the same thing. We are human beings with moral instincts, there's nothing out of the ordinary about that.
 

swag

L'autista
Administrator
Sep 23, 2003
84,959
You see if you had a bacteriological epidemic then you wouldn't have that problem in Chicago at all, they'd all be dead long before that. You know what is the single biggest cause of death throughout history? Disease. So you're not bothered with that, you're saying we should all recognize what an important job cops are doing out there. But by all means let's take our medical protection for granted. It's not like it's important.

Two can play this game.
Not really. People handling disease have boatloads of effective safety precautions to ensure that they don't risk their own lives much to benefit the others and make the ultimate sacrifice. It's by no means a safe profession without any risk, but they make it about as safe as baking bread.

Another difference being that if they encounter a dangerous vector and wield some killer anti-biotics to defend themselves in the lab, nobody goes up in arms in the newspapers.
 

GordoDeCentral

Diez
Moderator
Apr 14, 2005
71,071
You see if you had a bacteriological epidemic then you wouldn't have that problem in Chicago at all, they'd all be dead long before that. You know what is the single biggest cause of death throughout history? Disease. So you're not bothered with that, you're saying we should all recognize what an important job cops are doing out there. But by all means let's take our medical protection for granted. It's not like it's important.

Two can play this game. Cops are NOT super special. That's propaganda. The fact is that if you were put into a situation where you had to be responsible for someone's protection, you would do the same thing. We are human beings with moral instincts, there's nothing out of the ordinary about that.
I answered the people who not only failed to recognize the role cops play but also jeer "fuck the police" i never argued cops are super special as a matter of fact i have argued on this very thread how illogical it was to pursue cop killers with more vigor than random killers. I fail to see how where or when i said medical protection is unnecessary. But like i said earlier if you take out law and order, good luck getting access to medical attention.
The point once again is i believe i have seen more directly, having lived in a big relatively dangerous metropolis, the importance of cops and how difficult and essential their job is.
 

Martin

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2000
56,913
I kind of have to disagree with you there, Martin. While I'll be first to say that humans worship heroes when the people who prevent the need for heroes get no thanks at all (e.g., the firemen at the WTC on 9/11 versus some senator who could have pushed through pilot door regulations that could have prevented it altogether), there's a significant difference in some of the examples you list.

Whereas fireman separate you from burning death and property destruction, only a limited number of the other professions require someone to out themselves between someone intent on doing evil and your safety. I don't expect my marketers to risk their lives in a fire or shootout for my benefit. Maybe someone building the Golden Gate Bridge 80 years ago, yes. But no marketers.
People get all upset about football players not taking their role seriously enough, for being mercenaries, for not caring. So why do they go into that profession if they're not committed to being a role model? Because it's a good career opportunity. Let's cut the crap here for a minute. Do cops become cops out of an undying commitment to public service, thereby defying human nature that we know all too well is about self interest? Or do they become cops because it's the best opportunity right then and there?

I'm not saying their job isn't hard. Frankly I don't know what exactly they do all day, so I wouldn't be the right person to ask anyway. Nevertheless, being a cop is a result of a conscious choice. You've chosen to do this, yes? Well, being a moderator isn't a gold plated job either, in fact it's pretty thankless much of the time. But guess what, we have to be careful about people with power, we have no choice. It's the reason we don't give guns to kids. And if we do give people guns we say "you can only have this if you're going to act responsibly". I'm sorry if that's harsh, but just like Socrates said: you have these soldiers to protect the city, but you HAVE TO be able to keep them in check somehow or they'll eventually destroy the city out of basic desires.
 

Martin

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2000
56,913
I answered the people who not only failed to recognize the role cops play but also jeer "fuck the police" i never argued cops are super special as a matter of fact i have argued on this very thread how illogical it was to pursue cop killers with more vigor than random killers.
looks like we're on the same page then
 

swag

L'autista
Administrator
Sep 23, 2003
84,959
I answered the people who not only failed to recognize the role cops play but also jeer "fuck the police" i never argued cops are super special as a matter of fact i have argued on this very thread how illogical it was to pursue cop killers with more vigor than random killers.
I, too, agree with that. Whether cops or firemen, I don't see there being a need for any more vigor. The only argument which you can make, which I am on the fence with, is that the suspect has become like drug-resistant bacteria (to run with Martin's example :D) -- and society will have a harder time keeping it from spreading if it shows unusual disregards for society's usual defenses for itself.

People get all upset about football players not taking their role seriously enough, for being mercenaries, for not caring. So why do they go into that profession if they're not committed to being a role model? Because it's a good career opportunity.
But they're entertainers. Society loves to bust on the double standards it has for its entertainers.

