Crime and Argument

(c) 2018         28 December 2018      Madison, Wisconsin

Lately I've been nudged to think some about crime, pacifism, and policy. Although overall arrest rates and police calls in Madison have been relatively stable in the last few years, there's been a disturbing rash of armed robberies in recent weeks. There has also been controversy surrounding the placement of cops in the city's high schools. The police chief complained last month about the "unrelenting toxicity of the incessant criticism and scapegoating of the police for society's complex issues" driving up resignations and pushing down recruitment of new officers. Then, I walked into my favorite cafe the other day as the owner was talking to a cop. The tip jar had been grabbed 30 minutes prior, which somehow led to a weird argument with a friend about pacifism.

I grew up steeped in pacifism. My dad was a conscientious objector during World War II - the good war. He served in camps mostly with religious conscientious objectors, Mennonites and Quakers. As an atheist, his pacifism was reasoned. It came from learning of the senseless horrors of World War I and knowledge that leaders could cynically shape public opinion to justify and use war to their advantage. On the other hand, as has been pointed out by George Orwell and others, totalitarian regimes tend not to practice pacifism. My mom was Jewish and lost relatives in the Holocaust. I grew up hating nazis. I asked my dad once about the need to confront evil. He noted that there will always be more than enough voices shouting for war. It's better to err on the side of peace. It's a somewhat extreme view, but, as Martin Luther King wrote, "Was not Jesus an extremist in love? -- Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you." Did I become pacifist? I was never truly tested, but in 1980 Jimmy Carter reinstated registration for the military draft in my freshman year of college. This was in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but it looked like we might be sent to El Salvador to fight for the oligarchy against the people in the name of anti-communism. Many of my classmates protested by not registering. I registered and wrote a youtfully indiscreet letter to the Selective Service claiming that I would accept military training but wouldn't promise how I might use it. War and crime are different. War, for instance in Afghanistan today, can be far away and abstract if you don't have a loved one there or dilligently follow the news. Crime is local and harder to ignore. Maybe that's why the argument with my friend in the cafe raised a lot of emotion. I was bullied a couple of times in high school, and I've been scared a couple of times since then by drunks, but generally untouched by violence. So I'm wary of my smug self-assurance of the need to forgive, love, and respond with non-violence. A conservative is a liberal who's been mugged goes the joke.

I have a couple of challenging hobbies that keep my self esteem in check and teach me humility. I play soccer, badly. I play the alto sax, badly. I also practice aikido, a Japanese martial art that emphasizes compassion for your attacker. In other arts the goal may be to disable your attacker, but in aikido one should blend with the attacker's energy and, to the extent possible, protect the attacker. It's interesting to look at our policy choices from this point of view. At the federal level, you can consider military and diplomatic expenditures. Compared to $700 billion per year for the Department of Defense, $40 billion for the combined Department of State and Agency for International Development budget seems low. As for the city of Madison, You could compare the police budget of around $75 million against $12 million for community development, but that's too simplistic. It ignores the $330 million for schools and additional infrastructure expenses that promote harmony.

 Despite Jesus' instruction to turn the other cheek, I think it's justified to prevent, avoid, and respond to attacks. But how much should that dominate our orientation? I don't know much, but I believe we should blend with the attacker's energy. We shouldn't necessarily agree with them, but we should see the world from their point of view. We should try to engage positively with our city and fellow citizens at least as much as we fear for our safety and guard ourselves. I think my conscientious objector father might have said this: as animals, we've evolved over hundreds of millions of years to fight, and our instinct is to counterpunch. However, yielding too easily to this urge can do more harm than good. You can see how this instinct has recently overtaken what should be patient and rational political discussion.

Sources

Madison crime statistics

https://www.doj.state.wi.us/dles/bjia/ucr-offense-and-arrest-data-agency

https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/documents/annualReport2017.pdf

Madison Police

http://www.cityofmadison.com/police/chief/blog/?Id=17343

https://board.madison.k12.wi.us/files/boe/uploads/ero_ad_hoc_report_final_10.4.18.pdf

Martin Luther King

Letter from Birmingham Jail, The Atlantic Monthly; August 1963; The Negro Is Your Brother; Volume 212, No. 2; pages 78 - 88. (per https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Letter_Birmingham_Jail.pdf)

Jesus

Matthew 5:43-48,  King James Version (per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_5)

Selective Service

https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/proclamations/04771.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1998/12/dirty-hands/377364/

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1977-1980/central-america-carter

US Budget

https://www.state.gov/r/pa/pl/2017/271029.htm

https://dod.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1438798/dod-releases-fiscal-year-2019-budget-proposal/

Madison Budget

https://www.cityofmadison.com/budget/2018/adopted-operating

https://budget.madison.k12.wi.us/files/bpa/uploads/2018-19_budget_book_07-05-2018.pdf