55) Analysis of the big government policy of "police and prison abolition“

 SPOTM Analysis of “Police and Prison Abolition”

Verdict: Strongly Misaligned

The movement to abolish police and prisons (often called “prison abolition” or “abolish the carceral state”) is strongly misaligned with SPOTM. This is a radical, utopian policy that fundamentally misunderstands the role of government and the reality of human nature.

Why This Policy Is Strongly Misaligned

1. Abandonment of Government’s Core Purpose In SPOTM, the most fundamental duty of government is to protect individual rights — especially the right to life and liberty — from those who initiate force. Police and prisons are the practical tools for incapacitating violent criminals and deterring aggression. Abolishing them leaves innocent people defenseless.
2. Denial of Human Nature and Evil SPOTM is realist: some people are dangerous, predatory, or irredeemable in the short term. Crime is not primarily caused by “capitalism,” “racism,” or “poverty,” but by individual choices and moral failure. Removing the carceral system does not eliminate evil — it empowers it.
3. Real-World Evidence of Failure Partial implementations (“defund the police,” bail reform, reduced prosecutions) in cities like Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, and others after 2020 led to sharp increases in homicides, violent crime, retail theft, and public disorder. The victims were overwhelmingly the poor and minority communities the policy claimed to help.
4. Utopian Fantasy The belief that society can function without any coercive enforcement — relying instead on “restorative justice,” education, or social programs — ignores thousands of years of human history. “Restorative justice” works in limited cases for minor offenses, but fails dramatically with violent or repeat offenders.
5. Disproportionate Harm to the Vulnerable The wealthy can hire private security. The poor and middle class cannot. Prison and police abolition would create a two-tiered system of justice: safety for the elite, chaos for everyone else.

SPOTM’s Position: Reform, Not Abolition

SPOTM supports a strong but reformed criminal justice system:

• Maintain effective, accountable policing focused on violent and serious crime.
• Keep prisons for dangerous and repeat offenders (incapacitation is morally necessary).
• Implement meaningful reforms: better training, accountability for misconduct, swift prosecution of violent criminals, alternatives for non-violent offenders, and greater use of restitution to victims.
• Address root causes through culture: strong families, better education, personal responsibility, and economic opportunity.

SPOTM Summary Statement:

“Police and prison abolition is strongly misaligned because it abandons the government’s essential duty to protect innocent citizens from aggression, denies the reality of human evil, and leads to increased violence and suffering. SPOTM supports effective, accountable law enforcement and prisons for dangerous offenders, combined with cultural reforms that reduce crime at its roots.”

This position flows directly from SPOTM’s commitment to the protection of individual rights, realism about human nature, the rule of law, and ordered liberty.

In addition:

Here’s more detailed information on the subject of Police and Prison Abolition from a SPOTM perspective.

Origins of the Movement

• The modern prison abolition movement traces back to Marxist and critical theory thinkers (Angela Davis is a prominent figure) and gained mainstream traction after 2014 (Ferguson) and especially in 2020 after George Floyd.
• Core ideological claim: Police and prisons are not institutions for public safety, but tools of racial and class oppression designed to maintain “capitalist” or “white supremacist” power structures.
• The solution proposed is not reform, but complete abolition, to be replaced by “community-based alternatives,” “restorative justice,” and addressing “root causes” (poverty, racism, etc.).

SPOTM views this as a dangerous blend of utopianism and ideological denial of reality.

Real-World Experiments and Outcomes

When cities moved toward abolitionist or “defund” policies (2020–2023):

• Homicide Increases: Many major cities saw 30% to 60%+ spikes in murders (e.g., Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York).
• Violent Crime Surge: Sharp rises in carjackings, armed robberies, assaults, and smash-and-grab retail theft.
• Public Disorder: Open drug markets, homeless encampments, and decreased quality of life, especially in progressive cities.
• Police Exodus: Mass resignations and retirements led to severe staffing shortages, slower response times, and reduced proactive policing.
• Victim Impact: The hardest hit were poor and minority neighborhoods — the exact groups the movement claimed to be helping.

These outcomes were predictable: when you reduce the credible threat of punishment, crime increases.

SPOTM’s Philosophical Critique

• Denial of Free Will and Evil: The movement treats criminals primarily as victims of society rather than moral agents making choices. SPOTM rejects this as a denial of personal responsibility and the reality of evil.
• False View of Government: Government exists first and foremost to protect the innocent from the aggressive. Removing its coercive tools (police and prisons) betrays its core purpose.
• Utopianism vs. Realism: The belief that education, social programs, or “restorative circles” can replace the need for prisons with dangerous people is wishful thinking contradicted by thousands of years of human history.

Why “Reform” Is the Correct Path (SPOTM View)

SPOTM does not defend the current U.S. criminal justice system as perfect. It supports significant reforms, including:

• Better accountability for bad officers
• Sentencing reform (reduce overly harsh penalties for non-violent offenses)
• Swift and certain punishment for violent crime
• Greater use of restitution to victims
• Voluntary rehabilitation programs inside prisons
• Cultural reforms (family structure, education, personal responsibility) to reduce crime at its roots

However, abolition is not reform — it is surrender.

SPOTM Summary:

Police and prison abolition is strongly misaligned and dangerously utopian. It abandons the innocent, denies human nature, and has already produced measurable increases in violence wherever tried. SPOTM supports a reformed, effective, and accountable criminal justice system that prioritizes protecting the innocent while addressing genuine problems through realism rather than ideology.