Harold H. Thompson (1998)

The role of the gulag system and of the police within the grand scheme of capitalism should be discussed, not as separate issues, but as related means of repression used by the state against the working-class, minorities and the poor. The police are the knuckles on the iron fist of the state and it’s first line of defense to protect the few ‘haves’ from the many ‘have nots’. The key role of oppression by the police is complemented by the judiciary, prisons, top elected officials who are placing into law ever more Draconian ‘crime bills’ and finally capital’s last line of defense against dissent, the military, inclusive of the National Guard, a branch of the armed services that has in the past shown an eagerness to shoot down unarmed citizens, historically during black rebellions across this country. The National Guard’s role of enforcing state oppression to protect capitalism’s interests is easily understood by simply looking at Amerikkkan history.
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