Do cops become cops out of an undying commitment to public service, thereby defying human nature that we know all too well is about self interest? Or do they become cops because it's the best opportunity right then and there?
I think there are a lot of different motivators. Some are very, very bad: the people who amounted to nothing in their high school lives and are trying to exact authority they otherwise wouldn't have. These people clearly exist and are a major problem. Departments need to screen for these types. (And being a reference for my brother when he went through the academy, they at least were more thorough than I got when I worked on a contract for a defense-related satellite communications system years ago. But that's just one example.)

Other motivators are out of wanting to do good and be proud of what they do in their community. That honestly can be good or bad. Some just want to stick it to the "bad guys", but lack the proper mindset and skills to be as non-judgmental as possible to determine who the bad guys are.

Others are in it for job security at the peril of their own personal safety.

Others feel invested in their neighborhoods and are almost social workers -- which is a lot of what I saw on my 10-hour ride-along with my brother last week. A lot of their time was caught up helping people who spoke no English to get their stolen cars tracked, to look for reported runaways, to break up bloody brawls between transients, neighbor disputes, to escort mental patients to ambulances under a psych hold because they've burned their apartments down. And many of them do that expressing sympathy, as sometimes that's all they have to offer a situation.

95% of the calls my brother had to deal with on my ride-along involved people with something completely f*cked up in their lives: psychotic relatives, mental illness, drug abuse, extensive unemployment, very low income neighborhoods and families, etc.

It's not the sort of thing that strokes egos. And while my brother and I are quite different, he's about as much a jar-head as a cop as I am as a mod here.

If you were into a job for personal gain, my gauging of the situation is that you would get the hell out of the police force pretty quickly.

I'm not saying their job isn't hard. Frankly I don't know what exactly they do all day, so I wouldn't be the right person to ask anyway. Nevertheless, being a cop is a result of a conscious choice. You've chosen to do this, yes? Well, being a moderator isn't a gold plated job either, in fact it's pretty thankless much of the time.
Funny that I responded above before reading this part. :)

But guess what, we have to be careful about people with power, we have no choice.
Trouble is that the alternative is that only the criminals have power, or drunken neighbors and fighting spouses are left to fend and resolve issues by themselves. (Spousal abuse issues being the most dangerous call for most policemen, btw.) That's not exactly ideal either. Representative law enforcement isn't perfect, but there are many worse scenarios.
 

Martin

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2000
56,913
It's not the sort of thing that strokes egos. And while my brother and I are quite different, he's about as much a jar-head as a cop as I am as a mod here.

If you were into a job for personal gain, my gauging of the situation is that you would get the hell out of the police force pretty quickly.
Define personal gain. Having work? Finding meaning to life? Being valued by other people for doing something important? Feeling that what you do matters? And some no doubt just like helping people and they love doing that. Not personal gain my ass. Of course it is. In fact I would suggest it's precisely those who are not finding any personal gain from it who are the problem. Those cops who are bored on the job and seek to entertain themselves by hassling people. Or those who feel unappreciated and go power tripping.

Trouble is that the alternative is that only the criminals have power, or drunken neighbors and fighting spouses are left to fend and resolve issues by themselves. (Spousal abuse issues being the most dangerous call for most policemen, btw.) That's not exactly ideal either. Representative law enforcement isn't perfect, but there are many worse scenarios.
Like Canardo said (and Socrates before him :p ), we need them. But we also need stricter safeguards than we do for people without elevated power.
 

JCK

Biased
JCK
May 11, 2004
125,414
I know, audacity is the most error spitting application I have. Nevertheless it's the best for that.
I managed cut the file as I want but when I wanted to save it also as mp3 it asked for the codec file and I don't have this stuff, I was only able to save as OGG. Do you know how to save as mp3?
 

Martin

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2000
56,913
I managed cut the file as I want but when I wanted to save it also as mp3 it asked for the codec file and I don't have this stuff, I was only able to save as OGG. Do you know how to save as mp3?
try saving to wav, that will work. then run lame on the file to encode
 

swag

L'autista
Administrator
Sep 23, 2003
84,959
Define personal gain. Having work? Finding meaning to life? Being valued by other people for doing something important? Feeling that what you do matters? And some no doubt just like helping people and they love doing that. Not personal gain my ass. Of course it is. In fact I would suggest it's precisely those who are not finding any personal gain from it who are the problem. Those cops who are bored on the job and seek to entertain themselves by hassling people. Or those who feel unappreciated and go power tripping.
I used "personal gain" more as shorthand for the salary (aka "making a living"), which isn't much comparatively (my brother is certainly making less than he did as an environmental chemist). So you clearly have to be motivated by something else. Some of that's good, some not so good.

Like Canardo said (and Socrates before him :p ), we need them. But we also need stricter safeguards than we do for people without elevated power.
Like I'm not a fan of the movie Serpico?! :p
 

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