"Collecting revenue must be dangerous work."
Huh? I don't understand.
Not to be a butt-insky, but that comment is either a reiteration of a common line of reasoning here at FR, or a sarcastic rejection of it. Which reasoning goes like this: “Many towns and counties pass numerous ordinances and codes designed to raise revenue (eg, the classic small town speed trap), which their police departments enforce by writing tickets, thus collecting the intended revenue”.
Which is not utterly false, as there certainly are cases of this, and indeed the initial contact with Eric Garner was due to exactly that type of enforcement: he was selling “loosies” in violation of NY’s outlandish tax laws. That said, the reasoning that blames the cops in the Garner case falls apart because he was NOT put in a choke hold for the initial infraction, but for RESISTING ARREST, an entirely separate crime, and one for which we must permit the police to use force to counter if we wish to have any laws enforced at all.
Just my 2 cents.