re: Social Security...
while i agree that it would/will be a difficult task, perhaps the way to do it is phase it in. or... to have an "alternate" plan, in other words, if one elects to stay in the current system or not. at some point professional money managers could do a better job of managing the funds for the individuals, than the government could. if done properly, the government is released from liabilities that perhaps could become too high.
the war on drugs.... definitively something needs to be done, it is crazy to continue the way we have it now.
here are some specific conclusions & recommendations made by "Consumer Union Report Magazine":
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druglibrary.org
The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs
by Edward M. Brecher and the Editors of Consumer Reports Magazine, 1972
Part X
Conclusions and Recommendations
Chapter 68. Learning from past mistakes: six caveats
(1) Stop emphasizing measures designed to keep drugs away from people.
Prohibition–– trying to keep drugs away from people–– began with the enforcement of the 1914 Harrison Narcotic Act, and it has remained the dominant theme of both antidrug legislation and antidrug propaganda ever since.
(2) Stop publicizing the horrors of the "drug menace."
Scare publicity has been the second cornerstone of national policy, along with law enforcement, since 1914. The effort to frighten people away from illicit drugs has publicized and thus popularized the drugs attacked. The impact on young eyes and ears of the constant drumming of drug news stories and antidrug messages is clearly discernible–– just look around. *
3) Stop increasing the damage done by drugs.
Current drug laws and policies make drugs more rather than less damaging in many ways. The alleged justification for this is, of course, to deter people from using drugs. Thus, the sale or possession of hypodermic needles without prescription is a criminal offense–– a policy which leads to the use of nonsterile needles, to the sharing of needles, and to epidemics of hepatitis and other crippling, sometimes fatal, needle-borne diseases.
(4) Stop misclassifying drugs.
Misclassification lies close to the heart of the drug problem, for what teachers tell students about a drug, and how judges sentence drug-law violators, both depend on how the drug is classified
(5) Stop viewing the drug problem as primarily a national problem, to be solved on a national scale.
In fact, as workers in the drug scene confirm, the "drug problem" is a collection of local problems. The predominant drugs differ from place to place and from time to time.
6) Stop pursuing the goal of stamping out illicit drug use.
If, in 1937, efforts had been undertaken to reduce marijuana smoking over a period of years rather than to try to eradicate it immediately, such a program might well have succeeded. Instead, one of the greatest drug explosions in history–– the marijuana eruption of the 1960s–– was triggered (see Part VIII).
a lot more in the report.... (for each of the above points)
druglibrary.org |
