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See: Global Marijuana March. ~600 different cities since 1999. First Saturday in May. City lists: 1999 2000 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 2010. 11 ...Search them. Add city name to search.

With less than 5% of world population the USA has over 2.3 million of 9.2 million world prisoners! The majority of U.S. inmates are in due to the drug war.

Most Republican leaders oppose cheap universal healthcare. 45,000 uninsured Americans die each year due to lack of health insurance.

Ideology, Idiot-ology, Political Parties, and the Drug War. Or, Ideologues Anonymous, Fundamentalists Anonymous, etc.. Election season is when Drug Warriors really come out of the closet and spin their lies. Year-round too, but especially during the election Silly Season. Several charts. And healthcare stats, too.
Mirrors 1. 2.	Change mirror pages if problems.

*Table of Contents. After text loads, click topics below. Click TopLink, back button, or HomeKey to return here fast. *Introduction.   *Free Markets. * "Socialized Medicine." *Social Darwinism. *Big Government. *One-party Ideologues. *State or Religious "Education." *Fundamentalist Christianity.   *Freed from ideology. Sunshine for Gray Matter.                  USA. Charts and tables: *Total number of incarcerated. Timeline. *Total number. Jail, prison, probation, parole. Timeline. *Drug War charts, and more.

 

Introduction. [TopLink]

"Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give the appearance of solidity to pure wind." --George Orwell

"Man's mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimension." --Oliver Wendell Holmes.

"You can't conquer an idea with an army." --Thomas Paine.

"One has to multiply thoughts to the point where there aren't enough policemen to control them." --Stanislaw Lec

"It is the absolute right of the state to supervise the formation of public opinion." --Joseph Goebbels.

Let your mind be stretched on a regular basis! Here follows a useful quote to start this article. This is from the beginning of Thomas Paine's book "The Age of Reason." from 1794.
Quote begins:

AGE OF REASON
by Thomas Paine

TO MY FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

I PUT the following work under your protection. It contains my opinions upon Religion. You will do me the justice to remember, that I have always strenuously supported the Right of every Man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies to another this right, makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes himself the right of changing it.
[End of 1794 Thomas Paine quote]

Rigid ideological beliefs have characterized US politics and US religious beliefs for decades. Ideologies have had terrible consequences on drug policies, spirituality, and much more.

Ideological thought often gets in the way of logical thought, especially as concerns drugs. It is important that we as individuals, and as a society, get past ideology, slogans, crusades, flag-waving, holy wars, drug wars, hysteria, etc.. I like the title of Mike Gray's book "Drug Crazy."

I like to think of ideology as "idiot-ology." Ideologues are often ignorant of their rigidity in thought, belief, and feelings. Even worse, they often want to impose their beliefs on others.

Drug Warriors are a perfect example. But we are all susceptible to political or religious ideology. It is pervasive.

One way out of ideological thought is to realize that for almost any rule there is an exception. You can't easily find a set of all-encompassing rules to explain politics, religion, life, society, etc..

The United States used to be known mostly for its protection of INDIVIDUAL rights and beliefs, more so than for Majoritarian or Ideological or "Patriotic" Rule. This is the country with state mottos and historical slogans such as "Give me Liberty or Give Me Death," and "Live Free or Die." This nation was founded by REBELS!!!

Here is an example of ideological madness. Deranged Republican President Nixon was a rabid flag-waver. Yet, he broke his Presidential oath to defend the Constitution, and he ended up being the only President to be forced out of office. So much for flag-waving one's way into power. Someone said "Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels." Nixon certainly qualified! As the John Prine song goes; "your flag decal won't get you into heaven anymore..."

This same scoundrel Nixon declared an insane, law-and-order, "War on Drugs" in 1971. He justified this and other repressive policies by referring to a "Silent Majority." Yea, right. In other words, shut up, kiss my ass, and obey. Or you will be silenced. Literally. An example was Nixons' ratcheting up of the unconstitutional COINTELPRO program. It caused the deaths of several activists. Another example was Watergate. Another example was his aid in overthrowing the elected government in Chile, and helping install the Pinochet dictatorship that murdered tens of thousands. Look up any of these words in a web search engine.

