I find it fascinating that we determine whether an officer of "the law" is doing his job based on how many people he accuses of "criminal activity". This DOES give them incentive to lie as long as it looks accurate on paper. I know; I'm a victim of a cop lying, a "public defender" lying in his council to me and a prosecuting attorney lying in court while the judge let it slide. Everyone in town knows it wasn't true; a friend's girlfriend's father, a local cop, made the statement, "Yeah, I hear that's a bad case."
They're supposed to be keepers of the peace. It seems to me that the determination regarding police adequately doing their jobs should be whether the crime rate is going down rather than whether our jails, prisons and probation offices are overcrowded. They target poor people because they know that we can't afford adequate and legitimate council. The "public defender" is going to convince us that we HAVE to plea guilty to something and hope for the best. As long as, on legal documents, it looks accurate they can do whatever they want. It makes them look good. It makes them look like they're needed, necessary. Meanwhile people are mislabeled for life as felons and "sex offenders", their rights are dwindled away bit by bit, and the good people of the world are convinced that justice has been served and they can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that our law enforcement is strong and effective...until they turn their focus on the good people. We are not monkeys. We didn't decend from monkeys. We should not be regarded in similar fashion. And we should not be governed by theories based on such assumptions. Chris --- Vincent J May <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The study below claims that primate societies > degenerate when monkeys > who serve as 'police' are removed. It acknowledges > that police monkeys > are part of the 'power structure' and, as such, have > a better standard > of living (first dibs on food or females) but > concludes that having a > power structure benefits everyone. > Does human society need government police (a power > structure) to > preserve order? > Vince > ----------------------------------------------------- > http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8635 > > > Monkey cops keep clans together > > > Human societies rapidly descend into anarchy and > chaos without policing. > Now, researchers have found that the same thing > happens when groups of > monkeys are left to their own devices instead of > being policed by > dominant males. > > It was already well known that in groups of > pigtailed macaques (/Macaca > nemestrina/), dominant males keep the rest in order > through a form of > policing. As they patrol the herd, they frequently > receive peaceful > bared teeth signals from other, subordinate > monkeys, acknowledging > that the dominant male is in charge. The police > macaques often > intervene to defuse scuffles before they can > escalate. > > To find out what happens when the primate police are > missing, Jessica > Flack of the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, US, > and her colleagues > temporarily removed three of four dominant males > simultaneously from a > captive group of 84 pigtailed macaques at the Yerkes > National Primate > Research Center, near Lawrenceville, Georgia, US. > > > Disproportionate power > > While they were gone, group cohesion rapidly began > to disintegrate. The > researchers saw cliques forming and the breakdown of > social networks and > contact through communal activities like playing, > grooming and sitting > together. The amount of violence also escalated, > with no one to broker > the peace. > > In our macaques, a few individuals were perceived > as disproportionately > powerful. These animals are recognised as being very > capable of using > force successfully, says Flack. One of the > important implications is > this feedback between power structure and social > network structure. > > Another member of the research team, Frans de Waal > at the Yerkes Primate > Research Center, Emory University, Georgia, notes: > "We tend to associate > power with privilege, but both in human and animal > society it also > entails a constructive contribution, or at least > ought to. Through their > stabilising presence and active peacekeeping, the > dominant males > contribute to a more cooperative society." > > Journal reference: /Nature/ (vol 439, p 426) > > > > ForumWebSiteAt > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
