After reading Mr. Cotter's reasons for putting police in schools, I am
amazed how generations of students got along without this program. And,
how did all those parents, teachers, and guidance councilors get along so
well for all those years without help from the police?
This police program seems important to some people, so, let's fund
it by voluntary contributions instead of more coercive taxation. According
to Mr. Cotter's analysis, everybody, with only one exception, wants this
program. So, the money should pour in and the proponents could hire as
many police as they want.
Paul Cotter believes that the public should be more grateful to the
police because they "put their lives on the line everyday". Since that piece
of self-serving propaganda is repeated so often, it is time to look at the
facts.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the people with the
highest workplace fatality rates are fishermen, pilots/navigators, structural
metal workers, timber cutters, drivers-sales workers, roofers, electrical
power installers, farm workers, construction laborers, and truck drivers.
Not policemen.
Since food and shelter are much more important than police work,
except to the most timid of the sheep people, why don't construction
workers or farm workers publicly brag about "putting their lives on the
line every day" in order to provide the public with essential goods and
services? Maybe they do not feel comfortable engaging in self-glorification.
Or, perhaps they think that it is indecent to stroke each other in public.
Regarding the example of the dangers of drug undercover work,
those police are not defending my rights. I do not want government agents
stomping on peaceful people who are minding their own business. As a
defender of freedom, I oppose this violent intrusion into the free market.
The people who are responsible for all that violence and the resulting
violent blowback are those who support this insane war against the
American people and their freedoms.
Since I do not know of any other professionals who publicly deify
the importance of their work, I must ask Mr. Cotter if he, upon further
consideration, honestly believes that the work he does is more important
than the work that is done by the people who pay his salary? My guess is
that the vast majority of Lynn cops are embarrassed by all this shameless
self-promotion. How could they not be?
My question to the tax payers is, Would you hire a person to do a
job for you if he had the attitude that he knows better than you what you
need, his work was more important than yours, and you should be grateful
that he is willing to work for you even though you are offering him a
generous salary and very generous benefits. I confess that I would show
him the door.
Mr. Cotter believes that this country is still the "land of the free".
The facts prove otherwise. In the last twenty years, as a result of
illegalization wars, the prison population has been quadrupled. The U.S. is
now the leading prison-state in the world with more people in prison and a
higher incarceration rate than any other country.
In the last few decades, millions of good people have been jailed.
Naturally, the victims of anti-freedom laws tend to be young, poor, and
politically unconnected. They are the easiest to target and the prisons are
overflowing with them even after the biggest prison building program in
history. And there are also millions of good, white, middle class people
who have been entangled in the spider web of complex and arbitrary laws.
Things have gotten so bad that rich people are no longer safe. The Feds
spent fifteen million dollars in order to put Martha Stewart in prison. Of
course, they still need more "resources" in order to "fight crime".
Contrary to government indoctrination, freedom is not millions of
laws, regulations, taxes, licenses, permits, registrations, fees, fines,
mandatory schooling, mandatory insurance, and miles of red tape. On the
contrary, freedom is the absence of government mandates. In a free
society there are only five crimes. They are murder, assault, theft, fraud,
and disturbing the peace. Five million crimes is not freedom.
Mr. Cotter, regarding your support for the illegalization of guns and
drugs, here are some facts that you won't learn from any government-
approved teachers:
The people who founded this country were smugglers, gun owners,
and tax resistors. The Founders did not recognize the authority of any
government to interfere with free trade, peaceful behavior, or the right to
bear arms. Ultimately, they refused to be stopped and searched for guns
and contraband. These facts are the origin of the Second and Fourth
Amendments, the heart and soul of this Republic.
Those who support gun and drug laws are the worst criminals
because they are traitors to the fundamental freedoms upon which this
country was founded. Considering that millions of good people are
victimized by the enforcement of unjust laws, the police are now committing
more crimes than the bad guys.
In order to continue this free open exchange, I have three questions
for Mr. Cotter regarding what is a crime and who are the criminals.
Suppose that you were walking down the street, minding your own
business when a heavily armed gang attacked you, threw you to the
ground, pushed your face into the pavement, and pointed guns at your
head, just because they or others did not approve of what you ate for
breakfast -- would you say that they were the criminals or would you
conclude that you were the criminal?
When all their guns were being pointed at your head, would you say
that they were putting their lives on the line or would you conclude that
they were putting your life on the line?
Lastly, suppose that same gang kicked down your door, invaded
and ransacked your home, terrorized your family, stole your property, and
were prepared to murder anyone who resisted, just because they or others
did not approve of what you chose to drink or smoke -- would you agree
that those thugs were violent criminals or would you conclude that your
family were the criminals?
I ask everyone who values freedom to consider these words from
the late freedom-advocate, Ben Rogge of Wabash College, "Given man's
nature, freedom will always be in jeopardy and the only question that need
concern each of us is if and how well we took our stand in its defense
during the short period of time when we were potentially a part of the
struggle."
