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what if.. (ii)

What if all citizens, instead of going to the army, were trained as policemen? What if they underwent such education and training that instilled in them a duty of justice and to protect, and the confidence (and skills to go with it) to tackle criminality?

Then, there would be no police, no established institutions set to serve the citizens; the police would would BE the citizens themselves, and given the nature of a non-established system, Law and Justice would emerge in the larger scale.

And what if all humans had access to everything they really needed, and had equal rights to education and health? And I don't just mean paper-rights, but actual, physical rights. And what if there was no money, no property, physical labour did not exist, and the world somehow operated in a different way? How likely would it be that criminality would be reduced to an infinitesimal amount of cases, most (if not all) of which would be related to treatable psychological or physiological conditions?

So why, instead of trying patch that 200-year old car that clearly doesn't work anymore (and probably never will), don't we just make a new car? It's not going to be easy, and it's going to take a lot of time and effort, but will it not be more beneficial for everyone?


"Και πρώτα απ'όλα τι εννοούμε λέγοντας παιδεία; Την πληροφορία, την τεχνική, το δίπλωμα εξειδίκευσης που εξασφαλίζει γάμο, αυτοκίνητο κι ακίνητο, με πληρωμή την πλήρη υποταγή του εξασφαλισθέντος ή την πνευματική και ψυχική διάπλαση ενός ελεύθερου ανθρώπου, με τεχνική αναθεώρησης κι ονειρικής δομής, με αγωνία απελευθέρωσης και με διαθέσεις μιας ιπτάμενης φυγής προς τ'άστρα;"

-Μάνος Χατζιδάκις


[translation: "And what do we mean when we say 'education'? Information, technical skills, the certificate of expertise, all of which guarantee a marriage, car and estate, in return for the total obedience of the individual? or the intellectual and psychical training of a free human being, accompanied with technical skills, a tendency to dream, an urge to strive for liberation, and with intentions to reach the stars?" - Manos Hadjidakis, a major figure in Greek music in the 20th century]


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