*Republicans lead U.S. Drug War. Democrats follow Republican evil. Huge LINKS list! U.S. Drug-war Industrial Complex. Republican fundamentalist holy war. Friendly Fascism. Drug war leaders are the rabid right, hate radio, hate television, NRA (National Rifle Association), religious right, (snortin') George Bush the hypocrite, etc.. Republican-led drug war disenfranchises (no voting rights) millions of voters (mostly Democrat-voting blacks).
http://corporatism.tripod.com/gop.htm and
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/gop.htm

"Between then [1940, at the end of the Great Depression] and 1980, the rate hovered in a range between 160 and 200 [inmates per 100,000 US population]. Then it took off [FORFEITURE LAWS AND VASTLY EXPANDED, MANDATORY-MINIMUM-SENTENCING DRUG LAWS, etc.], reaching 319 by 1985, 473 by 1990 and 519 last year [1993]. These are levels normally associated with POLICE STATES" (Newsday, 9/16/94, CAPITALS and [bracketed] info added).

UNITED STATES, 1980 to 1997. Evil Incarnate. The Reagan Revolution (and Bush, Clinton....). Ronald (6) Wilson (6) Reagan (6) {RWR}. Think of the odds! A world leader! See Revelation 13:3,14,17,18. (Reagan's assassination wound passed his bills).

REAGAN REPUBLICANS' TRIPLING OF THE U.S. INCARCERATION RATE. Fundamentalist Holy War. Incarceration rates per 100,000 U.S. population.
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*12-1998. The Prison-Industrial Complex. [Atlantic Monthly magazine. Huge article detailing the incredible corruption and horror of US incarceration].|
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/98dec/prisons.htm

[TopLink]
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_incarceration_timeline.gif - for info and sources.


----------------

[TopLink]
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_correctional_population_timeline.gif - for info and sources.

USA: Over 7.2 million persons on probation or parole, or incarcerated in jail or prison, at yearend 2006. About 3.2% of the U.S. adult population, or 1 in every 31 adults. [Commons] [Sourcebook] [BJS]

*Faces of HR95. ["Human Rights 95." Drug War inmate photos, stories. Federal prison statistics, costs, etc.].
http://www.hr95.org/hr_faces.htm

Just because a majority of people in a country or region believe in a rigid ideology, that doesn't mean they are right. The Drug War is a perfect example.

Here follows some analysis of various ideologies as they relate to the drug war.

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Free markets. [TopLink]

The US drug trade has become far more large and violent than the drug trade in other Western nations (nations with long democratic traditions) such as in Western Europe, Scandinavia, Britain, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Why?

In an unregulated or barely-regulated free market--as in the US--wealth concentrates in fewer and fewer hands.

A people that allow themselves to be economically raped in this way, also often allow safety nets to crumble also.

The destruction of the US safety net is one of the root causes of the huge US drug trade. Why? Because desperate people are far more likely to be willing to take the risks of dealing drugs.

Without safety nets, decent minimum wages, unions, progressive taxation, etc., many, many people are left behind.

Many people in the US don't realize just how badly the safety net has been destroyed in America. Many upper-middle-class Americans rarely get out of la-la lotus land in well-off suburbs. Let me enlighten you. I have lived in cities, poor suburbs, rich suburbs, America, Europe, etc.. The high level of American urban and rural poverty is unique among Western nations. In late 1997 there was a CNN show comparing the capitals of France and our United States (Paris and Washington, D.C.). If you saw it, or if you have lived in Europe, as I have, then you know some of the reasons why violent crime and the violence of the drug trade are so much more prevalent in the US. The safety net and universal healthcare are the NORM in ALL Western nations, except for the United States.

Europeans have had bloody wars, riots, strikes, etc. where economic justice was a key factor. Americans have yet to fight in a big way for economic justice (Let's start). The American workforce is only slightly unionized. We need to get off our knees. I'm not talking about bullshit Marxism either. True economic democracy is what I prefer.

