NOTE: I've turned off comments. But you can gmail me.
Minneapolis will vote next week on Question 2:
Shall We Replace the Police Department with a Department of Public Safety (with "a comprehensive public health approach to safety")?
(More at Ballotpedia)
I don't want to vote on my personal emotion & intuition alone, so I've been exploring the issue.
What I'm seeing is that people's answer to the question does come down to personality:
Prefer a devil you know?
Or a new one?
“Conservative, n. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.”
--Ambrose Bierce, Devil’s Dictionary
No one (almost) on either side, says the police department that bred murderer Derek Chauvin is fine and dandy as it stands.
Everyone running for office (I think) agrees the police need some reforms.
I'm old, and I've seen that tearing bad things down doesn't mean something better will go up. Because humans.
That is, given that we have the same human biases, newer people make the same fundamental types of mistakes (and successes) as their elders.
Different mistakes (and successes), same underpinnings.
Often, the devil we know is the same as the devil we don't know.
BUT... sometimes not!
Or, sometimes the devil is so egregious, we should trade it in for the unknown even if it's a slim chance.
Try something else! Or try to try. . . or, at least BE SEEN to be trying to try, which matters too.
At least I can say of rotten goings-on, "I do not consent to this!"
If Derek Chauvin and his chohort murdering George Floyd in broad daylight isn't an old devil worth trading for an unknown, I don't know what is.
*Helpful blog on Question 2 from Naomi Kritzer, who follows local politics (and writes sci-fi/fantasy books!):
https://naomikritzer.com/?s=Question+2
_______________________
Shall we get in the boat?
I vote yes.
"Untitled (Figure and Boat)", 1961, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, from the Museum of Contemporary Photography
