Not invariably. I’ve seen the expensive stuff - cost me a year of my time and another decade of inconvenience, once upon a time. I’ve seen the cheap - walked out of that park with a light sweat and a happy smile, and I strongly doubt that anyone filed a police complaint, though there were injuries requiring medical treatment. There have been other incidents - though I can honestly claim that I’ve only initiated violence once in 25 very odd years, and that one time was non-damaging (and widely viewed as being entirely called for).
In a long and interesting life, I’ve been assaulted with intent to commit serious damage twice - keeping oneself alive can be expensive no matter what violence you have committed in the past. I’ve been nearly killed by people who didn’t even notice me - motorcycle riding has hazards, too.
The anarchic “violence is expensive, so nobody will, mostly” has always struck me (pun intended) as having quite the flavor of whistling one’s way past the cemetary - violence is available in the most structured, controlled societies, and a lack of central control is not gonna make it less of an issue. I suspect that the percentage of people out there who would be willing to commit casual violence to strangers for sport (never mind profit) would amaze you.
We’re a violent species, and any philosophy that does not deal with that effectively is impractical.
Even in a mask, a 12-yo has the stature and physique of a 12-yo. I’ve seen some big 12-yo kids - but they don’t look like adults, not even at first glance. I don’t much care what face you want to put on it - it was remarkably poor judgment on the part of the shooter, and there’s no getting around that.
I disagree. Had that kid with a toy gun been trick-or-treating on Halloween night, with no evidence of any crime being committed but the mask and the toy gun, the community would be howling for the cop’s blood. The courts often allow horrid behavior from cops - but this was over the line, even if the shooter had been a cop.
Justice? Probably not available in any fashion. The closest you could get would be restitution, and that’s not gonna happen, either. Putting the fool in a cage won’t improve anyone’s life, either.
Begin to break down? They’ve been going steadily downhill for my whole life, and reportedly, for well before that. The neighborhood I grew up in, with never a locked door, I won’t walk through in daylight without defensive hardware today. But the state is not the only culprit, either - abolishing the state, while arguably a step in the right direction, won’t be a cure-all. There are lots of causes and contributing factors - save some ire for them, too.
Danno, noting that his teen complained today about society’s having gone downhill - in her short recollection.