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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026

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Police should have more duties than the general public, not fewer. That's what we're paying them for. The threshold for a cop shooting someone in self-defense should be higher than a normal citizen.

How do you imagine this would work exactly? So a normal citizen sees a guy charging at him with a knife, then pulls out his gun and shoots the attacker. A cop... can't do that? What does the cop do instead? Just run away? Do you think this would lead to an ordered, civilized society?

A cop... can't do that?

Ideally yes, I would expect the cop to put in more effort to defend himself non-lethally. Cops are supposed to be professionals at this, so I expect more from them than a random person walking down the street. That's what we're paying them for.

How exactly do you expect the cop to defend himself non-lethally? Tasers and 40mm shotguns fail all the time to stop people who are charging at a cop. Do you expect him to just run away?

Well obviously some situations would require lethal force. All I said originally is that the standards should be higher for professionals than for random people minding their own business. I don't like the idea that police can provoke a somewhat violent response from a suspect and then use that as justification to use deadly force.