| | Mike Erickson, I agree that how you "get along" with someone is probably the most important aspect of their personality.
As I said, different kinds of people are drawn to the profession of law enforcement. Statistically, even today, the people drawn to police work are those who want to make other people obey the rules. To say that you know a policeman who says that cowboys are bad for the department is to say that Germany allows its citizens more rights than does Mali. It is the "ugly sister" syndrome, pointing to a worse case.
Read TSI's stories in Post 20... and no one called her on them. I might agree that getting a blow job behind a dumpster is a bit sleazy, but whose business is it? I agree that in calling the police the john showed a lack of insight. That might be funny, but the thrust of the story was simply puritan legalism.
The low self esteem of police officers is documented. My textbook is Ethics in Crime and Justice by Joycelyn M. Pollack. Statistically, police officers score "low self esteem" when tested. That explains much of the corruption, excessive force, racism, sexism, etc. Also, it correlates with a perhaps curious view among the police that they are "victims." To resolve this low self esteem with the aristocrat's "pride of being" I suggest culling the difference between what "most" people mean by pride and what Objectivists mean by the word. Back in 1943, most people might have called Peter Keating "selfish." For the warrior aristocrat who has pride, it is expressed in a manner different from that of the peasant or merchant.
ME: "The one thing that comes up from time to time is your pacifism and seeming contempt for the people, who in my opinion, are the forces that insure our security, in our rights and in our property. I don't think you believe they are unnecessary..."
I do think them unnecessary. There was a time when people could not imagine a society without a king. Then, tyranny was invented. As you say, your opinion is different than mine. If this is just a matter of opinion (chocolate versus vanilla) then there is not much at stake. It may be that we are so different in our life experiences that no agreement is possible.
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