Hacker News Reader

Comment by metadat | Hacker News Reader

At the same time.. The core mission of the police in the USA is to protect and serve the general public. This is the oath they take in the process of being sworn in as a public servant.

Not to serve the whims of Southwest Airlines. Things often play out more like this, though, where they serve whatever entity appears to be the most powerful.

View on HN

Not sure where you're getting this from. Police have no duty to protect or serve, this was just a slogan on squad cars in some departments and became a TV trope. If they take some sort of oath, it's not really legally binding.

See: https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/justices-rule-po...

https://archive.ph/cdDf2

You are right, what a bummer. I appreciate the correction, though.

Justice, liberty, and freedom for all.. also just a toothless slogan?

"with liberty and justice for all" was written by a socialist minister in a youth magazine as part of a campaign to get columbus day recognized as a holiday in the 1890s. It was meant to be a universal pledge for anyone in any country, not specific to the US. It is not part of any jurisprudence or caselaw. So yes, technically its a toothless slogan.

>The core mission of the police is to protect and serve the general public. Not to serve the whims of Southwest Airlines.

This is a fundamental misunderstanding of American/capitalist society and of history. The police exist explicitly to protect businesses and have no obligation to the public. They were founded explicitly to protect businesses and the wealthy.

https://sites.uab.edu/humanrights/2021/12/08/the-history-of-...

https://mises.org/power-market/police-have-no-duty-protect-y...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com