Increased police presence to keep the population in line during volatile times: This is one of the functions of the "standing armies" that the people who wrote our Consitution warned us to avoid. More recently, Buffalo Springfield sang,

"it starts when you're always afraid ... you step out of line, the man comes, and takes you away..."

These days, we have both a standing regular army (more and more often called into domestic service) AND a loose domestic "army" of paramilitary and "state troopers" (or "Highway Patrol"), who, in the post-911 environment will come under the influence, if not the control, of the Department of Homeland Security (if only through the State versions of that federal department).

Lots of us have been hassled by the CHP over the past few years. I myself was pulled over a few years ago, just past a blind curve on a very busy and dangerous stretch of Hwy 17, because the officer claimed I didn't have current tags. "Of course I do," I said. The officer went around to the license plate, took another look, and said, "my mistake sir." I have heard from others that the "tags" approach seems to be fairly common, and that many mistakes are made. Others have had far worse experiences than me.

Our goal to keep the peace needs to be attacked with something that is qualitatively different than the usual police crackdown and pervasive police presence. We have to take a hard look at how to establish conditions of society that inspire or impel the fewest people possible to break the law. When you elect an official, or vote on a law or tax, whether local, state, or national, ask yourself: Does what I endorse now make criminals of, or allow the authorities to hassle people who are peacefully minding their own business? Does it authorize the taking of resources that people ought to be able to dispose of for themselves, or for purposes that charities or other private groups might better address?

I wouldn't have much of a problem with CHP all over the place, if they were actively keeping the roads safer, and that was their only purpose. But with so many laws on the books, we all know that nuisance and "snoop" stops abound, which actually, on many occasions, make the roads more dangerous! If you want to lessen this type of thing, you really have to pay close attention to the people you put into office, and the kinds of initiatives and taxes you approve. Otherwise, the "standing army" will be established, grow, and wreak mischief.