Military, Police, And Why They're Separate

Any time I see military in non-fictitious streets, this pops up in my head.

Starting in 2003, Battlestar Galactica is full of perspective on genocides, foreign occupations, and terrorist strategies.

The show inverts all sorts of common conceptions about these areas - largely by making humanity the group at risk of being wiped out, effectively being occupied by a hostile government, and resolving to fight back in ways that otherwise feel unimaginable.

The leaders, the soldiers, and the citizens - they’re faced with all sorts of hard decisions.

When part of real life rhymes with the show, my stomach drops.

I especially wouldn’t want to be police or active duty military right now.

My heart goes out to those who are.

My brain goes out to that quote, which during that particular run of Battlestar Galactica, gets brought up when the military commander is explaining to the newly stationed president why they’ll need both police and military.

It’s during a particularly stressful period, in the midst of attempting to keep humanity in existence long enough to have a shot at rebuilding society.

To say the stakes are high when this civics lesson gets trotted out (and the show trots a lot of them out, which is part of why it’s so beloved), is an understatement.

There will always be enemies of some form.

There will always be people to serve and protect.

It’s up to the leaders to figure out how to balance the two.

Come on leaders, we need you to come through for us.

“So say we all.”

ps. this post, looking at status, confidence, and drama with the help of my recent interview with Peter Atwater, really helped me think through this stuff.