>>> We are really a gullible bunch of people in the US. We have been invaded by a bunch of thugs and need to throw out the occupiers of the WH.<<<
I hope two things happen when the Iraq quagmire is either concluded or neutralized, once our soldiers come home and the dreams of sugar plums for Bush insider-profiteers disappear all together; when Bush, himself, has disappeared from America's political scene.
First, I hope America turns its attention to the longest unwinnable war in its history: The Drug War. America's Drug War has served two purposes: a) parallel international smuggle routing of arms and drugs, both of which are unhelpful for healthy societies; and, b) America's Drug War has been waged in a racist and disenfranchising manner, serving to keep a very strong segment of our society living in an underground condition that only helps politicans to control elections because so few people vote, because too many people just don't participate in society. Indeed, many have lost hope, they live underground and they don't vote. This must change!
The Drug War, like the war on terrorism, cannot be won with muscle-bound military or police systems fighting those who hide in the shadows, who are profit-bound and overwhelming in numbers. Thus, a continuous rotation of replacement every time a dealer is arrested and goes into our prison system only to make better drug contacts for when they get out of prison. And talk about being gullible? We can't even keep drugs out of prisons, never mind a free society!
The key policy for dealing with America's drug problems can only sensibly be a comprehensive strategy of harm reduction, using a health model rather than a criminal model of action. We need to deprive the profits gained from drug dealing and especially need to eliminate the crossover of drugs and arms trafficking, the effects of which wreck severe havoc on Third World nations.
And who can argue that it'd be prudent, under the present economic times, to reduce the incredible and ludicrous cost of maintaining such an intensive prison system, and one contrary to how other democracies in the world function. Legislating morality only invites corruption among those who would enforce that morality. And that's not nice either!
Secondly, I'd hope that America would develop a new respect for the United Nations, especially its World Court. To finally see this organization as an ally for the progressive development and self-determination of all people, not just Americans. We are still at the beginning of a new century and need take account of the changes necessary to breed a healthy future. The demonstration of unilateralism by the Bush neocons has indeed taught us a lesson. Let's learn from this! |
