The problem with a lot of the extremists on these forums is that they've allowed their hate for the government to remove all rational thought from their brains.
They (wrongly) assume that anyone who works for the government they hate must be evil incarnate, which is completely out of touch with reality.
Here's the truth, folks (take off your tin foil hats for a moment and TRY to think rationally- even if you haven't done so for a few years): most cops/soldiers/bureaucrats are NOT schutzstaffel thugs looking to kill you or destroy your life. They are regular folks who took a job with the largest employer in the nation for a wide variety of reasons.
Most cops are not power mad assholes bent on destroying your life. Most are pretty regular folks trying to do a decent job.
All of this is true. The system, however, makes sure the decent types are weeded out. Only the thugs remain. Sorry, but it's your turn to think rationally. Does the government want people who are decent and don't want to extort people? Furthermore, does this government seem like an entity bent on extorting the people? Uh... YEAH!
You act like a decent human being toward them, they'll do the same toward you. You may not like that $65 speeding ticket, but it's not going to be a big deal.
Not a big deal!? Maybe to YOU! I would like to keep my hard-earned money, thank you very much. Just put up with it and be nice to officer even when he's an asshole and you might only get reprimanded, like a light spanking for being naughty, you bad child, you. Listen to what Fearless Leader and his minions tell you.
If you act like a complete ass wad when stopped by a cop for some minor traffic infraction, he's probably going to treat you like the irrational raging asshole YOU are. If you act like an irrational douche bag, even if you claim to do it "for liberty," expect to be treated like the douche bag you are.
How many traffic stops have you been through? You don't have to be an asshole for the cops to react as such to you. They will be assholes for questioning them in the slightest or even if they get the vibe that you don't like talking to them. It doesn't even take you being an asshole for them to be one to you, but all that aside, you should be able to be as much of an asshole as you want without getting extorted for it. Not a big deal, you say? I'm sure most stops in the Weimar Republic were pretty innocent, too. People sucked up to the Fearless Leader's minions and they were rewarded by not being beaten, killed or robbed. That's not the kind of world I want to live in. Which is part of why I moved to China. Yes, it's much better here.
I have a huge problem with cops who overstep their bounds and mistreat citizens.
What are "their bounds" according to you? Because the way you talk, a cop beating or, at least, robbing you for being slightly impolite toward their ill-earned authority is A-okay.
But I'm not a tin foil hat dim wit who thinks all cops/soldiers/government employees are "out to get me."
The dimwits are the cops. This has been proven. The cops may not be out to get you, but if you cross their path and you are having a bad day, God help you if you look at them wrong. I hate to be the one to tell you, but if you support the enforcement arm of this out-of-control government, then you are a statist because the entire problem is enforcement. If the government didn't enforce its bad laws, then who would care? The problem is that we all know it DOES enforce these things, and there are plenty of crazy goons to do their bidding, so it works out. These are not normal people.
Some of y'all need to climb down from the tower and take a look at yourselves. Being a militant asshole just for the sake of being a militant asshole doesn't do the liberty movement any good, and it sure doesn't do you any good. You might want to consider harnessing your out of control rage and use it more effectively.
That's good advice for a cop. Most of the police encounters I've ever witnessed involved a sane, rational human being and, well, a cop. So, I'm afraid you've got it backward. You're chiding the wrong side.
And yeah, I know, a lot the raging militant jerk offs on the forums will consider me "part of the problem/conspiracy" for trying to convince them that acting like a psycho may not be helpful.
Actually, almost every anti-cop person here will try to tell you how to survive a stop. Only organizations built on questioning the authority of the police like CopBlock, etc. will go out of their way to question the police, but that's because it's their job. Most stops are just normal people trying to survive (with limited success) the raving lunatic who is just looking for an excuse to rob, beat, or kidnap them. You think they're normal people. I'm sorry, buddy, but you're mistaken. See, beating and kidnapping people IS their JOB. Only criminals, you say? Well, surprise, surprise, this government of ours makes a lot of people out to be criminals.
This message really isn't for them. Most of them are so far gone, they can't even think rationally anymore. But maybe I can reach a few who haven't gone completely off the deep end yet.
I'm sure all of them are thinking the same of you. It's always the crazies who want to save you before you go off the deep end, but who is the crazy? I would elect it's the guy with a gun and a badge working for an organization that can't seem to stop killing people for no reason, but hey, different strokes for different folks, amirite?
We use the ecclesiastical calendar and only observe holidays, feasts, fasts, etc as prescribed by classical tradition. Other parishes operate the same way, AFAIK.
