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coffeehouse in the neighborhood. He thought that I might be interested in the speaker that they were going to have that evening. I didn’t feel much like listening to some self-appointed authority talk about some favorite subject of his, but I figured that at least there would be plenty of coffee and wine – my favorite combination. While we were sitting in the coffeehouse waiting for our drinks to come, we began to talk about the events of the day.

  PT: Well Harry, have you got any good news for me?

  HZ: I don’t know how good it is, but I do have some news for you.

  PT: What might that be?

  HZ: I guess it’s not really anything that you should worry about. It’s not as if it were happening to someone in your family. Maybe I shouldn’t even concern myself with it either. It’s just that it’s irritating to me.

  PT: What exactly are you talking about?

  HZ: My brother was telling me that his son, my nephew, is contemplating joining the military. He says it is either that or the police force.

  PT: My God! What on earth could have possessed a “Ziboo” to ever even consider any such a move? I know what you and your family’s views are about the pigs and storm troopers.

  HZ: Yes. That is why it is such an upsetting development to me. I would have thought that my brother would have taught him better than that. I guess I will have to talk to my nephew myself, and set him straight.

  PT: What are you going to say?

  HZ: I’ll just tell him what I think, and what I’ve seen. You know, just the other day, I was contemplating what type of person it takes to want to be a member of the police force or military. I was also thinking about what is the nature of these two occupations. I don’t see how any normal person can understand what the nature of these occupations are, what the nature of the government and society that controls and directs the members of these occupation is, and the nature of one’s fellows in these occupation that one would be working with, and still consider joining one of these occupations.

  How is it possible for individuals of reasonable intelligence, who call themselves “Christians”, look at the history that we know of these organizations, and not be appalled? How can they wish to join these organizations? I have to come to the conclusion that there is something wrong with either the character of anyone who would consider such a career move, or with the perception of the history of these two organizations and the people who populate them. In the case of my nephew, maybe a third possibility would explain the desire to make such a repugnant career move – hormones. Maybe it is just the clouded judgment of an adolescent. Maybe he thinks he wants to prove his manhood or something.

  When I think of a policeman, I think about how the four policemen beat Rodney King, or the killing of 10 striking steel workers and wounding of 30 more, all shot in the back or side, during the May 30, 1937 Republic Steel Strike in Chicago. When I think of “Our American Heroes” in the military, I think of the current drone strikes, or any of the other war crimes committed daily in Iraq or other countries. I think of our great American heroes fighting shopkeepers and taxi drivers, who are only trying to protect their families. I think of Kent State or a thousand other such scenarios.

  What type of a corrupt, degenerate mind cannot see the real nature of such a police force and military that would commit these types of atrocities on a daily basis? Can patriotic love of government and its institutions – alone- explain wanting to join in this? Can the hardships of the current economy explain how it is possible for anyone to leave their sense of morality and justice in the closet and go out and “Join up”? Is it possible for an economy to be so bad that one would sell their soul for a paycheck and a gun? Is it that much fun to make your penis hard by bashing in the head of an unarmed boy or girl, or old man?

  I believe that there is a little more to it than that. To begin with, it is their worship of the government that makes them want to defend it against perceived enemies. This type of person is the first thing that the police or military look for, and the first ones to want to sign up. These people have grown up seeing the way they are told and trained to see. Their arrogance and pride at being an American makes is possible for them to want to be a police or soldier, so that they can punish anyone who they feel is not good enough, American enough, or who doesn’t believe enough.

  This type of person, once they have ” joined up” , see that, although they are the dumbest, biggest bully, and most brutal soldier or police officer on earth, they are worth 1000 citizens, though the citizens be doctors, engineers, ministers, or the like. They know that they demand the utmost respect while treating other as dirt. This is the type of person that makes the finest recruit.

  The government and elites also realize the truth of the above equation, and the slightest harming of so much as a fingernail of one of these superior human beings, or the slightest sign of disrespect, will be met with the utmost violence and punishment. Further, the citizen would be presumed to be guilty until proven innocent, and can never prove himself innocent, because it would be his word against one of the finest.

  PT: Maybe, instead of “Support our troops”, we should use the slogan: “Save the world from our troops”.

  HZ: The “Good” citizens support and enable the evil excesses of these troops and cops. They find them innocent on the rare occasion when they have a show trial, and cheer with each of their fellow citizens’ head they crack.

  Over the millennia, the people of any state developed a natural propensity toward fascism. They internalize its’ rules, and participate in only ritualized combat against their oppressors. When fighting the citizens, the police and military instinctively know that the most they have to fear from the people is an occasional rock or Molotov cocktail, never an armed resistance. The people understand that anything else would be suicide.

  PT: Well, I think that, if a cop ever tried that with me, I’d pull my gun out.

  HZ: Yes, and that would be the most foolish thing you could do. The only reason to have a gun in this country is to possibly protect yourself against citizen on citizen crime, and then only under extraordinary circumstances. If you were ever to turn a weapon on a cop, you would be seeing Jesus really fast. They must be defeated by other means, and even welcomed into the fold of the resistance, if they should ever repent. They are victims just as the rest of us are, in a way at least.

  Even though they are bullies, and therefore cowards, they are the victims of indoctrination and propaganda. Their minds have been brainwashed and are sick with it. It is their subconscious fears that drive them. They seek the protection of a gang, just as any other arrogant punk would. Their arrogance is a defense against their feelings of inferiority.

  PT: So how can we protect ourselves against these organizations? Aren’t they necessary?

  HZ: I suppose there is a need for something similar to police and military, but we would have to modify these two entities in many ways. For one thing, control would have to be firmly in the hands of the citizens, and laws would have to be modified to clearly lay out when and where and how they were to operate. The members of these organizations would have to be held accountable for their actions in a possibly even higher level than ordinary citizens. I can tell you that their positions would no longer be above the citizen, but below them, and under their thumbs. It may not even be an attractive career option any more, but may need to be appointed by the society, like a draft or jury service. But these are considerations for after the revolution, if one should ever come – which I doubt.

  For now, I have to be getting back home.

  PT: Me too, but what happened to the speaker?

  HZ: Oh, He came and went while we were talking. I’m sure he was brilliant, but we didn’t even notice him.

  One last thought on this subject before we go. When I see a vet, or ex-cop, who has seen the light and turned his back on his corporate masters and now sincerely supports the protesters, I truly see a real “Hero”. I r
ecognize not only a true hero, but someone worthy of honor. I have the utmost respect for them, and feel that, no matter what he has done in the past, he is now a decent person.

  See you later.

  PT: See you.