Posted on 03/02/2013 5:08:08 AM PST by AtlasStalled
Amen to Post 3. You understand addicts and addiction.
The problems in Mexico are no doubt fueled by narcotics and America is the largest consumer. However, Mexican narcotics are also present everywhere else in the world. Narcotics addiction and use is a human condition - not an American one. Read about the gang killings and violence in British Columbia, Canada. People who think the problems of Mexico would be fixed if Americans did not use drugs are foolish. The Canadian market alone is far more lucrative than farming in Mexico.
Mexico has tons of potential and a caste system culture. Just as Americans celebrate a successful businessman or leader that grew up poor - many in Mexico celebrate the same poor kid who grows up to be “El Chapo”. It is a third world culture... if Mexico “won the war on drugs” the streets would still be full of addicts fueled by other Central or South American countries. If anything, the Mexican cartels have implemented highly effective business plans for their products and they continually open new markets for different products.
People are horrified by a story like this about a kid. While justified, it is not only a Mexican problem. The same thing happens in other third-world countries and here in the U.S. in the inner-city gang culture (see Chicago). The Jihadists regularly use kids too - they make effective soldiers because they are easier to manipulate and think less about what they are doing.
I’m tired of single moms getting ALL the blame.
I don’t blame you. We are the Burger King culture (have it our way) and the divorce rate is mostly fueled by the breakdown of the Judeo-Christian ethics that grounded our founders and created the rule of law that made our nation so successful.
Everyone has a father - his name is God. Put him first in your life and everything else is better for it including your children.
Many people have their own baggage on the subject of divorce and it often spills over to comments here. The rate of divorce throughout American culture (including Christians) is a sad commentary on how selfish our nation has become (same with drug addicts as stated above). We had the Burger King generation followed by the Nike generation “Just Do It.” Even the Army got in on the act - “an Army of One.”
Superficial catch phrases for advertising that sum up our society quite well when you think about it. Best of luck to you and like other hurdles in life you and your children can overcome it. I teach my children that God is larger than all of us put together so anytime they put themselves in front of him they are wrong. My kids are very young, but it has been quite effective so far! I pray everyday that it will ground them for the rest of their lives.
You are preaching to the choir. I too was a single mom back in the eighties BEFORE draconian child support measures took place. I raised both of my children to productive adulthood without child support, working two and sometimes three jobs. I did not alienate my children from my ex husband either as is common today.
My current husband has a shrew Child Protective Worker ex wife who married “up” (well heeled step daddykins) yet takes almost every last penny away from my husband so that he is unable to support himself whilst alienating all three of his children.
All three children are on mega meds, mega failing in school and headed for orange jumpsuits. They have zero respect for any authority. The family courts and gov’t agencies have winked at the alienation and outright impoverishment of him.
You are preaching to the choir. I too was a single mom back in the eighties BEFORE draconian child support measures took place. I raised both of my children to productive adulthood without child support, working two and sometimes three jobs. I did not alienate my children from my ex husband either as is common today.
My current husband has a shrew Child Protective Worker ex wife who married “up” (well heeled step daddykins) yet takes almost every last penny away from my husband so that he is unable to support himself whilst alienating all three of his children.
All three children are on mega meds, mega failing in school and headed for orange jumpsuits. They have zero respect for any authority. The family courts and gov’t agencies have winked at the alienation and outright impoverishment of him.
I don't like what the war on drugs has done to law enforcement (militarization, presumption of guilt, no-knock, SWAT (although there are rare times for the latter), warrantless searches, etc. The erosion of the rights of the rest of us, especially in the public mindset (cooking the frog slowly) isn't a good thing for the future of a Constitutional Republic.
The sheer magnitude of that economy is a potential corrupting influence as well, and it would be foolish to think that the tendrils of corruption aren't influencing the Status quo at some level, if not multiple levels.
In the meantime, there are a lot of honest officers out there trying to interdict the flow of drugs, turn addicts and those not yet addicted away from the same vices which can easily lead to oblivion.
I am former a Firefighter/EMT, and even though that was many moons ago, recall the misery that not only illegal drugs, but alcohol as well can wreak on a person, their family, and a community.
We won't solve the problem here, but we do need to consider other options. What we are doing isn't working--and even if after careful consideration there may be no other course than what is being pursued, we need to jealously guard the very fabric of our society which makes it worth defending.
The war on drugs won't be won on a streetcorner, at a border crossing or port, but in the hearts and minds of those who have been conditioned by a culture which seeks oblivion over responsibility and the instantaneous gratification of an altered state over the often arduous task of improving their lot in life. It will only be won by changing a mindset that looks for the easy answer--and that won't be easy.
When so many have been conditioned to get rewarded for merely showing up, and achievement has been so severely devalued by attacks on those who pursue excellence and accomplishment, it is going to be very difficult indeed.
I agree with you that we need to try something new - however, it is not as simple as legalization and I am highly skeptical that legalization would fix anything.
I also agree about the militarization of law enforcement. I have seen it really increase in the last two decades from the inside. However, I would point out that it has mostly occurred in local and state law enforcement. DEA does not have their own tactical team that I know of. I blame most of it on the trend in most agencies where the tactical guys have taken over training at almost every level. The same thing would happen in the Army if you let Rangers take over all the training commands and had Rangers for instructors at all the schools.
The “high speed/low drag” mentality changes the complexion of the entire organization. When you give them more toys they will use them and while SWAT is used far too often in my opinion I would point out that there are probably far less lethal encounters using SWAT than we saw back in the day when a bunch of plain clothes detectives served these warrants. I still prefer to wait outside and grab bad guy away from the house to a tactical entry.
It’s many shades of gray and like most things the pendulum often swings too far in one direction or the other. The voters control 98% of the problem because almost all SWAT is local or state. If people don’t like it they should vote for a new Mayor and Chief or new Sheriff.
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