American Law Enforcement: Extricating the Aggressive Personality and Presumption to Violate the Law Off-Duty

The assumption that more police than we might expect have in not being subject to the law even while off-duty suggests that hiring, training, and retention practices of police departments are inadequate. The presumption of being an ubermench and thus untouchable is dangerous when the person can legally carry a gun. Memo to police departments in the U.S.: please notify your employees that they are subject to local, state, and federal laws, period. Any indication of any presumption to the contrary subjects the culprit to termination. Unfortunately, police departments and their respective city governments in the U.S. are far from such enlightenment as could hold their employees accountable.

In June, 2023, a police employee of Orlando, Florida faced charges by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office for reckless driving and resisting and fleeing from a deputy. The culprit “refused to show the deputy his license, got back in his car, and took off . . .”[1] He had been driving at 80 mph in a 45 mph zone. It is significant that he thought that going to work was a viable excuse for speeding. Even more incredibly, he told the deputy to notice his police uniform, as justifying the speeding! When the deputy asked for the man’s driver’s license, the violator abstinently said a quick, “NO!,” and turned to get into his car before fleeing the scene. How dare you as me for MY license! That’s something I do to OTHER PEOPLE. How arrogant, wrong, and incorrect. Moreover, the man’s reaction to being held accountable provides the public with a view of someone having the legal use of a gun and yet not willing to be held accountable himself. He may have incorrectly appropriated the former President Nixon’s erroneous declaration that if the president does something, it is legal. A local police employee is not even close to being the president of the United States. Even aside from prosecuting the presumptuous law-breaker in Florida, the city of Orlando would have done well in considering whether such a person should be granted the legal right to use lethal force.

My point includes the subtle one that prosecution is not sufficient and is thus inadequate as a litmus test for deciding whether a police employee literally takes liberties off duty should remain employed. Due to lack of evidence of a malicious intent, a police employee of Chicago, Illinois was not found formally guilty of assaulting a 14-year-old, whom the off-duty employee had wrongly assumed had stolen his son’s bike. The employee inserted one of his knees in the eighth-grader’s back.[2] Regardless of whether there was sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution, the photograph of the man on top of the boy should be enough for a chief of police to decide that such presumptuousness predicated on being a police employee should eliminate the attitude from being on a police force. The presumption in being allowed to attack a child who happens to walk past a stolen bike would be a red flag even in the case of a police employee on-duty. Off-duty, a man who happens to work as a police employee is just like any other dad. While any father may feel like being judge, jury, and executioner of a suspected thief of one’s son’s bike, what father would actually act on the urge? Hence, the off-duty police employee can be seen as presumptuous, and even as questionable psychologically, as can a police employee who curtly says no when asked for his driver’s license for speeding to get to work. An aggressive tenor can be detected from both men, and this alone should bar them from having the legal right of lethal force.

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1. Connor Hansen, “Orlando Police Officer Accused of Reckless Driving, Leaving Traffic Stop after Exchange with Deputy,” Fox35 Orlando, June 12, 2023 (accessed June 17, 2023).

2.  Alex Hammer, “Moment Off-Duty Chicago Cop Kneels on 14-Year-Old Boy’s Back after Mistakenly Accusing Him of Stealing a Bike,” DailyMail.com, July 4, 2022 (accessed June 17, 2023).

The 2012 U.S.Trade Deficit: An Analysis

Coming in at 2.7% of GDP, the U.S. trade deficit fell to $107.5 billion in the third quarter of 2012—down 9 percent from the second quarter’s $118.1 billion, which was 3% of the economy at the time. The current account includes merchandise, services, and investment flows. The surpluses in services and investment were out-done by the deficit in merchandise to produce the overall trade deficit. According to the New York Times, the “improvement in the current account in the third quarter reflected a decline in the deficit on goods and a small increase in the surplus on services, led by a gain in foreign earnings made by financial services, insurance and professional services provided by companies in the United States. The surplus on investment earnings narrowed to $50.8 billion, down from $52.1 billion in the second quarter.” Most of the decline in the deficit on goods reflected a decline in the foreign oil bill, according to Paul Ashworth at Capital Economics.

