Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Is Canada Becoming a Police State?

To answer the question that constitutes the title of this post, no.  Of course not.  What an absurd thought.  To those that believe it is, may I suggest moving to Myanmar?  Perhaps that will allow you to see what an actual police state is.  I am a strong believer in “infringing” on people’s rights.  Not their fundamental, inalienable human rights, but the rights that allow them to get away with crime (such as the “right” to privacy).  A reason for jeopardizing that right should be necessary, but it is simply too easy to commit crime because it is too difficult for police to do their jobs. 

It is said that it is preferable for one thousand guilty men to be free than for one innocent man to be incarcerated.  To that, I say, “Huh?”.  If one thousand guilty men were free, as well as one innocent man, then there is the potential for at least one innocent person to become something worse than incarcerated.  The point of a criminal justice system is to lock criminals away from society (to keep society safe), not to keep innocent people from being locked away from society.  At least one possible solution to this is to rid of all these technicalities that free obviously guilty people.  And if someone is probably guilty (beyond reasonable doubt), then it makes sense not to free them.  I reckon the phrase “beyond reasonable doubt” has become meaningless (or its meaning has transformed into “beyond the slightest possibility of doubt”). 

Some actual possible solutions: install conspicuous cameras everywhere (in public, of course), allow for random locker searches (lockers are the property of the school, after all), allow for random drug tests, and give police more power in general, while also limiting it.  Personally, I see no harm in any of this.  I welcome any arguments as to why it may be harmful. 

When I hear of accusations of police brutality, or other such accusations against the police, I am usually skeptical.  That someone would make such an accusation for political gain is quite easy to believe.  I do think that there should be an independent agency that performs investigations into police conduct, because sometimes these accusations are genuine, but I would conjecture that some people just have an unreasonable sense of what “rights” they are entitled to, and how the police should treat suspects (as if they were their grandmothers, or something).  And, given what the police do, I believe they deserve the benefit of the doubt.  

5 comments:

  1. Excellent points made here, Naamloos. Well said.

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  2. Thank goodness people like you don't make the laws in Canada! Your diatribe seems to end by saying that police, in your mind, have the right to treat any suspect as a criminal, which smacks of a sentiment summed up as "guilty until proven innocent." Your points aren't excellent at all, in my opinion, and are rather superficial. I appreciate your right to say what you like, but I find it quite unfortunate that your opinions aren't, or at least don't seem, better thought out. Perhaps if you were the victim of excessive use of police force you would change your tune.

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  3. The problem with those who swear by tyranny is that their rhetoric, however seductive, is completely irrational under its glitzy surface veneer.

    For example, one may find it seductive to disagree with the principle "it is preferable for one thousand guilty men to be free than for one innocent man to be incarcerated" and therefore agree with tyranny.

    Fortunately, people are smarter than that and most will detect the rhetorical trap.

    What people who push for tyranny simply can't understand is what it really means: that it is preferable for one thousand men to keep their freedom rather than take it away from all so that one guilty man may be caught.

    Hence our system of "innocent until proven guilty", as the previous commenter so rightfully pointed out.

    The problem with police state lovers is their belief that people are fundamentally bad ("guilty until proven innocent") and need to be led for their 'own good'. This has given us Alexander, Napoleon and Hitler.

    And what police state lovers also fail to mention is how many millions of people had to pay with their lives for following the folly of these 'glorious leaders'.

    Is Canada becoming a Police State? Those in power are obviously desperately trying, unfortunately for them, people are better informed than they ever were and won't be so easily fooled.

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  4. Your a real piece of work you know that. A little tyanny slave licking his master's boots so he'll get some special treatment and maybe a pat on his yellow back. People like you would call the cops on their own mother, pathetic!

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  5. As a Canadian who was born in Toronto back in the 1940s, I am an eye witness to Canada becoming a police state, with politicians who pander to privilaged minority groups to secure more votes.
    Type BRAD LOVE into any search engine. This man was jailed for 18 months, for simply demanding that politicians answer his questions about Canada's excessive immigration policy etc. This man was a political prisoner, and stands as an example of how citizens are now being treated in Canada. Free speech and expression has been stripped from all citizens, especially those of European ancestory.

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