• Guy_Dudeman [comrade/them,he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      If one believes the PRC is trying to act towards the benefit of humanity, people who work under the direction of the state will be working towards the state’s causes. On this basis, it makes sense to say Chinese cops are not all bastards.

      So, on the other hand, if one believes that the US Government (state/local, in the case of the Police) are working towards the benefit of humanity, then are they justified in saying that not all American cops are bastards?

      A State is State is State, and all states believe they're working toward the good of humanity.

      “Does being a cop in China give one the ability to exercise cruel control over local civilians with a degree of impunity?” In some places, maybe so. In others, probably not, on the basis that cops have way less leeway to behave abusively [at least in some parts of China] than cops do just about anywhere in America.

      I would say that cops in San Francisco have a different level of leeway to behave abusively than cops in Florida or the rest of the South do.

        • Guy_Dudeman [comrade/them,he/him]
          ·
          3 years ago

          you’re one of those liberals that will readily denounce the US while parroting its propaganda

          First of all, I resent you calling me a liberal. I am a leftist. One can be a leftist without being a tankie.

          Secondly, there is a kernel of truth in almost every bit of propaganda. That's how you get good propaganda.

          state officials often lie

          Like when China says they had zero covid deaths yesterday?

          I think most politicians, being paid to vote and legislate the way they do, are probably not terribly concerned with the morality of their actions, otherwise they probably would not be auctioning their loyalty.

          I agree with that.

          My argument had to do with the reader’s own evaluation of a state, not the state’s evaluation of itself.

          My point is that the purpose of the formation of any state/government is always to "work toward the good of the people of the state". No matter if the policies of that state are objectively moral or immoral, the intention is always benevolent, and often genuinely so.