Analysis:

Lest we get bogged down in the purportedly significant differences between 2.7% and 3.0%, $107.5 billion and $118.1 billion, and $50.8 billion and $52.1 billion, respectively, we might take note of the rather stark difference between goods on the one hand (i.e., sustained deficits) and services and investment (i.e., sustained surpluses). Although it was no doubt true that the economic slow-down in China and the debt/austerity-induced recession in the E.U. were reducing demand for American exports, a basic imbalance between exports of American-made and imports of foreign goods is clear from the numbers year after year. Indeed, in 2006 the current account deficit had reached a record $800.6 billion—suggesting that something fundamental was “out of whack.”

                                               This graph isolates the deficits in goods imported/exported.   source: thismatters.com 

The question may be whether Americans were importing too many foreign goods or were too uncompetitive in making goods. Regarding the former, being able to buy a relatively inexpensive television made in China is not in itself a bad thing, particularly to the consumer. The question is perhaps whether the price was artificially low, due for instance to a relative lack of environmental regulations, lower labor costs, or government/bank subsidies. However, even if due to these factors, a low price is undoubtedly welcome to any consumer.

Regarding American competitiveness, was it hampered by labor and environmental standards or simply by unmotivated workers and bad management? Whereas American consumers benefit from cheap imported products, no such benefit can be found in the U.S. to any sector from a relative inferiority in competitiveness.

There is, however, the argument that an “advanced” economy oriented to professional, business and financial services rather than manufacturing can enjoy a higher standard of living if the services are more premium than the goods would be. The pristine notion of the “knowledge economy” captures this point very well. That not all Americans are willing or even able to participate at this level suggests that the term could never completely cover an entire economy. Hence, it is necessary even in an “advanced,” or “high tech” and “professional,” economy to tackle the problem of competitiveness in manufacturing.  Does it come from high regulatory costs (which can be viewed as part of a demand by Americans for a certain “standard of living” writ large), a lack of product development, or an inefficient labor or management force?  Whereas wanting a decent wage-floor or environment as a condition of manufacturing has merit—the cost being that society may have to support people who would otherwise be working in manufacturing—a dearth of ingenuity, bad employee attitudes, and inept management have no such positive aspect.

I was born and raised in a medium-sized industrial city in the “rust belt.” Furniture was the first industry, following which machine tools were the dominant manufacture until competition from Europe took out most of the factories. Speaking a few years ago with a European who had been sent over to oversee a factory that had been taken over by a European company, I was not surprised when he admitted, “the workers here just are not good. They are not motivated and they don’t pick up on the training very good.” Years before that, I had watched a program on the American public broadcasting network about a man’s effort to prepare inner-city black people for job interviews. Midway through his talk, the man admitted to the folks attending, “from your attitude even here, I have to admit I can’t see how anyone would hire you, so I don’t see any reason to continue here.” The man ended the workshop at that point. Doubtless his decision prompted little if any self-criticism from the participants. A bad attitude is perhaps almost impossible to correct from the outside—even with the inducement of money!—given the nature of a bad attitude. Regarding people under thirty, perhaps a year or two at a military “boot-camp” might break down the attitude’s intransience and build up self-confidence and self-respect, not to mention basic civility. Absent such a strategy, perhaps the segment of the American population unwilling (or able) to become part of the “knowledge economy” is inevitably lost—not being able to compete even on a factory floor. The cost to the rest of society goes well beyond money.

