So have you heard about the “Affirmative Consent” bill adopted in California? In part, the bill forces colleges to do the job of law enforcement, which is bizarre in and by itself. California’s higher education system is broke. It’s in such a bad shape that I don’t think there is even a possibility of saving it from a complete demise. But there are ways to destroy it even faster. That can be achieved by making the tragically broke schools take on the job of other state agencies.
I will never understand the US tradition of making colleges investigate and punish crime when in every society under the sun this is a task of law enforcement agencies. I tried to figure it out, but I still don’t get it. Nobody asks colleges to investigate and punish murder or even burglary. There are no “murder prevention” or “mugging prevention” campaigns on campuses, are there? Then what is the reason that rape is not treated as a crime that it is and is pushed so aggressively into the lap of academics and college administrators who are grievously unprepared to address it?
Of course, the “Affirmative Consent” doesn’t stop at that and offers more insanity:
There is obviously no useful purpose that this can serve. If a person is terrified of saying “no” or resisting, that same person will be terrified into saying “yes.” There is absolutely no practical benefit anybody can derive from these bills and policies. But the point of the bill is not to help rape victims or prevent rape. The only way to do that would be to focus the efforts of the law-makers on the actual institution whose job it is to fight crime: law enforcement.
People, please observe what is happening: the state is divesting itself of its functions at a very rapid pace. Now it has gone so far as to openly declare that it has no interest in punishing crime and it’s up to regular citizens to do that. Or not. This isn’t just the erosion of the welfare state. We are way past that. This is the erosion of the state, period.
Those of you who are celebrating this piece of legislation need to wake up. We are in a country that brings heavily armed troops into the streets to target peaceful protesters. And the same country refuses to persecute violent crime against individuals in such an open and blatant fashion. Think about it. Police has enormous resources yet is removing itself from investigating actual crime. This is a road towards a very dangerous place. Law enforcement is paid for by our taxes (although not for long). Shouldn’t it at least pretend to do its job for a short while longer?
P.S. This post is evidence that I find the agony of the nation-state as painful as any other person.
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