Modern civilized societies worldwide place great value on stability and high living standards. Two important supporting features include law enforcement and currency. Taken out of context, they would amount to strange-looking paper and people in various uniforms. Because of the value that almost all of a society’s members assign, the authority of currency and law enforcement arise.
Philosophically speaking, these two cannot inherently be bad because they are created to protect and support the common good while seeking to improve their own performance, effectiveness, accountability, and transparency. When accomplished, society attains comfort, health, reward, fairness, and justice.
However, policies and procedures that control performance need to constantly be monitored and upgraded to meet the needs of the ever-changing world. When actions and outcomes are questioned in cases of (perceived) digression, it is simplistic to think that support for these institutions is waning. The public strives to create and maintain currency that is valuable and durable and law enforcement that is capable of safely and reasonably protecting its citizens while enforcing their laws and codes.
— Jim McKrell – Atascadero
This article appears in Jan 29 – Feb 5, 2015.