While visiting Miami, I witnessed repeated incidents on the buses from the mainland to Miami Beach of black men shouting and even hitting each other, as well as bumping into (and even falling on!) tourists. The black drivers ignored the shouts (including a drunk black man loudly and repeatedly calling a pregnant white woman a “fucking bitch”) and even fist-fights. Even with tourists begging the drivers that the aggressive passenger be dismissed from the bus, the drivers just drove on. In two cases, the drivers asked the men being hit if they wanted to press charges. They replied that they did not, so rather than get the aggressor off the buses or call the police, the drivers simply started driving again. This happened twice in the last 24 hours of my visit!  Near the beginning of my visit, I myself was pushed against the open bus door of a bus at a rail station while I was attempting to board a bus because I had not allowed all of the black passengers to enter first. The black driver refused to call the police or even tell the aggressive black man who had squeezed me to leave the bus. The driver simply replied to me—as I was pinned to the open front-door—“no, I won’t call the police. You shouldn’t have gotten on then. That’s how it is here.” I should have called the police! I was so stunned at the violence and systemic cover-up that I simply wanted to get to my destination. Just after I took my seat, a nice older black woman asked me where I was from. I told her that I had grown up in Illinois. “It must be worse in Chicago,” she remarked. “No,” I countered, “it is worse here. The blacks there are better.” In spite of being the only white person on the bus, I went on. “Even with the blacks killing each other in south Chicago, the people are better there.” She asked if north Chicago was white and the south part black. “No, the north part of the city itself is integrated, while I think the south is black. I was referring to the north—the blacks there are much better than the ones here. Here—I can’t leave soon enough.” Silence . . . complete silence. It then occurred to me that the entire bus—which still had not left the tri-county rail station—had been listening to this white guy talk about blacks very directly.

As it happened, a month or so later I was in Chicago taking a bus when a black man tried to enter the bus by pushing three old white women in line in front of him. The driver, who was also black, saw the attempt and quickly said, “Hey, what do you think you are doing? Get back out of the bus and let those women on first. Who do you think you are?” Then the driver turned to us in the bus and remarked, “It’s all about him, isn’t it?” The offender must have been startled, for he merely replied, “But it is cold out.” The driver pointed out that it was cold for the women too. The three women ended up sitting near me, and I told them (and the front half of the bus) about what I had witnessed in Miami on the buses there—and that it really was better in Chicago and even warmer despite the cold—even in terms of people moving past each other in the isle. “In Miami, the driver would not have intervened and you all would have been pushed out of the way of the guy who was behind you in line. Even complaining to the driver would have had no effect, and the man would have gotten away with it—whereas here that attitude is an exception. It was therefore countered, or pushed back, and therefore not allowed to become the default.” I don’t know whether the driver heard my compliment.

While it is easy to point to the bad attitude of many of the black passengers in Miami, I contend that the incompetence and attitude of the bus drivers there were just as problematic, and my anecdote from a bus in Chicago demonstrates that the attitude need not be enabled rather than challenged. The fact that the drivers in Miami all reacted the virtually the same way suggests that the decadence is systemic there. Put another way, the rudeness and aggression had become the norm and thus could not be checked. Perhaps this is why the drivers simply ignored even the violence—though this is hardly a viable excuse.

In terms of passive aggression, I witnessed drivers of buses going between downtown and Miami Beach regularly and knowingly cram too many passengers (even tourists!) on the buses and then demand that the extra passengers (who had already paid) shout back into the bus for others to step back so the extras could “get behind the yellow line.” To allow passengers known to be beyond capacity on board and then put them in an impossible situation while refusing to take control of the bus by making an announcement for people standing to move back evinces not only incompetence, but also an almost-sadistic mindset. On several occasions, I saw order itself fall apart on buses there as frustrated passengers—even tourists!—openly challenged the unjust and incompetent drivers on this very point.

Leaving Miami, my overall conclusion was that that county should not be part of the United States of America because of the rudeness, aggression and even the break-down in order—all tacitly sanctioned by county managers and employees. The rudeness, by the way, was nearly everywhere, rather than just on buses. I could not imagine any of the aggressive passengers or enabling drivers lasting more than a few days working in a factory, and the bus company managers (who knew of the incidents, according to local passengers) were doubtless virtually unemployable in the private sector too.

In short, the serial merchandise trade-deficits may point to an America that even many Americans do not know exists. That is, the structural imbalance may reflect a decline in American society—both in terms of labor and management—that manifests in a significant number of Americans compromising manufacturing or even being virtually unemployable. Put another way, I suspect that the condition in the American factory was at least as of 2012 part of a much more serious problem wherein even the social contract itself was under threat, or at the very least the American empire was in decline.

Source:

The Associated Press, “US Shirks Trade Deficit As Oil Falls,” The New York Times, December 19, 2012.

The Flemish and Walloons: Worlds Apart?