Back to the free market ideology failings: In any free market, whether regulated or not, there is almost always some unemployment. A whole class of people can end up jobless, homeless, and/or ill. Illness is the worst in my opinion. Healthcare is one area in particular where the unregulated monopolistic free market fails many people very badly - especially when one is ill and/or unemployed. An unregulated free market will not provide universal healthcare. The US is the only Western nation without universal healthcare. Universal healthcare is essential for the best harm-reduction drug policies (more about that later).

An unregulated free market ideology is inherently unfair. Profits and capital gains go to owners and stockholders no matter how that stock was acquired. Stock is often inherited, or is acquired unfairly through insider trading or unfair privatization programs (as in Russia and Mexico), or it is otherwise acquired without real work or creativity. Wealth concentrates in fewer and fewer hands unless there is progressive taxation. Many rich kids inherit their wealth from their parents. So selfish billionaire brats like Steve Forbes lobby for flat taxes in order to keep that unearned wealth. An unregulated free market does little to fairly distribute wealth.

Free markets work far better when wealth is continually redistributed through progressive taxation, and when monopolies are prevented or broken up. In such situations free markets INCREASE productivity per capita, and thereby create more wealth FOR EVERYBODY, NOT JUST THE RICH.

Poor people in the US see the huge differences in wealth in the US, and get justifiably pissed off. How can drug dealing be considered immoral next to the utter corruption, greed, and depravity of many rich people and politicians? This country is ripe for revolution, whether violent or nonviolent. Either one is justified, and long overdue. Economic justice delayed is justice denied. No justice, no peace. Say it. Mean it. Most Americans are such incredible wimps that even thinking any of these thoughts scares them. Read or reread the damn Declaration of Independence, you wimps.

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''Socialized medicine.'' [TopLink]

Universal healthcare has been blocked for decades by referring to it as "socialized medicine." Americans have NEVER gotten past this pile of verbal BS.

The main force for progressive drug policy in the rest of the Western nations has been the other Western nations' use of universal healthcare and HARM REDUCTION. Universal healthcare is absolutely essential to a comprehensive harm reduction drug policy. That's because poor people need universal healthcare the most, and poor people can benefit the most from a harm reduction drug policy.

*International Harm Reduction Association Home Page.
http://www.ihra.org.uk

*The Lindesmith Center. [articulate Harm Reduction advocates].
http://www.lindesmith.org

Many other Western nations prefer a harm reduction drug policy over a strictly criminal justice response to drugs. Our criminal justice approach is mean-spirited to the nth degree. Why do we have drug laws anyway? Is it not to protect people from harm? The drug war kills and maims FAR more people than drugs do or will ever do. Marijuana has NEVER killed anyone in recorded history!!!

*Medical Cannabis Links. Huge List! Revised. All health aspects. Uses, safety, studies groups, etc.. Many of these links are also lists of many more links.
http://corporatism.tripod.com/medlinks.htm and
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/medlinks.htm

*Deaths. Leading causes. CHARTS. Diseases, accidents, homicide, legal drugs, illegal drugs, drugs of the Petrochemical Pharmaceutical Complex, Inc..
http://corporatism.tripod.com/charts3.htm and
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/charts3.htm

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All other Western nations have universal healthcare, and spend far less per capita for total healthcare costs (both public and private). What's more, compared to the US they have better health statistics overall. This has been explained in the articles on healthcare and harm reduction. Universal healthcare is less expensive per capita because the government controls costs and prioritizes spending. See the articles on healthcare and harm reduction.

*Universal healthcare. CHARTS. It is very helpful to a harm reduction drug policy. Cheaper, more effective, public health alternatives to expensive, oppressive, insane U.S.-style, drug wars worldwide. Sanity versus public hysteria, prisons, propaganda, and death squads. Healthcare costs by nation, per person, as a percentage of GDP, etc..
http://corporatism.tripod.com/universal.htm and
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/universal.htm

These facts disturb rigid free market ideologues.

