Why does every apartment I ever live in now never have laundry in unit, and requires you use a mobile app w/ an account to pay to do laundry. Why do I need to load a digital wallet that requires I pay a fee if I only want to add just the amount for one load? It’s absurd. Let me put quarters in.
It’s multifaceted, police do sometimes serve as a deterrent to or to protect people, but it’s important to also recognize the position they hold isn’t to help your average people as much as it is to maintain order for the benefit of the state. They are the internally focused gun that will just as soon shoot a killer as a black child walking down the street with a nerf gun. Either one serves the same purpose, stay in line or else, do what we say or else, they sow fear in the population while making the privileged feel some illusion of safety. They’ll help you get your stolen car back, while also arresting a mother for stealing food from Walmart, or a homeless person for sleeping in their car. If you are any sort of minority, a police officer is a much greater threat than a help, and we’ve seen that in a history of high and low profile cases where police murder black people with absolutely no consequences, or in their use to suppress even the most by-the-book protests. Instead of solving the core problems that cause the majority of crimes, like poverty.
Sure, but it makes it impossible for anyone that doesn’t have a smartphone with Bluetooth to use them, and makes me have another account I don’t want, among other issues. If the apartment’s WiFi has issues, the machines lose connection and you can’t use them, It’s a vastly worse experience then using quarters or even just a card reader.