I contend that the cultural differences between the Flemish and Walloons within Belgium have been exaggerated to such an extent that the state government of Belgium has been paralyzed and solutions have eluded the Belgians. Reducing the fear-induced swelling of the admittedly real differences within Belgium may therefore facilitate relief from the paralysis. In other words, the added perspective from viewing the cultural differences as less traumatic can help the Flemish and Walloons to either live together or, ironically, be able to separate. That’s right—a more realistic assessment of the differences can actually facilitate the separation of Belgium into two (or three) E.U. states (or Flanders joining the Netherlands and Wallonia joining France—and the German-speaking area joining Germany). Exaggerating differences can snuff out consideration of such alternatives and enable continued paralysis.

To be sure, distinctions can indeed be made between the Flemish and Walloons; we can’t simply assume that the overall Belgian (or European) identity relegates the regional distinctions. "I am Flemish first, Belgian second," says Pascal Francois of Aalst.  Another Flemish man says, “it’s a toss-up when I’m in Belgium.” Even though I am a citizen of the U.S. rather than the E.U., I can relate.

I regard myself as a Midwesterner first, Illinoisan second. Being a Midwesterner essentially means to me having imbued the intrinsic down-to-earth culture of my native region of Illinois, which, as mostly rural with only a medium-sized city as its de facto capital, is distinct from Chicagoland (which is less Midwestern than the other regions). To be sure, “the Midwest” is a broad area in mid North America that transcends political categories. The label goes far beyond geographic connotation, for “the Midwest” stands for a certain “home-grown” (rather than foreign) culture wherein honesty (and bluntness), prudence, populism, and humility (and stubbornism) are particularly valued. The Midwest is known as “the heartland” because of these ethical virtues. In Illinois at least, being a Midwesterner can be readily identified with one's specific region because the cultural values are more immediate than the political identification associated with being an Illinoisan. So being a Midwesterner is to being Flemish as being an Illinoisan is to being Belgian. So too, being an American is as being a European, even if the emphasis differs. Ideally, a federal system proffers political expression to each of these respective identities. Unfortunately, fear and the related intransigence (or stubbornness) can block full expression of one or more of the levels of cultural identification.

In the case of giving political expression to regional identification in Illinois, fear of change has gotten in the way. For example, the Illinois Senate could represent the regions (i.e., clusters of four or five counties), hence facilitating their expression. Given how much the regions differ, the result has been a deficit in political identification within Illinois. Because the republic is quite heterogeneous (including linguistically, which, by the way, by no means exhausts the ways in which cultures can differ), I did not grow up identifying myself as an Illinoisan. In fact, the regions in Southern Illinois have more than once attempted to secede from Illinois due to economic, political and cultural differences—mainly from Chicago (whose culture is foreign even from the vantage-point of the two other regions in Northern Illinois). In my late twenties, I visited Southern Illinois once from the North. Even though I am not from the Chicago region, I felt at the time how strange it was that the place was “Illinois.” You’re not Illinois, I thought to myself, this place is different and far away. The people talk differently. Unfortunately, I did not have a regional political identity on which to rest this intuitive reaction of semi-foreignness. Perhaps the Walloons feel a semi-foreignness when they are visiting Flanders (and so too, the Flemish, when visiting Wallonia), though in their case, unlike mine, regional political identification can fortify the regional cultural bases of “home.”

In short, I can understand why a Belgian might identify as Flemish or a Walloon first and want to give political expression to it, given the cultural diversity within Belgium. Such identification is not a bad thing in itself. Of course, whereas there are regional dialects (and some unique vocabularies) in Illinois, Flanders and Wallonia enjoy different languages—indeed it can even be said that these regions enjoy standing for Dutch and French, respectively. Even as language is a major point of difference between the two regions, this basis can indeed be exaggerated, playing on the generalized fear by emphasizing the standing for over simple enjoyment. Il est facile de craindre.

For example, The Telegraph reported in 2010 that “Pascal Smet, the schools minister for Flanders, has horrified [the Walloons] by suggesting that Flemish children, who are Dutch speakers, should learn English as their second language, rather than the French spoken by two fifths of their countrymen in Wallonia.” While being horrified constitutes an over-reaction, Pascal Smet must have known in 2010 that he had “picked a broader fight” under the reasonable rationale that English should be learned because it is becoming the common language of the E.U. "I note that the engine of European integration is sputtering. One reason is that we do not speak the same tongue, hence my plea for a common European language," he said according to The Telegraph.