It has been impossible for the free market to regulate total healthcare costs. There are many reasons why it is unlikely that the free market will EVER be able to adequately control healthcare costs -- not without some government regulation and cost controls.

Free market ideologues refuse to accept these facts. None of their healthcare schemes have worked or are likely to do so.

If healthcare is looked at as an unavoidable expense like taxes for roads, for the military, etc., than it is logical to try to lower its total costs through universal healthcare, global budgets, prioritizing expenditures. single-payer healthcare, etc.

Reductions in total healthcare spending would free up wealth to be used in the rest of the economy. The rest of the Western world has figured out how to lower total healthcare costs and still have better health statistics overall than in the US.

The change needed requires that free market ideologues get a clue, or that these true believers become outnumbered by those who think.

The US spends around 14% of its GDP on total healthcare costs, both public and private. No other Western nation spends more than 11% of its GDP on healthcare. 1% of the US GDP equals around $70 billion dollars a year!!! What an incredible loss to the rest of the economy!

A single-payer system is NOT socialized medicine, no more than any other form of government contracting such as military equipment contracting, highway building contracting, etc.. The government does NOT own the means of production. The government (the "single-payer") PAYS for services. People who use the phrase "socialized medicine" are clueless pinhead moron idiot ideologues of the worst kind. On the 10 point cranial-rectal inversion meter (10 points means the gray matter is lodged higher up in the poop chute where the light of reason does not shine) these ideologues rate a 15!

From Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (1986) {quote begins}:

socialism. noun (1839). 1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods. 2a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property. 2b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state. 3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done. {quote ends}

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Social darwinism. [TopLink]

Free market ideologues are often social-Darwinist ideologues, too. Social Darwinists rigidly believe in the survival of the fittest. There is very little, if any, good to be said about this ideology. Many people believe in this ideology, though few people since the fall of the Nazis will admit to believing in it. Social Darwinists do not support universal healthcare or harm reduction.

Social Darwinists do not support universal healthcare, because it allows the "weak" to survive. In its most extreme forms social Darwinism blends into more active forms of insuring the survival of the "fittest," such as ethnic cleansing, genocide, nazism, drug wars, etc..

The "fittest" are often defined by one's minority or majority status, or by one's inheritances, or by one's "connections."

Drug users are a convenient scapegoat, since they are a minority.

Social Darwinism is a rich persons' form of pack mentality, or "gang" status. Your survival depends on the "insurance" of your pack connections. If you get sick, you depend on this insurance.

Rigid free market social darwinists therefore only support free market insurance plans. Of course, people not born with a silver spoon in their mouth often can't afford health insurance, so they suffer, often for their whole lives, and often with undiagnosed easily treatable medical conditions.

Social Darwinists are not your friends! At the most they are fair-weather friends and fair-weather patriots. Just watch what happens when you or your friends become sick, disabled, unemployed, poor, or an outcast.

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BIG GOVERNMENT. [TopLink]

On the opposite end (usually, though not always) of the political spectrum are the big government ideologues, and the big spender political machines.

They are another ideology causing the carnage of the Drug War. Their one real purpose is to perpetuate their jobs. Market forces affect them very little at all. They like it that way.

Big prison-guard unions are powerful players with powerful PACs (political action committees). They like the Drug War.

On the other hand, Big Government can, when well-directed and supervised, effect positive change quickly, especially on the federal level. Universal healthcare is one area that government policy-making is absolutely necessary. Some other examples are the federal highway system, civil rights, environmental protection, union rights, college education, etc..

Yet these same positive bureaucracies often become havens for gold-bricking bureaucrats whose only purpose is to shuffle and reshuffle paper and to keep their ever-increasing salaries and benefits. The bureaucracies' original purposes become secondary to wasteful spending on the bureaucracy itself. These bureaucrats are often pathologically opposed to attempts at privatization and cost-benefit analysis. They often succeed in avoiding nearly all government and citizen oversight.

