About this episode

The episode explores the themes of political persuasion, the role of peacekeepers versus police in democracy, and the importance of protecting human rights.

Political persuasion is sometimes the result of chance. A single event, an opinion of someone we care for and think we respect, a man wearing a suit on TV looking all successful and powerful, can change a pathway of thought at a stroke. And with a system geared towards monopolising those strokes, can we be truly surprised at how democracy withdrew in the corner likened a frightened child hoping its evil parents would ignore her? In this poem, I write ‘peacekeepers’ for two reasons. Firstly, because I don’t want people to see police and consider them enemies of the people. Society needs a police force that protects the peace, that defends the innocent and which fights CRIME. What we do NOT need is a politicised force of thugs who feel they can beat innocent citizens and protestors because power is being challenged. Secondly because a functioning democracy should require peacekeepers rather than armed police running around behaving like cowboys. Police should not be involved in peaceful protests. Peaceful protests are a part of a functioning democracy and performing our democratic rights doesn’t need to be policed. We don’t need police at polling stations either. We need to…

Topics covered

• political persuasion
• democracy
• peacekeeping
• police
• protests
• human rights

More episodes of Two and a Mic - The Social Podcast

• Greek Genocide Day of Remembrance - Remember and Never Forget... · May 19, 2026 · 20 min
• Dr Boshart - "People don’t want to challenge structures, and I think that structure is failing." How Healthcare in Canada is failing First Nations communities · May 17, 2026 · 1h 2m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Two and a Mic - The Social Podcast podcast page.