Of course, Smet could have satisfied his purpose by proposing that English and French be taught to the Flemish kids. His needless insensitivity alone can be seen to have inexorably fomented an exaggerated response. According to The Telegraph, “Smets proposal that children in Flanders can dispense with French [has] deeply angered Belgian Walloons already fearful over their fate and Belgium's future after Flemish separatists won the largest share of the vote in elections.” In other words, even sensible proposals involving the languages can escalate, fueled by the more generalized fear in the context of mistrust.

In short, already-stark differences existing between the Flemish and Walloons are easily exaggerated, creating a self-fulfilling prophesy of separateness wherein people have a knee-jerk tendency to over-react. This can be seen as well where the Flemish and Walloons come into close contact. At least in the short run, integration can provoke flash-points.

According to the BBC, “Flemish defensiveness is at its sharpest near Brussels. The capital, which used to have a Dutch-speaking majority until the early 20th Century, is now overwhelmingly francophone. Its population is spreading outward in search of greenery and cheaper homes - a move that many in the Flemish suburbs find threatening. Liederkerke, a traditionally working-class town 15 miles (25km) west of Brussels, is one of many suburbs that have seen an influx of both rich expatriates and African immigrants.” It is strange that Walloons from the south of the state would be compared to expats and African immigrants.

The cultural differences within Belgium should not be construed as though they were a microcosm of cultural differences within the E.U. or even internationally. For example, the BBC avers that the “cultural divide between Europe's Germanic north and Latin south has run through the middle of Belgium since the Roman Empire.” However, Flanders is not exactly Bavaria, nor is Wallonia populated by Spaniards and Sicilians. That is to say, perspective ought to be maintained in assessing the extent of the cultural differences within a small E.U. state. Let’s not get carried away.

                                               BBC

Of course, as I suggest above, cultural differences do indeed exist between the Flemish and Walloons. Among the relevant factors, economic differences have fueled the continued salience of the regional identities—indeed, in exaggerating them as well. Luc De Bruyckere, chairman of the Ghent-based food group Ter Beke and vice-president of FEB, Belgium's main employers' federation, for example, “points out that Flanders has a very tight labour market, while Wallonia is suffering from 17% unemployment.” Remi Vermeiren, a former chairman of the banking giant KBC, contends that Flemish people "believe more in a market economy" than Walloons. However, I have met Flemish who have stressed the European socio-political virtue of solidarity (which is virtually absent from the American political lexicon).

Therefore, I suspect that the economic ideological differences between the Flemish and Walloons are overstated. It is not as though the Flemish have adopted Sarah Palin’s view of capitalism while the Walloons have adopted a command-and-control economy akin to that of the defunct Soviet Union.

Furthermore, economic disparities have fomented prejudice, which has the effect of exaggerating cultural differences and inhibiting viable solutions. According to the BBC, “Flanders indeed has wealth, a hard-working population, and beautiful, world-famous cities - like Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp. Many there are asking why their taxes should prop up what they regard as a lagging, mismanaged region.” Are the Walloons really not “hard-working” and not able to manage themselves? Such assumptions do not necessarily follow from economic differences. More likely, regions differ economically because their dominant industries are different and perform differently. Even so, Roger Vandervoorde, 65, a retired sales director, for example, told the BBC, “Walloons should be responsible for what they do.” Prejudice drips off this statement, reflecting more on his state of mind than any lack of responsibility among the Walloons. Besides exaggerating cultural differences, such prejudice can impact political recommendations and reactions, which have in turn have exaggerated the differences.

According to the BBC, “resurgent Flemish pride is based on much deeper forces than just material wealth.” Specifically, “The sense of Flemish identity is all the more acute as it was suppressed by the French-speaking elites that ran Belgium after the 1830 revolution. The constitution was written in French. A Dutch version, written a century later, was not given equal legal force until 1967. As the Dutch-speaking majority demanded recognition, it was mainly pressing claims against the Belgian state.” Accordingly, “a wide majority in Flanders reject Flemish separatism. Most people just want more autonomy within the Belgian state.” This autonomy can be read as a reaction from having felt oppressed (or a fear of potential oppression in the future).