Therefore big government ideology can tie up more and more of the economy in less and less productive pursuits, and in bureaucratic privilege. This eventually causes the economy to stagnate, because average taxpayers have less and less after taxes to spend, since they end up paying more and more in taxes to support unaccountable bureaucracies.

So since more and more wealth is sucked out of the economy, poverty increases. Anytime poverty increases so does the drug trade and the Drug War. It is another vicious poverty/Drug-War cycle.

As you can see, there are many ways to tie up money and keep it out of the hands of the middle-class and the poor.

Money and wealth can be locked up in the hands of the rich, in bloated government bureaucracies, in monopoly-controlled industries, etc.. In any case the economy stagnates. Poverty then ensues. The drug trade and the drug wars then escalate.

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ONE-PARTY IDEOLOGIES. [TopLink]

Some extreme big government ideologues can also create one-party governments, such as the German National Socialist (Nazi) government, the Italian Fascist government, Communist Party governments, and the Reagan Military-Industrial-Prison Complex (still kept in existence by the Demican-Republocrat one-party state). All these "one-party" ideologies successfully consolidated power when they were able to create "enemies," whether real or imagined. Can you say "crack baby" and "this is your brain on drugs."

The current model is the Reagan-Bush-Clinton Republocrat-Demican 1980's and 1990's Military-Industrial-Criminal-Justice Spending Coalition. Republicans are, by far, the most frequent sponsors and cosponsors of repressive, fascist drug war laws. Even though Democrats cosponsor far fewer of these NAZI laws, enough Democrats vote with the NAZIs {oops, I mean Republicans} to pass many of these pogroms. Republican soft money control of the media is far greater than Democrat soft money, so many Democrats, especially in the "Bible belt," vote with the latest KKK {oops, I mean Republicans} in order to not be smeared as "soft on crime."

[6] Ronald [6] Wilson [6] Reagan's Soviet "Evil Empire" was the first enemy of the 1980's. In the last half of the 1980's Drug Users, and perceived drug-user lifestyles, became the "enemy." Can you say "Just Say No," "Zero Tolerance," and "gangsta rap."

*Racism of Republicrat Drug War. CHARTS. Revised. Many links and notes. This racism page linked just below has charts for black, white, and Hispanic inmate numbers and rates in the USA; and U.S. state by state disenfranchisement (no voting rights) laws. Many drug war notes, and LINKS to many more charts. Republican evil, Democrat complicity. Republicrat drug war disenfranchises (no voting rights) millions of voters (mostly poor people of color). Modern corporate control of the poor.
http://corporatism.tripod.com/charts5.htm and
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/charts5.htm

Big government ideologues all spend huge amounts of money on the machinery that defends their power: the military, the secret police, the regular police, the prisons, the chain gangs, the forced labor prison camps, etc.. These forces become more and more unregulated and independent of elected authority, the press, etc.. Police brutality is more and more brushed under the carpet. Criminal proceedings for the poor become a joke.

*Prisons, America's Newest Growth Industry. [WITH NRA HELP!].
http://www.prop1.org/legal/prisons/970317itt.htm

Both Republicans and Democrats have nearly bankrupted the US through huge deficits built up through vastly expanded defense, prison, and criminal justice budgets during the 1980's.

*Mandatory-Minimum Drug Sentences. U.S. CHARTS. Non-violent possession only. Drug War concentration camps for "undesirables." Sentences that usually do not allow parole until at least around 80% of the sentence served. Federal laws, and most states, have mandatory minimums. New York Times: Length of sentences causes the huge U.S. inmate count that dwarfs other nations. 2.
http://corporatism.tripod.com/mandatory.htm and
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/mandatory.htm

Today, the U.S. Drug-War, one-party ideology has gone international, and is often used to extend US counterintelligence and US Drug-War, DEATH-SQUAD "democracy," especially into Latin America. Once the communist bogeyman was gone, Republican President (and ex-CIA chief) George Bush began to use the Drug War to justify much of US foreign policy. An ex-SouthCom (US Southern Command, the military overlords of Latin America) general, Barry McCaffrey, now heads the US Drug War, and frequently cheerleads US Drug-War intervention in Latin America. He also encourages escalating military involvement in the US Drug War here at home. Talk about one-party government! The new fascist NAZI overlords, except this time in the Western Hemisphere.

