And, this idea that we're living increasingly in a police state, that's just nonsense.
Well, it's not to those of us who haven't lived under the thumb of the likes of Giuliani and Bloomberg since we were children. Particularly in suburban America, there is a
massive militarization of local police departments over the past decade that in no way shape or form is justified given the national downward trend of violent and non-violent crime alike (supported in part by the stats you posted).
But lo and behold, guess who is increasingly inhabiting suburban America these days? Though probably not intentional (as the federal government's wasted splurge on war equipment and local/state/federal politicians' fetishes with appearing to be "tough on crime" made a perfect marriage in this case), the disbursement of excessive equipment to law enforcement in select jurisdictions continues to follow the migration of minority communities as they move away from residing exclusively in urban areas.
Cities with 10,000 people and crime rates below the national average do not need their own SWAT teams -
let alone a freaking tank.
I highly doubt we're about to see any sort of "revolution" of sorts. It would have been far more likely to have occurred under economic circumstances in 2010-2011 if it were going to happen. With the rapid expansion of law enforcement's capabilities, it will only occur if/when people become as desperate as past generations (when they truly have nothing left to lose).
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