Capitalism involves far more cooperation than competition—think of the number of mutually beneficial transactions you’ve had today compared to the number of competitions you’ve been in today– Chris Freiman, author of Why It’s OK to Ignore Politics
Democratic socialists sometimes object to capitalism on the grounds that it’s unduly competitive but democracy also looks pretty competitive to me– Chris Freiman, author of Why It’s OK to Ignore Politics
ABC News: If fentanyl is so deadly, why do drug dealers use it to lace illicit drugs?
I have an alternative explanation. America has been fighting endless wars almost the entire century. Many have come home from these never-ending wars with injuries and pains. Doctors got them addicted. The prescriptions often expired but not the pain. So the first drug dealers who created the addictions were neoconservatives who have sent so many to wars of choice that never end and it is dubious that we are safer but it is indisputable that we are now burdened by a much heavier debt burden in addition to the ordinary burdens of life. Then doctors in cooperation with big pharma. After having created the need and the addiction, so production increases to meet the soaring demand. Government created the demand. Then withdrew supply. So who really created the problem?
And with respect to Mexico, really, what should we expect? Our demand for drugs in the USA is probably a larger market than the GDP of Mexico. We are both narco-states. We demand. They supply. Global supply chain. And the USA must have extensive distribution networks. We expect Mexico to cut off supply and say they are a corrupt narco-state. Why can’t we choke off distribution? Maybe we are also a corrupt narco-state?
Mexico supplies the fentanyl demanded by Americans. America provides the weapons and ammunition for the Mexican drug cartels.
The money the drug cartels use to buy Mexican politicians, probably USA politicians and American weapons comes from the U.S. dollars they receive selling to Americans.
The answer is not invading Mexico. We need to stop blaming others for our own problems. Stop the endless wars. Legalize drugs. Legalization will alter incentives. Create competition. And producers will, unless government also grants them immunity, will be subject to product liability. So maybe instead of being addictive and deadly it will become addictive and safe or, at least, much safer. And we can add this to the list of the many addictions Americans have.
And maybe, just maybe, if our government changed its messaging from war and fear to hope and peace, Americans would have less addictions. The cause of our national mental health problems is government! And what would best serve Americans is immunity, a vaccine, against government. Government is the disease! Government is the most deadly disease!
This blog was originally featured at KryptoAnarchy.com and is republished with permission.
In support of Ld 1054, Defend the Guard legislation:
Thank you all so much for the opportunity to testify before your committee today.
Today is the 20th anniversary of the beginning of Iraq War II.
The consensus now is that we should not have done it. Iraq was not manufacturing unconventional weapons and was not in league with Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda.
Many representatives and senators from that time have excused themselves for voting for this disastrous war by claiming that they did not vote for war at all, but for authorization to let President Bush decide whether to launch one.
This war would not have happened if Congress had insisted on their Constitutional obligation to declare war.
Rep Ron Paul introduced a declaration of war in the foreign affairs committee. He of course voted against it and urged his colleagues too as well. But he was challenging them to take responsibility for their decision instead of delegating it to the president. Chairman Dennis Hastert told him “We don’t go by that part of the Constitution anymore. It’s an anachronism.”
Hastert might have cited the UN Charter there, but it does not supersede the US Constitution and Bush did not get a resolution authorizing the war from the UN Security Council either.
The simple fact is that if Congress had been forced by the people and the states to declare war if they wanted one, Iraq War II would never have happened. That means there would have been no war in Libya, Syria or Yemen either, as they were all consequences of the war in Iraq.
More than two million people have been killed. Ten trillion dollars have been wasted. The conservatives now agree with the progressives: None of it should ever have happened.
If only a few states had had Defend the Guard legislation at the time, it would not have.
By passing this measure now, you can help to stop the next unnecessary war.
This is the patriotic thing to do. That is why, as you heard, the American Legion supports it. Frankly this should not even be controversial at all. The US Constitution is the law. Congress is in defiance of it. They must be made to obey the charter which delegates authority to them in the first place.
The men who have testified before you today have given everything they have, including their best friends, in service to their oath to that Constitution. I know it means everything to them.
Thank you.
On March 19, 2003 the United States began its military invasion of Iraq. The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq passed Congress in October 2002, with 296 congressmen and 77 senators voting in favor of giving President George W. Bush carte blanche authority to decide if and when to go to war.
Twenty years later, this is a list of members of Congress who voted for the AUMF and are still in office.
There are sixteen congressmen, including nine Republicans and seven Democrats.
There are ten senators, including five Republicans and five Democrats.
These politicians voted for arguably the most unnecessary foreign policy blunder in United States history and incurred no electoral repercussions.
In environments where there’s a lot of competition, people tend to lie out their ass and you can apply this to any competitive situation.Take capitalism. As industrialization took full effect, the Federal Government had to interfere because there was so much false advertising.