*Terrorism of USA. Death Squads, Drug War. Many links worldwide. Millions killed over decades. Mostly US-run or US-aided terrorist death squads worldwide. Other death squads, too. Today's death squads, and older ones such as the US-run Phoenix Program during the Vietnam war. Terrorism and corruption at all levels of politics, police, society, media, business, unions, government, etc.. Lists in alphabetical and chronological order. Huge LINKS list.
http://corporatism.tripod.com/squads.htm and
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/squads.htm

Big-government, one-party ideologues also usually give monopoly control or shared monopoly control of various economic sectors to their cronies. "Crony Capitalism" seems to be the model nowadays.

One simple form of monopoly control is state ownership, such as in education all the way through high school.

Another form of monopoly control is shared monopoly control through revolving door cooperation between government regulators and the businesses they regulate.

The FDA, AMA, NIH, NCI, and even the EPA, have worked hand in glove with the pharmaceutical and petrochemical companies in order to effectively ban natural, non-patentable alternatives, as in the virtual banning of natural foods, herbs (marijuana, etc.), vitamins, minerals, etc. from accepted medicine. Also, government research money is steered away from nearly all natural medicine.

Big government ideologues form hierarchies of power at all levels of society. There is little room allowed for competition in the economy, and also in the marketplace of political ideas. Both would threaten the security of their jobs and their perks. Big corporations are allowed to own more and more competing radio, TV, and print media in any one city, and across the country.

Big government ideologues lobby hard to keep their huge US criminal justice and prison bureaucracies. In some states criminal justice and prison PAC's spend more lobbying money (bribes?) than most other PAC's.

Since the majority of US inmates are in for drug-related or drug-trade-related (stealing money for drugs, etc.) crimes, the bureaucrats and politicians in both of the main political parties try to outdo each other in prosecuting the Drug War, in order to get that PAC money mentioned previously. The Democrats and Republicans often sound like the same party, especially when seeking that PAC money.

So, in effect, we in the US are experiencing a new form of one party big government, run by the Demican-Republocrat party. The Libertarian Party also helps them out by supporting laissez-faire free market economic royalism, and thereby helping to create the inequalities of wealth that cause poverty, and the resulting exploding drug trade exacerbated by poverty. So all 3 end up propping up the Drug War.

The two main political parties try to outdo each, especially around election time, to "crack down" on drugs. The Libertarians rail against crime in general, but do nothing to attack the poverty and desperation at the root of most crime. Libertarians are stealth social Darwinists whose literature openly calls for the elimination of Social Security, all welfare, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. And forget about universal healthcare, government-paid treatment, and government-aided harm reduction. The Libertarian "solution" to all safety net issues is charity. Libertarian "liberty" to pass the buck to that other charitable sucker.

*5/98: The Right Wing Is On Drugs [Canada. A discussion of cannabis and drug policy reform, history, IDEOLOGY, healthcare, LIBERTARIANISM].
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n524.a06.html/all

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State or Religious "education." [TopLink]

The Drug War depends on uneducated drug users and drug warriors. Nothing serves keeping people ignorant and docile more than our present so-called system of "education." What is really needed is a voucher system for all NON-RELIGIOUS schools, both public and private. Then true competition would bring up the educational level of all Americans. These Americans would no longer stand for propaganda such as DARE, nor Reagonomics, nor crony capitalism, nor insane punishment-oriented Drug Wars.

Democrats like the support of the ignorant teachers' unions. Republicans like the support of the ignorant religious hierarchies. So between the two of them, they manage to keep Americans vastly more ignorant than citizens in other Western societies (whose schools are usually much better).

