A Shortage of Bravery and a Surplus of Laws- Lessons from Uvalde.

Whether any of us would have done differently at Uvalde, Texas, is as useless as speaking of the damned trolly problem because no imaginary lever will save hypothetical people. But, here is one lesson we should have learned from this tragedy.

1. Because there is a shortage of brave men, there is a shortage of brave police officers.
2. Because there is an excess of victimless crimes, there is an excess of officers who do not need to be brave to do the job.
   

One would hardly be skeptical learning that the United States has a growing police force armed as well, if not better, than many national militaries. And somehow, among them, there is a shortage of brave men. Any statistic that points to the need for more police may have bought into the idea that police ought to do more than they should. A limited government requires only limited policing. That is not the same thing as saying we should “defund the police”; instead, it means we should reestablish what policing was meant to be. We have stood by while politicians fabricated a need for ever-higher police numbers to enforce victimless crime after victimless crime. Here is the problem: every victimless crime in the books requires a certain number of officers to enforce them, but these laws do not require brave officers. These laws create a demand for officers who do not sign up to protect but to enforce. The sheer number of laws demands more officers which, in a population of ever declining bravery, must mean fewer brave officers. As a result, we have a surplus of police officers unwilling to protect but very much willing to enforce. That much Uvalde has shown.

Now, no one must die for another; that is why we hold such acts to be brave and loving. We should not expect anyone to die for another but cherish those who die in the place of others. But this is a conversation not worth having because that is not what the video of the police in Uvalde, Texas brought to light today.

The nation has seen that policing is ineffective at what matters most. However, this should not result in the abolition of law enforcement but its transformation. Law enforcement has long been the arm of government abuse, and because of it, we have forgotten, it seems, that policing is a service reserved only for the bravest among us.

We should now realize that the bashing of strong men has left us with weak men. Weak men who delegate their responsibility to a force empowered by the state only to enforce laws that benefit the politically connected. Victimless crimes are profitable for some!  

We should support politicians at every level who do not parrot stupidities like defunding the police but rather understand that police ineffectiveness is the direct result of making the police officer an agent of the nanny state. We should also hold brave and strong men in high esteem because they will do what is necessary and encourage boys to become the kind of men willing to do the same. The attack on masculinity is a separate issue but is relevant in policing because 85% of officers are men. Police relations in the United States will not improve until two things occur: first, politicians are elected that understand the proper role of the police officer, and second, society cultivates strong men worthy of a life of service. Other than that, policing as a public service is doomed to failure.