After giving it some thought, the calls to defund Paw Patrol are misguided. The Paw Patrol is not the police. They’re a terrorist cell. 1/n
How does Ryder recruit members of his patrol? The limited evidence we have suggests he preys on vulnerable pups. Both Rubble and Everest were abandoned, searching for purpose. 2/n
(For this analysis, we’ll leave aside tracker, who has already been radicalized to a life of asymmetrical warfare by Carlos, who is clearly a foreign affiliate of the PP.) 3/n
What is the PP’s ideology? Anti-statist. That’s why Ryder has trained his followers to replace municipal services – fire, police, even garbage collection. PP aims at nothing less than the destruction of the state as we know it. 4/n
Ryder has insidiously made his pups indispensable to the day-to-day life of Adventure Bay, while a hapless local official – perhaps corrupt? – fails to provide the basic necessities for her residents. 5/n
The PP routinely interferes in the affairs of their neighbouring municipality, Foggy Bottom, who is led by an ambitious reformer (Mayor Humdinger) trying to bring the rule of law to the region. 6/n
Why? Because regional instability supports PP’s recruitment and ideological aim. Chaos and instability reinforces the PP’s anti-statist worldview. It turns good pups into blind followers. 7/n
The only effective counter to the PP is the equitable provision of municipal services, and a strong counter-narrative that properly funded government is a more effective safeguard for civil society than a team of dogs who can somehow drive cars without thumbs. 8/n
Because Adventure Bay lacks a strong advocate for good government, we can expect that – at least in the medium term – it will remain enthralled to an adolescent rich kid and his band of good, but misguided, pups.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
