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City of Bedford's armored vehicleThe only crime problem in Bedford
is when the maid steals the silverware

The Sunday Fort Worth Star Telegram had an article musing on the over-militarization of local police forces. That's a pretty shocking statement given that the paper's target audience is one of the most red meat Republican counties in the country, people who would re-elect our previous President in a heartbeat. And while no one would argue the right and the necessity for police to be able to adequately defend themselves, there is also a temptation for police to use all available toys on hand - even if the situation does not call for it.

So do the police really need all these armored vehicles? Or grenade launchers? Or drone aircraft even! Could it be our men in blue are merely on a power trip, trying to incur as much intimidation as possible for anyone who crosses their path? Could it be there's a rising tension in this country making everyone want to arm themselves like a Mad Max movie? I would say so. Criminal Justice professor Peter Kraska, of Eastern Kentucky University, has studied the militarization of police forces:

"We have been witness to a little-noticed but nonetheless momentous historical change - the traditional distinctions between military/police, war/law and internal/external security are rapidly blurring."

Just as with the accusations of the overuse of Tasers, the temptation to use a sledgehammer for a flyswatter seems to be the trend in law enforcement.

"In the past, SWAT teams and their military-type equipment were used in extreme circumstances and that was rare," said Kraska. "Now it's much more." Kraska said that nationwide, SWAT teams were dispatched about 3,000 times each year in the 1980s. Last year, that happened about 55,500 times, he said.

Future nihilist

Hysteria is the first step on the road to catastrophe. Since 9/11, we've stayed in a permanent haze of hysteria and the idea of neverending war is now greeted with a collective shrug. Who would have thought such a thing possible in 1999? In ten short years (OK, they did seem like an eternity) we've gone from balanced budgets and peace and prosperity to a point where none of those things seems likely ever again.

America's credo of "Every man for himself" has only intensified the cruelty of our economic crisis. This leads those who still live in blind bubbles of isolation to increase their worship of war and military/police powers to keep them "safe". Bubble people know as the suffering increases around them - along with their own abhorrence of accepting any system of sharing - the more brutal the need will be to beat back the angry and hungry hordes. And trust me, the attack dogs in blue will not hesitate to obey their masters.

The irony, of course, is when those very same attack dogs the Comfortable Class help arm with smirking approval get turned on them. Only when it's too late will Whitey realize the folly of keeping one's self "safe" by holding a knife to your fellow man's throat. Since we have not yet learned to live together, the situation can only grow more dire and in the end no one will be safe. Give love a chance. It's not like we have a choice.

The future is ours