What replaces police as the defund the police movement defines its goal. It believes police officers are the agents of violence in the community. Their solution is to eliminate police. It never stops to ask why institute policing in the first place? It also assumes there are no anti-social people.
The defunders are very unclear about what is to replace the police. They carefully avoid the specifics about how their new order will be maintained. The one thing is known. It will involve the community. That’s the new buzzword is community.
The replacements will be “community-based,” “community-driven” and “community-centered.” There is talk of “community outreach” and “community development.” There will be “community building” and “community interaction.” The money taken from the police will be given to “community programs.”
The word community sparks a euphoric feeling. Instantly, goodwill will replace violence in society. There will be peace on earth and goodwill toward men. It worked so well in CHAZ and it is definitely working in Portland and Minneapolis and New York.
Most city officials see community as community centers, recreational activities. To them it is government aid schemes and social or cultural programs. These endeavors work inside the framework of local government and its bureaucracy. But is that what Leftists envision? Leftists are Marxists.
There’s looking good and there’s being good
What leftists talk about community as self-governing forums. They are places where residents might make local decisions that will change people’s lives and neighborhoods. We used to call that mob rule. The left works inside these forums mobilizing the masses to action. Self governance sounds great but the devil is in the details.
To the conservative, the community is a social unit of caring individuals. People unite for the purpose of furthering the common good. It is full of institutions and organizations. Edmund Burke called them “little platoons”. They are what gets things done organically inside the natural process of the social body.
Regardless of what community means to people, there is one big problem with all these conceptions. The classic idea of a community that once existed in America has been swallowed up by the culture. To demand “community-driven” solutions to remedy police problems is an empty proposition.
The historical notion of community is a happy juncture. It is the creation of the families, farms, workplaces and churches in a given area. It was a common social life. Each community was a social unit with its way of being. Each had its own way of expressing itself that was different from neighboring towns and cities. It was a place where personalities and family ties were strong. A community might even develop its own accent, culture, art or cuisine.
In this context those now appealing to community to solve the police “problem” are right. Authentic communities can assume many functions of today’s police departments. Inside community structures, there would then be no need for massive budgets and equipment outlays. But what replaces police when it hits the fan?