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To: flatsville who wrote (34415)	11/7/2000 8:34:09 AM
From: Terry Whitman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 436258

Where did I read that political spin on teaching a man to fish/ giving him a fish. It went something like- A man is hungry. So- The democrats take 3 fish from the working guy's catch of 6, give one to the poor guy, and keep the other 2 for the bureaucracy. The republicans teach the man to fish, then allow the bait shop and marina to take most of his fish for bait and rent on the pole. I guess the Liberterian would probably give him a library card and say go down to the library and read a book on how to fish. <g>

To: flatsville who wrote (34415)	11/7/2000 9:55:08 AM
From: pater tenebrarum	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

no doubt the propensity in the US to jail perpetrators of so-called 'victim-less' crimes is very deplorable. i think though that you have this board wrong...if i interpret what's been said on the subject so far correctly, most would likely go with the libertarian approach, under which e.g. drug users would be decriminalized(i mention those specifically, as they make up the bulk of the victimless crimes prison population). i think neither the democrats nor the republicans can be counted upon to pursue such a policy...on the contrary, under the Clinton administration the 'war on drugs', which is a complete failure, has been stepped up by most recently giving huge sums of military aid to the (right wing) govt. of Colombia. no effort was made to try a new approach that would require out-of-the-box thinking and some political courage. if you think the democrats are any better than the republicans in this particular regard, i think you're deluding yourself. you mentioned the dismal stats of one state under republican control, but i honestly doubt that the prison stats of states under democrat governors look much better. this seems by all accounts to be a nationwide syndrome, one that requires a completely new, creative approach. throwing money at the 'war on drugs' obviously hasn't helped thus far, and won't help in the future. i personally suspect that big vested interests are blocking any attempt at genuine reform. all that said, before you get the wrong impression, i am not against the state providing a social safety net for the truly poor and destitute...i think it is among the duties of a modern industrialized nation to look after these people, albeit in a manner that ensures that the system isn't open to abuse by those who do not need the help.