In the Line of Duty

[Whateverist]

And people die and get killed every day, welcome to earth. Why should I give any more or less of a fuck about cops as opposed to people who die due to poverty in the United States?

Well I was getting ready to disagree after reading the first sentence but your example choice is a good one. It still misses the key difference that cops who die in the line of duty more likely think they are serving the public. (I know, you disagree about that.) But people who die of poverty related causes serve your point well.

You can easily argue that they too are serving the common good by settling for so little so that the few can have so much and the ever smaller middle class can have what they do. Of course they aren't choosing to make this sacrifice, they are merely the victims of those who can afford influence in the service of their gluttony.

Cops work to sustain this system for its elite, a class which none of us here belong to. So I really see no compelling reason to give a shit. They took a job, they knew the risks, they got paid reasonably well (with amazing benefits for them and their families). 

That sounds as far off the mark for describing why most cops become cops, as the common Christian claim that most atheists just hate god. Since I don't like being told why I accept the label of atheist, I'm not going to presume to tell policemen why they do the work they do.

It is possible to see cops as inadvertent lackies of the 1%, like so many others. I wouldn't assume they are equal partners with the 1%'ers. You can work for them in the fields or work for them in the big house. But only republicans are gullible enough to think they are their partners.