Hey, kids, let's play militarized police force!

Every time I see pics of LEO in black riot gear with high powered weapons, I always think of this.

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Here

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Kind of.

It so happens that I (German) saw that squad with the dog in the shops (in Germany) yesterday, and remarked to my better half how cynical the set seems to be.

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And such quips are the reason why rational Americans weep. For we have made of ourselves an occupied nation who no longer understands the will of the people,but instead strives to control said people with an iron fist borne of superstition and fear, in place of rationality and science

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So, the real world is basically just a Paul Verhoeven movie, now, huh?

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Back in my day we had to militarize our own Playmobil police with guns from the western theme.

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Hmm. I don’t see that. I do see a secret police station, which, to be honest, looks pretty much like a normal police station. (I thought that set was the height of Playmobil weirdness when I noticed it a year or two ago.) But maybe the secret waterboarding’s why it’s secret police.

It is a (secret (police station)) because it folds into a lockable box, not a ((secret police) station).

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That makes some sense as a translation failure; I guess they could have gone with a “vanishing police station” or the like.

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Not really new, is it?

Well that and they had a medieval executioner at one time among other sorts of odd things. Cowboys and Indians, a medical operating room, policeman harassing a homeless person, wolves attacking a moose. So this seems totally normal for Playmobil to me.

[Citation needed]

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Nonsense. If your kid isn’t ready for “Secret Police”, perhaps “Secret Princess” will be a suitable introduction to the need for closed governmental structures.

Available wherever conformist toys are sold.

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We can work towards a more eutopian human society, but the wolves will always go after meese.

I’ve always thought of Playmobil as being in the 4-8 age range; regardless - four year olds. I’m also looking at this within the context of US culture (e.g. Amazon reviews), where it’s disturbing as hell.

It’s called asymmetric warfare. When a peace officer abuses the civil rights of a random civilian, it’s not anyone’s problem but the random civilian and whatever lawyer they can afford. But woe to the peasant who lays hands on a police officer without making a clean getaway! They quickly find out they might as well have layed hands on every uniformed serviceman in the country!

So the gun-toter’s argument that we need guns to counter the force of the governent, just doesn’t hold water. It’s not enough to carry guns, you’d also need uniforms and a flag.

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I would rather let my kids play with toy guns (indoors only, depending on my partner’s and therefore their skin color).

Why would you ever assume this to be the case? Police don’t only claim to be acting on your behalf, but that of the public at large, which includes practically everybody. Also, it seems rather naive to assume that, if you can trust the institution of police to abuse you, that the rest of the justice department will be impartial and act in good faith. Each of us is personally responsible for what is done in our names.

Sounds rather indiscriminate. But, my point was, the converse can also easily apply. I am not clear as to why you assume this relationship to be asymmetrical.

I don’t know that it follows, since I am not clear on your fundamental assumptions here. Anyway, I was not talking about guns, but rather replying to your comments about:

What is the significance of your remarks about “uniforms and a flag”? Uniforms imply a specialization, implying that civil society is not the concern of the average person, but only a certain segment. And USians do have a flag - the one their government hides under while trying to evade accountability.

Waiting for the community policing set — with optional social workers (sold separately) and real pre-arrest diversionary action.

Wait? You’re just accepting that listicle without quibbling?