The generalized fear interlarding the Flemish is evident in the following observation from the BBC: “Wallonia may be poorer, but it is part of the 200m-strong francophone community. The Flemish are not standing on the shoulders of a friendly giant next door - and can be irked by Walloon cultural self-assurance.” Lest such fear be given too much leeway, the Flemish might recognize that Flemish conservatives have been dominating the Belgian state government of late and that both Belgium and France are states in the European Union. The ECJ, for example, is fully capable of restraining an imperialistic France intervening in Belgium on behalf of the Walloons.

Similarly, a generalized fear has interlarded the Walloons too. This can be seen in the Walloons’ reaction to Vandervoorde’s claim (perhaps made on the basis of his prejudice), “The best would be a confederation, with each part responsible for itself and only a few small matters handled federally.” Perhaps reacting subconsciously to the prejudice in addition to the proposal itself, “the Walloons are digging in their heels. They regard confederation as secession in all but name, and insist on keeping tax and welfare policies at federal level." The Walloons’ political reaction, in other words, may not simply be a desire for continued redistribution. At root, the fear might be that of being rejected. Such emotional/political fear need not exaggerate the perception of cultural differences or natural reactions to them.

Federalism, and even separation, can be natural reactions to real cultural differences. De Bruykere has a point in urging, “We have to organise ourselves in such a way that the different problems can be answered. One size fits all is not a solution.” While this dictum pertains especially to empire-scale unions such as the E.U. and U.S., it can also apply to heterogeneous states such as Belgium and Illinois. Just as the Chicago region ought not dominate the other regions of Illinois, Flanders ought not dominate Wallonia. That the two republics are themselves states in empire-level federal systems can be expected to relegate the “shock” thought to ensue from the partitioning of either Belgium or Illinois.

Even as prejudice can exaggerate the salience of extant cultural differences, being in an overarching federal system can be an asset in dealing with them. Belgium being a state in the E.U. can take some of the pressure off the Belgian government by having a more activist E.U. presence in the state (e.g., dealing directly with Flanders and Wallonia). Alternatively, the E.U. can facilitate Belgium in reconfiguring into two states or in splitting off into the Netherlands and France. Accordingly, Belgians, whether Flemish or Walloon, can afford to take a breath and gain sufficient perspective to stop clutching in fear to what has been at the very least a rather uncomfortable status quo.

Sources:

BBC News, “Rich Flanders Seeks More Autonomy,” September 30, 2008.

Bruno Waterfield, “Flemish-Speaking Belgian Minister Wants English To Be Europe’s ‘Common Language’,” The Telegraph, September 27, 2010.

Related Essay: "On the Belgium Stalemate: The E.U. to the Rescue?"

The Revolving Door: A Public-Private Sector Conflict of Interest

In Illinois, at least as late as 2011, state and local legislators could use their position to benefit paying clients. According to The New York Times, fourteen elected officials in Cook County, where Chicago is located, were registered as lobbyists in the 2009-2011 period and had clients who did received government contracts in Illinois. Rep. Fred Crespo observes, “When I see them [the law makers] at a hearing in the Capitol, I often can’t tell of they’re here for their constituents or for their paying clients.” Legislators in Illinois “can legally vote and otherwise act on matters that directly benefit their lobbying clients.”[1] As this involves a conflict of interest, which is inherently unethical, this case demonstrates for us the contention of ethicists that ethics as a field is distinct from law.

The full essay is at Institutional Conflicts of Interest, available in print and as an ebook at Amazon.

1. Mike McIntire and Michael Luo, “When Santorum Left Senate, Some He Aided Found Him Work,” The New York Times, January 6, 2011; John Sullivan and Fredric Tulsky, “When Office Holders Also Represent Clients, Collisions Are Likely,” The New York Times, January 6, 2011; and Fredric Tulsky and John Sullivan, “Is It a Conflict? Yes, But It’s Legal,” The New York Times, January 6, 2011.