That certainly was a thoughtful contribution from a clearly gifted writer, but I can't help the feeling that it left somethings out relevant to our greater struggle.

For one thing, the foundation of the piece is a premise of exclusion.

It sets forth that their are certain groups, classes or types of people who's struggle is not equal to ours and for what ever reason we create in our minds should not be permitted to share the fruits of our labor.

Don't get me wrong. I hate the fucking cops on a very personal level. I have been subjected to profiling and harassment. They have broken into my home and trashed it. They have made it clear that they do not want me to feel safe for Portland.

I pity them because they know not what they do.

They haven't had the same privilege of knowledge and community access that I have had. Many of them grew up in a very different environments and are fully invested in cultures other than my own.

This is not to distract from their responsibilities but to contextualize their own struggle.

Just as in other cultures and political structures, the primary failure of police today is their antipathy to questioning authority(including their training) and aversion to seeking education.

That failure has cost us too many lives

thats why its important that we seek a fuller understanding of it and how to counter it.

More than a few officers are veterans of our generational wars, individuals who signed up to serve our country and community but then were uninformedly brainwashed into groupthink and disposed of like hardened cum rags.

They were raised and trained in environments were democratic ideals like freedom of thought, expression, and varying from accepted social norms are viewed as dangerous.

In a rigid structure like police or military, consistency and following orders can mean the difference between life and death. And when you've undergone years upon years of intense psychological conditioning against thinking for yourself, it's difficult to break you mind and heart free.

I don't believe excluding any group from the benefits of community is ever a healthy decision for anyone.

What I would like to see is our community firmly and warmly begin to welcome and enlighten officers to the idea that we are evolving and we would like them to evolve with us. That may mean disbanding the entire police force and starting over from scratch like other cities. That may mean inviting them to dinner and breaking bread with them. That may mean finding the strength to grieve the passing of our old world and ways of life together, so we can build new ones with them.

Portland will not be bettered by any form of exclusion.

The police need mental health care. The police need rehabilitation. The police need a safe space where they can have an opportunity to think for themselves and discuss ideas that they otherwise might find scary. The police need our help to change. The police need to be included in our progress.

While it may sound distasteful, and would ultimately would dilute officers ability to advocate for ideas unpopular with other union members, I think the a larger public employee union should absorb the police and labor for a better future together.

The most definitely would. And I think that’s kind of the point. The benefit would be they are maneuvered much closer to our democratic processes and have a stronger union base to bargain from. Basically, it switches the power dynamic from needing to negotiate tooth and nail with the city council, to making sure your union comrades are on board first before you go to bat.

It’s not in the interest of any union to have a new template for busting one out there, this would be a cool precedent Portland could set for the nation.

(For transparency, I am no longer active union member and I do think that info is relevant to this discussion.)