Wars

The war on drugs is a war we aren't winning or losing. We're just throwing money at it like the junkies throw money into their habits. The war on terrorism is one we can't have any quantitative results from either. Yeah, we've not been bombed but statistically speaking we were winning the war on terrorism before it even began. Now we're just throwing money and lives at it like ... well, a junkie throws his money and life at his habit.

I sure am glad we don't declare a war on poverty. God knows the poor people of the US and world at large can't afford to pay their electric bill, let alone start throwing money away like the government and junkies do to support their habits.

I'm not a political person by nature but if you have to categorize me I would be considered a libertarian. I think the government should govern roads and leave the people alone except for the enforcement of democratically induced laws. I don't favor the radical view that poverty is induced by anything to do with the government. I prefer to look at poverty as mainly a geographic condition with many causes. This issue strikes close to the bone for me since I grew up poor, most likely always below the poverty line until I was out and about and on my own, but my families (maternal and paternal) still live in poverty stricken areas.

This is a disclaimer. I do not want your pity. If you offer me pity I will respond with hatred. I am who I am because of who I have been, where I have been and what I have been through. I'm very proud to have grown up the way I did and I am no longer anywhere near the poverty level.

My father's family lives in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. This is coal miner country in case you weren't aware. One of the only other jobs in this area is working for the railroad. Most of the farming that takes place in these areas is for personal consumption and the farming itself is a sideline occupation, as in the people don't make their living farming, they have to both have a job and farm when they have the time and aibility. My mother's family is scattered out a bit more than my fathers, but has traditionally lived just northeast of my father's, in rural south western Pennsylvania. They too, were poor farmers, much like everyone else in the small communities around there. Not too many people ended up in the Who's Who books but they survived and ended up procreating and I managed to be born through their efforts.

What is the solution to the war on drugs? Legalize or decriminalize. I support legalization of non-hard drugs so the government could tax the shit out of it and pay off the national debt at the expense of the people that actually use the stuff. If they can do it with alcohol why can't they do it with the other drugs?

What is the solution to the war on terrorism? There is no easy solution to this quandry. Actual political action needs to be taken rather than a bunch of lowlifes sticking in an earmark for their area that costs everyone money for their precious little pet project. We need to talk with the leaders of nations and come up with a workable plan that everyone can agree with. According to the press the reasoning for the September 11th attacks are actually fairly reasonable (although I'm not saying I agree with the action they took to get our attention by any means.)

• They want us out of their holy lands. Check We can do that.
• They say we plunder their resources. I was under the impression we were actually paying for the oil but I'm sure we can work something out there so Check.
• They say we dictate rules to their leaders. Well if by that they mean we say "do whatever or we won't do business with you" then well, maybe no check on that. Otherwise, I might be misunderstanding their request there.
• They say we support the wrong people. Well if we can get this worked out we won't be supporting anyone per se. So Check.

With those few things out of the way it looks like we've figured out a way to (at least mostly) to appease the current terrorists and it didn't cost us anything other than maybe a little bit more money for their oil or something. Seems reasonable to me anyway but I'm not a politician with a secondary agenda either.

What is the solution to a war on poverty? Keep our government out of it to start with. They could mess up screwing in a lightbulb. Let them make better roads to places that have geographic resources such as coal, but lets keep their fingers out of the locals' pocketbooks. Start looking at alternative ways to tax people. I'd like to see a flat tax on gross income but I'm sure that's far too radical for the rich to allow to pass. They are of course, the ones with the money and lobbying power while the poor have no means to state their case other than a handwritten letter to their representative so I'm sure that will never come to be. But for areas that are generally economically depressed why not give everyone there a tax break? It would allow the businesses to grow which would allow them to increase wages and that would provide a better quality of life for everyone. It might even invite more poople into the area which would have the benefit of added development and new businesses for people to choose from and be employed with.


It's just a thought.