The Bad Economics of Defund the Police
This is probably one of the most ridiculous memes I've seen. The meme has been used by leftists or communists to show why we need to defund the police. To defund means to remove funding. To defund the police means to remove funding from the police. The representation of leftists and/or communists is that the police must be defunded in favor of education, universal healthcare, youth services, housing, and other community reinvestments. This has me concerned about the move to defund the police because it means removing funding from the police in favor of other functions.
An incident in Cebu City last May 26, 2022, had me scared. It should be a very big concern when the CCLEX, Carbon, and two other areas in Cebu City were given bomb threats. I couldn't imagine for a bit what happened in the United States of America (USA) happened in Cebu City. The incident involving the late George Floyd years ago was caused by police brutality. I'm not going to deny that police brutality exists. However, I'd like to point out that the police force is meant to be a force of good. Police officers who break the law (such as police brutality) should be removed from the police force. New systems need to be put in place in order to have effectiveness in monitoring police abuses. Institutions like the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are there to help handle cases against abusive police officers. These institutions such as the police, human rights commission, and justice departments are meant to protect society. An erring member of either which institution is not a call for abolition but for cleaning up when it happens. If the human rights commissioner is erring--then fire that person. If the justice secretary is erring--then fire that person! If a cop is erring--then fire that person.
The plan is rather insane to defund the police. If the police didn't have adequate funding (as well as other related departments) then think of the consequences. I could imagine what if the policemen were all defunded and the bomb threat happened. What if there were really bombs in Cebu City during that time? It would be very scary indeed. Businesses, court sessions, and City Hall were suspended. There may have been businesses applying for registrations (which means more revenues for the country). Court sessions are needed to settle disputes. Businesses getting suspended during a working day means less money for the country. That starts to slash down the funding. Yet, some fools, still believe that police don't help. Such people can be seen living life like not following simple community guidelines. Talk to them about Singapore and they're quick to say it's undemocratic or totalitarian. They would still give sentiments over the death of the late Flor Contemplacion.
These same fools that call to "defund the police" are most likely against foreign direct investments (FDI) because they think it equals (1) environmental degradation, (2) labor exploitation, (3) violation of sovereignty, (4) destruction of local businesses, and even more foolish reasons can go on. If one read From Third World to First--one may notice the late Lee Kuan Yew wrote in "Chapter 13--Greening Singapore" the steps of environmentally friendly capitalism. Capitalism is all about the emphasis of private ownership of businesses to fill the supply and demand gap. It's different from consumerism which is too focused on increase on consumption. It's different from commercialism which is too focused on making a profit at the expense of quality. Yet, we know where point-missing fools go--they don't want sources that don't agree with them. In fact, they'd probably be quoting from people who think like them such as IBON Foundation, Bayan Muna, and all other similar organizations that promote economic nationalism which has been disproven to help a country.
If we defunded the police--we should really consider the consequences. It's already bad enough that it's almost impossible to discipline the poor. Some people work several jobs just to get ends met. Some people are flying abroad because the Philippines has a lack of jobs. I blame it on economic nationalism which has done nothing more than protect the interests of a few. Some end up having parental issues because the parents have to be abroad to look for money. Poverty and parental absenteeism also help fuel crime. Three drug mules who were executed in China were also Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). It's already bad enough that crime happens also due to joblessness. If we defunded the police--we can expect police officers to have lower pay and longer working hours. Such conditions cause burnout among the good ones while encouraging corruption among the bad ones. Some good police offers may even decide to quit altogether than to engage in graft and corruption. Police officers may have an excuse for their bad behavior (such as police abuse, graft, and corruption) due to being overworked and underpaid. It's like a child will have an "excuse" to be a school bully because of domestic violence.
The police have a function to protect society. It's not like as if there's no check and balance against bad cops. The CHR functions to investigate all forms of human rights violations. The DOJ acts as the legal counsel of the government and handles criminal prosecution. Erring police officers are, by mandate, should be stripped of their titles and be demoted to the position of lawbreakers. The police force has its responsibility to take care of erring cops. The CHR can provide legal measures on how the police can be more effective in taking care of erring police officers. The CHR may also raise issues like police officers being overworked and underpaid--something that kills morale. Police would be needed to handle crimes such as robbery, theft, homicide, manslaughter, and other forms of crime. The military has its job to protect the country from threats that the police can't handle. Without policemen, think about what happened to some areas in the United States of America (USA) that became a police-free zone. True, abusive policemen exist but we need the police to take care of them and other criminals. Abusive police officers are already criminals since a criminal, by definition, is someone who goes against the law or does unlawful stuff. If a police officer kills a civilian or abuses one's authority--it's already a criminal act. The police officer who does a criminal act is already a criminal.
The solution, instead, is to increase the sources of funds. Government funding is from taxpayers. It's the jobs that produce the taxes and not the other way around. The Bureau of International Revenue (BIR) has the responsibility of collecting taxes from the job providers. The idea of trickling down the money from the police down to other functions is stupid. Instead, we need to make sure more money goes up. If we want more education, more healthcare, more youth services, more housing, and more community reinvestments then the solution isn't to defund the police. It's just foolish to defund the police to fund the operations I mentioned earlier. It's because they're mostly funded by private individuals and businesses. It's as if entrepreneurs can't provide education, healthcare, youth services, housing, and community reinvestments. However, there are not enough local businesses. If we would wait until all local businesses have become "developed"--the Philippines (or any country) may end up like North Korea or Venezuela. Speaking of which, the crime rate in Venezuela is rather high due to how poor the country is.
This is why I advocate for the acceptance of FDI. The Philippines has accepted some FDI in other industries but it needs to open up some more. FDIs bring in capital, provide jobs, and teach new skills. I would listen to Kishore Mahbubani over the fools that advocate for economic nationalism. Lee didn't just write a book as his nation of Singapore is a testimony to that. FDIs whether they be multinational corporations (MNCs) or multinational partnerships will be under the Philippine law. True, they may get rich but they're under the tax mapping of the BIR. Don't tell me foreign franchises aren't under the BIR's list? Foreign food companies still release a receipt proving they pay the BIR their taxes. FDIs will provide growth for local industries either by becoming new customers or service providers. FDIs will still be subjected to business laws. The only time a business dies is if it doesn't evolve. An FDI dies if it doesn't provide good service. A local business dies if it doesn't provide good service.
If the police get adequate funding then it can help encourage businesses. Businesses, both local and foreign, will have better confidence in their expansion. FDIs who start to invest in the safer zones will start to expand. If there were better police then one can expect crime to lessen and businesses to expand. If there were more employment then crime will lessen when legitimate employment opportunities expand. People will have more jobs making syndicates have lesser manpower. Police will get more funding which in turn will help businesses expand. This is a scenario that should be done like how Singapore does it.
