The Latin phrase “cui bono” means “who benefits?” Whenever there is a controversy, it is a fair question to raise: Who benefits?

The outcry by millions of people over the tragic death of George Floyd ended up costing lives and millions of dollars of damage to many people the uproar was about.

Who benefited? Surely not the additional victims of the disaster, including others who were injured, many of them police and African Americans. All favor defunding police departments everywhere should ask, “who benefits?” Surely not the victims of the robberies and property damage caused by thugs who used the opportunity to do one thing – line their own pockets.

Do citizens want their main line of defense against crime dismantled? Are these city officials, overburdened with deficit spending, seeking another way to get more tax dollars to cover spending mistakes?

What does defund the police mean? No one has accurately defined that.

Most address it in platitudes to have the money going anywhere except to improving police relations with the public.

Who are you going to call… ghostbusters? Reasonable people must conclude that law and order must be the solution. Otherwise, you end up with anarchy.

The thugs will benefit as will the demagogues who have their fingers in the pot. Should you trust those who created this dilemma with solving the problem?

Everyone from major corporate CEOs to Roger Goodell of the NFL have come forth with their own “mea culpa,” a Latin expression meaning “my fault.” Mind you, this is the same NFL that all but tossed Colin Kaepernick out of the league for taking a knee during the National Anthem. Now Goodell and his billionaire buddies are contrite. Who benefits?

Cultural revolutions have this tendency to become a parody of themselves. In the end, no one asks “who benefits?” from the unrest. The mob rage so overwhelms many officials that they literally confess to sins they never committed.

Is it “white guilt” as some suggest? When Joe Biden or Donald Trump come galloping forward with their own lame approaches to an age-old problem, it is fair ask: Where were you, Mr. Biden, during your 8 years as vice president? Where are you, Mr. Trump, now that you are in power to do something about fixing this? Both are little more than demagogues hoping to grasp a partisan issue without a clear-cut answer.

It is easy to blame a few rogue cops but taking police funding will hurt those who need police most. It is no coincidence that most big city officials calling for drastic defunding have all been the same crooks who got them into this mess. Are they likely to have solutions to the problem?

Putting the inmates in charge of the asylum is not the answer. Doing away with cops is not the answer. Throwing money at social services while depriving citizens of safety is not the answer.

Could stable housing, better mental health services and community organizations be the answer that so many are suggesting? There are legitimate concerns, but are they the answer to community safety?

It is fair to question enormous deficit spending in many if not all police departments but who will pay the tab? Reminds me of the expression “Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die!”

Michael Aun won the 1978 World Championship of Public Speaking of Toastmasters International.