I'm not sure where I read this - might have been Lenin - but as the differences between the really rich and the really poor become greater and greater, more and more pressure gets put on the middle class. There is pressure to keep the system from blowing apart and there is pressure to keep what they have. And when the middle class is threatened, they turn to the police for protection. In areas where the middle class (or those with middle class pretensions) are most immediately threatened, i.e., where they are in close proximity to the poorer classes, you see more evidence of the misuse of power by the police in support of the middle class wish for order and security.

I think that if you look you'll see that there is greater and greater disparity between the rich and poor, both on the individual and national level. We here in America get outraged when "our rights" (our economic status) is threatened. That's why we object to other countries charging too much for gas (gouging) and too little for electronics (dumping). We are more than willing to sacrific free market capitalism (there really ain't no such thing)to protect our lousy job or crunny vacation trip. To greatly over-simplify - we, the middle class in America - want it all our way and we will pass any law, elect any despot, or sacrifice any of your rights to keep what we have.

All that being said, I think Spaw's question still stands. "What're you gonna do?" And the answer, IMHO, is to keep up the discourse. Keep poking at the soft spots in this here great society.

The question posed in this thread is important. We must constantly look at this (and many other touchy questions) as we try to balance order and freedom. That is the cost of maintaining a representative democracy - you gotta keep working on it. You have to pay attention. It's your responsibility to stay informed. It's your responsibility to reject pat answers and easy solutions. "Kill the bastards and lock up the rest" is an easy way to remove "naughty" people from your safe little haven. But once you accept that, you live in fear that someone won't decide that it's you that's nasty next. When you decide that freedom is a value that you want to maintain, you add a certain amount of risk to the equation. I will accept the risk most of the time, when I've considered the alternative.

I know. You probably won't find one original idea in this whole post. But I think there are some here that are rather costly to forget.