Just a short update on the family. Everything is going well. Each of us sleep soundly at night. I am at a new job, Darlene is happy at her job. Alex is doing well, going to school, and training on his job as an industrial technician, with PLC programing and robotics. All of this has given me time to think.
My deliberations may be construed as political but I'd love to have someone explain to me how what we are doing is working.
The War on Drugs was formalized by President Richard Nixon in 1971. Since that time our nation has been hell bent on eradicating drugs. What we have been doing has NOT worked. I have come to realize our War on Drugs has been in reality a War on Drug Addicts.
If we truly were fighting a war on drugs we wouldn't be pouring over 80% of our resources into law enforcement. A real war on drugs would see 80% of our resources put into eduction, rehabilitation and treatment. A War on Drugs would include research and mechanisms to ensure approved drugs cannot be used illegally and could not enter the market until that was ensured. That would be a war on drugs. Reduce or eliminate the need and desire, in turn that reduces drug usage.
The way we have been fighting our War on Drugs since the 1970's and before has been a miserable failure.
The same applies to our War on Poverty. President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty in 1964. Since that time we haven't fought a War on Poverty. We have been fighting a War on Poor People. It's well known what it takes for people to escape poverty. Good educational programs and schools, opportunity and livable wage jobs. A effective War on Poverty would include a minimum wage that lifts people to a livable wage. A War on Poverty would involve improving our educational systems and making college affordable for the poorest or make it free. A War on Poverty would include a health care system that treats all people equally regardless of their financial ability to pay.
The way we have been fighting our War on Poverty since the 1960's and before has been a miserable failure.
How about our War on Terror? President George W. Bush declared a War on Terror in 2001. How effective have we been at that war. We are at war with people not like us. What are we doing to stop people not like us from using terrorism against us? We now have an entire terrorist state called ISIS. We are killing them and we are killing their families, relatives and friends. How does that encourage them to live in peace when we continue to kill their families and friends? Fighting a war on terror involves more than dropping bombs from drones. Fighting a war on terror involves finding out WHY people want to kill us and dealing with the root cause rather than focusing on killing every terrorist in the world and HOPING none of them breed our recruit others to carry on their mission.
Maybe it is time as a nation to begin fighting our wars differently.
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8 comments:
Definitely--I completely agree. When are you running for president? You have my vote!
I don't normally comment, but you really hit the nail on the head with this post. You have always shown great wisdom, and this needed to be said. Thank you.
YES!!!!!!
Drug addiction could not be considered as a physiological or mental disorder, but it can bring about harmful results especially in terms of behavior and processing thoughts and ideas. To the drug abusers, they may feel really elated and the use of drugs allow them temporary escape from their emotional burdens, but what they don't see are the negative changes drugs give them. They would sometimes get involved in felonious activities just to have more of these illicit drugs on hand. Their families should subject their addicted family member to rehabilitation treatments in centers like soba mesa Arizona so that they may return to sobriety and be a useful member of the society again.
I absolutely agree. And could add to that the War on Cancer, having just watched the three part series on PBS by Ken Burns. It was through research and much trial and error that knowledge was gained.
I like you wonder at the use of the word War to solve problems. It seems ingrained in our culture.
We have different kinds of wars – war as a nation and an individual war. You are right! We should eliminate not the person who is causing the problem but the main reason behind why a person doing such unrightful thing. War on drugs must be a serious thing to reinforce as addiction is widespread and affecting young people which are supposed to be studying to make a difference in the future. Treatment center service should be accessible and not only available to those who-can-pay people. A right to start a sober life needs to be implemented. Help must be everywhere and not located in a remote area.
When a person or a group of persons or a country decides to start implementing such kind of missions then it becomes necessary to keep track of how things are going on. Means are we moving towards goals correctly set by us or going to somewhere else? Drug addiction is really a serious issue and if we are fighting against it then it is highly compulsory to move in right direction with clear goals.
Prosecuting a drug addict does not stop the addiction. It does not prevent the addiction. Education and treatment help the addicted. Thank you for your post.
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