"Teachers often willingly act as scabs, as do firefighters ... But that doesn't enter into the verydescription of their job. Both individually and collectively they can act in a pro-worker manner. Cops can't. And with rare exceptions, won't ever. A cop that doesn't like being a scab quits police work and does something honest, like pimping, begging, or petty thief. No, of course they are not mindless Robots. They are something rather worse, cops."
this is clearly an academic viewpoint, and one not informed by the reality experienced by that overwhelming majority of citizens who are not academics...lighten up, good buddy, despite whatever bad personal experience you may have had with the police - and against which i'd match mine and easily top you, in spades! - and take a few deep breaths...
when someone is attacked, robbed, burglarized or suffers any of the even more numerous and perhaps less dramatic tribulations of life, like arguments with neighbors that get close to violence, etc., they do not call 911 to get a teacher, or a professor, or even a social worker...although, at times, the police action involves all those qualities and more, at higher personal risk, and much lower salary...
of course police perform for the state, the government, the authority, when push comes to shove, and that's exactly what those other professionals do, despite any more glamorous seeming radical actions they may take, once they are protected by tenure, unions, or whatever form of job security their professional field offers them...
get off this elitist nonsense about dumping on cops, who would gladly accept better pay, and better, less threatening work conditions if they had the opportunity...
find out how many sons and daughters of the professional class turn up their noses at grad school and instead become cops ...yeah, right
and rest assured if you said something like that about some other group, the language police would be all over your ass in a second...
gimme a break...
fs