[MeImCounting]

The thing is that there is a huge amount of indoctrination from schools to popular media that encourages people to just accept "Law" as somehow of divine providence. Many many people go their entire lives without considering the possibility that the primary function of many laws and "justice" systems would be to oppress and victimize people.

[lostlogin]

It’s not quite the same thing as what you are describing, but it leads into Peelian Principles of policing. By consent and with transparency.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peelian_principles

[MeImCounting]

This is a great addition to the conversation! I didn't know about the Peelian principles and had only a passing familiarity with the entire concept of 'policing by consent.' Living in the US, it is not surprising that this concept seems foreign to me.

Personally, I still take issue with the idea of locking other human beings in cages. I think a police force that strictly follows the ideals laid out by Sir Robert Peel is about as close to ethical as it can get while still having people whose full-time job it is to enforce society's collective will on others. I believe there will always be better conflict resolution techniques than violence. That being said, the Peelian principles do lay out a seemingly ideal compromise in a society haunted by trauma and violence. Maybe even a path to a society where we don't lock anyone in cages anymore.

[lostlogin]

I’m in New Zealand which fully subscribes to it (based on my limited understanding!), and had a long talk with a policeman who was walking his dog. He had worked in NZ, the UK and Australia. He put Australia down the other end of the scale and the UK somewhere in the middle. It was a very interesting conversation.