Confucianism Vs Legalism

Law is the backbone of society; fear of punishment and the wish to be a productive member of the community are strong motivators for most of us. However, for those that stray from the path of the lawful and wade into criminal activities a system is in place to capture, evaluate and punish those who break the law, whether it be for minor infractions or serious harm to people and property. But what happens when those dedicated to enforcing the law break it, or worse, carelessly use their power and kill those they are meant to defend? The lack of accountability and very few instances of true punishment for officers that commit these crimes, as well as riots resulting from these incidents causing even more damage to property, have cause great public …show more content…
“China has the oldest continuously operating legal system in the world, torn between two opposing ideologies: Confucianism and legalism (China). Legalism believed that any social disorder, from scolding one’s elders to murder, should be harshly punished; from branding and tattooing to castration and cutting of the nose. As there were few official guardsmen to enforce these laws there was rampant civilian-on-civilian violence as the citizens themselves enforced the laws, which led to the rise of moralists that opposed such violent measures. This back and forth led to upticks of violence throughout China’s history and led to the idea that a strong central government and high militarization is the Chinese …show more content…
Community policing had many benefits, striking down the distance that many federal sponsers had originally put in place to keep the officers from sympathizing too much with the locals, but it also had some disadvantages. The closer they would get to the community the more pressure was put on them to be lenient on crime or to not cause too much public disturbance lest it cause damage to the image crafted by the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Acts. Community outreach helped the police solve more crimes through increased tip calling and more contacts in criminal and private organizations, but there were those who criticized the police’s concentration on image with the cover up and poor response to events such as the 1992 Los Angeles Police Riots. Due to the acquittal of police officer’s beating of a black man named Rodney King, who’s attack was caught on film, the city erupted into riots, forcing the National Guard to get involved and declare a state of emergency. The increased military presence and fear of peaceful protests turning into rioting had not been