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FUNDAMENTALIST CHRISTIANITY. [TopLink]

It's all been said here:

*Religion 101. Drug War = fundamentalist Holy War. Theocracy today. The Religious Right most strongly supports the U.S. Drug War. Links, polls, history, etc..
http://corporatism.tripod.com/religion.htm and
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/religion.htm



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NON-IDEOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS. Sunshine for Gray Matter. [TopLink]

--Or "What goes around, comes around."

Any solution is non-ideological if it doesn't rigidly adhere to one ideology. It is that simple.

Universal healthcare costs far less per capita, and works far better than a strict free market form of healthcare, or any other form of healthcare. It produces far better overall statistical results, and it does it for everybody, leaving no one to a Social Darwinian fate.

Universal healthcare spends far less on bureaucracy, paper-shuffling, and other big government and big insurance company gold-bricking. It does not fit any one ideology, and once instituted and experienced in any country it is supported across the spectrum of ideologies and political parties.

Americans as a whole do not have a clue about what universal healthcare really is, because the US media has been co-opted by hundreds of millions of dollars of Harry-and-Louise type propaganda ads and other misinformation.

The American news media rarely takes its head out of its US ass, and rarely bothers to check out healthcare in other Western countries.

Universal healthcare is the number one reason why the quality of life is far higher in the cities of all other Western nations (such as Western Europe, Scandinavia, Ireland, Britain, Canada, Australia, etc..). Since with universal healthcare, healthcare needs are assured for everyone, then that only leaves food and shelter as the main safety net needs. Food and shelter safety nets cost far less than healthcare safety nets.

Poor people are far less desperate in other Western nations. They feel far less need to commit crime in order to survive. Their safety nets cover the most important need--health. Health is easily the most stressful part of being poor. I know. I have been poor often.

Universal healthcare abroad is often used to take care of the health needs of drug users, far more than using the criminal justice approach of throwing drug users in uncaring prisons.

Concerning violence, in all other Western countries handguns are very hard to legally acquire. Handguns are unhealthy! Duh! This is because handguns cause most of the harm from guns. Rifles are far less of a problem in any country. So, for health and harm reduction reasons, handguns have been mostly banned or regulated into oblivion in nearly all other Western nations. This is another reason violent drug-trade-related turf wars are far less frequent in all other western nations. Violent crime there, in general, is far less frequent and far less lethal.

Because of all the above there is far less desperation, strife, and hatred in the cities of all other Western nations. Crime is mostly nonviolent. Therefore there is far less need for prison as a punishment for crime. Incarceration rates are one-fifth to one-fifteenth the US rate. Large percentages of cops in many Western nations do not even carry guns! Drug-trade turf wars are far less violent overall. The total turf-war body counts per year are far lower.

Being poor combined with chronic ill-health combined with no healthcare devastates many people. It is impossible to hold a job for any length of time if one is truly chronically sick. Chronic sickness often also causes chronic fatigue. It is difficult to get medical help. What little help offered through Medicaid is difficult to get, and often only when a chronic illness has taken one to an acute life-threatening phase in the emergency room. Catastrophic or acute-stage healthcare costs far more than healthcare instituted earlier on in an illness. Prevention costs even less.

When chronically ill, even a shortened work week is often out of the question. Yet social workers in the US will cut off even food stamps if you don't stick out your work-fare or work week, week after week. Chronic illness and chronic fatigue are real, though often difficult to prove or diagnose.

It is no surprise that so many people in the USA are homeless, desperate, criminal, suicidal, or homicidal. They are only reflecting the homicidal, Social Darwinist culture they are living in. What goes around comes around.

American culture is only getting back what it is putting out: Institutional Violence, Social Darwinism, Ethnic Cleansing, Ivory Tower Cranial-Rectal Inversionitis.

Our US inner cities are becoming big third-world violent cesspools. They are little different from those in banana republic narco-democracies such as Colombia (poetic justice since US Drug War policies play such a big part there too), and parts of Mexico. Violent crime rates are similar. Poverty rates are similar. Squalidness is similar. Drive into the U.S. inner cities. Walk around if you have the courage. Better yet, live there awhile. Your ideologies will not be enough to get you by.

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Drug War charts, and more. [TopLink]