Really.
I'm a child of the sixties and seventies. I know about the 'war on drugs.'
Yeah? Me too.
I also know that, if a product isn't for sale, nobody is going to buy it.
If the cartels don't produce the drugs, addicts in the USA can't buy them. So while I am willing to assign a bunch of the blame to those who buy....YOU have assigned ALL of it to the USA and the folks who buy the drugs. "It's all because...." of the 'War on Drugs."
No, that's not precisely what I said. I'm also blaming the government who makes and enforces drug laws and that portion of the population which supports drug prohibition. If not for the drug laws, these products would be just like canned beer - which you don't hear of any cartels fighting over. The most obvious solution is legalization. That would solve a lot of these problems overnight.
We should have learned our lesson back in the days of Al Capone.
Y'know, this is...typical.
The west pretty much destroyed the very, very long history of Chinese empiriums, by introducing opium. When you speak to historians, etc., the blame is ALWAYS laid upon the west; the producers/sellers of those drugs. Seldom, if ever, is blame for this cast upon China, the buyers of the opium, or the way China reacted to this pharmacological invasion. It is the fault of the sellers/producers.
Yet now, when the drugs are produced by someone else and sold to us, it's the fault of the way we reacted, not the fault of those who sell? How very typical.
Again, there's a history behind it, and it has nothing to do with China. Cocaine was first produced by a German scientist and originally believed to have medicinal qualities. It was outlawed in 1922 but started to regain popularity in the 60s and 70s. It was seen as the "chic" drug of the rich and the celebrity world. You think the Mexicans should be blamed for the kind of pop culture imagery associated with cocaine and encouragement to think of the drug as "cool"? Eric Clapton wrote a song called "Cocaine," and I'm sure he's not Mexican either.
As far as setting up the processing and smuggling networks, that originated from the US. Americans (such as the "Cocaine Cowboys," as they were called) went down there to seek out the drug and find ways to bring it back to the US for the lucrative profits. Of course, dictators like Noriega got in on the action, and the forerunners of the Colombian cartels got their start during this time. They didn't start up these businesses by themselves. The original idea came from further north, along with the cash and the protection of organized crime, who also had a relationship with the bankers to launder the money.
You're trying to suggest that it was all some kind of plot by the Colombian or Panamanian governments to hook innocent Americans on cocaine, as if "we" had nothing to do with it. That's simply not true.
As a result of more intensified drug interdiction efforts by the US, the cartels found more and more difficulty using Miami as their main clearing port, which is why they switched to overland routes through Mexico. That's how the Mexican cartels got big, and that's when the violence escalated. Gangs within the US also became more powerful due to the profits they were making from the drug. The 70s, 80s, and early 90s were just one enormous crime wave.
And how very arrogant: as if the west is this all powerful group of people who are in complete charge of the actions of everybody else.
No, I never said "complete charge," but in this situation, it's pretty well established.
I'm beginning to think that all this 'it's our fault that the world has villains in it,'is because what's really going through the minds of those claiming this is: because we were/are more powerful/smarter/better than anybody else, so if anybody does anything nasty, it's our fault because we could have prevented it. If anybody does anything mean to US, it's our fault; we didn't live up to our own superior natures."
Well, I just think we need to have more balanced approach to US history and our role in this world. We often pat ourselves on the back and crow about how great our country is (and it is great), but we falsely attribute this greatness to an abstract ideal we call "freedom." As if "freedom makes America great." You've never heard people say stuff like that?
It's also associated with endless gushing and crowing over how great capitalism and the free enterprise system is. The irony is that the same people boasting about the greatness of free enterprise are largely the same people who are the biggest advocates of drug prohibition. So, they believe in "free enterprise," except when they don't. What fine, patriotic Americans they are.
But let's not blame the banksters or other organized criminals in the US, since we're all so sweet and innocent as newly-fallen snow.
Believe me, I don't want to dump on the US or blame us for everything, but when one hears America described with such mythic imagery and grandiosity, it increases the tendency of some to call out that kind of BS. Yes, many Americans are strong, powerful, and smart. But we should also be smart enough to realize that America did not get to the point it has purely through "magic" or "Manifest Destiny." We're not angels or choir boys, so I just think we should dispense with the Captain America sermons and take a hard, honest look at our country - where we've been, where we are now, and where we're going.
At the very least, as a country, we need to be honest with ourselves. I believe that's the only way we can progress and move forward from our current dilemmas.
Either that, or those who say 'it's our fault,' don't really THINK that, but figure that saying it signals just how superior they are to all and sundry. It's 'noblesse oblige' personified.
The thing is...the men in those cartels are exactly like the gang members in the USA. They do what they do, and WE 'white Americans' aren't any better, no more superior, nor more able to be the good big brother/daddy than anybody else. AND...we can be victimized by people from other nations just as quickly as other nations can be victimized by us. Sorry if that pops the 'western exceptionalism' button, but there you are.
Hey, I'm the one who's popping the "Western Exceptionalism" button here, but if you want to pop it, too, be my guest. The gangs in the USA and the members of the cartels are just thinking about the dollars - US dollars, to be precise. They wouldn't be able to operate without bankers to launder their money and US officials who are bribed to look the other way. This, along with persistent rumors that US intelligence agencies are also getting a share of the spoils so that they can fund their secret wars.
As far as being victimized, it's no secret that Americans prey on other Americans, too. And yes, we can be victimized by people from other nations as well. I never denied that, but if you look at the balance of power in the Americas and compare our wealth and military strength with that of Colombia, Panama, or Mexico, then it seems awfully difficult to formulate a factual argument to demonstrate that
they are victimizing
us. We've invaded Panama, and we have US military advisors in Colombia. We've had a hegemonic relationship with Latin America for well over a century now, and we have always held the upper hand.
...........and I happen to BELIEVE in 'American exceptionalism,' personally. Up to a point.
I have little doubt about that.
Same thing is happening with climate change. Somehow or other the USA has been assigned the blame for it, and the job of fixing it. Americans (well, the left, anyway) buy into this whole 'we're so superior and powerful that we are responsible for EVERYTHING and can FIX everything! bit. The thing is, though, that even if the USA could lower our 'greenhouse gas' production to negative numbers, it still wouldn't solve the problem. China and India (to name two) would have to at least start to solve their own pollution problems before anything positive could be done.
Well, yes, I agree - and I think that's the real trap here. The main problem appears to be overpopulation leading to excessive consumption which contributes even more to climate change. But I don't want to drift too far off topic here.
But their inability to do that is ascribed to the USA (well, the 'west') even by westerners.
It's infuriating. It's like the old story passed down by quilters and knitters everywhere, who figure that they must put some deliberate mistake in their work to prove how humble they are; mustn't have their stuff be too perfect, after all; doing that is prideful, arrogant, and might hurt the feelings of others.
If you think about it a minute, I'm sure you can see the flaw in that reasoning.
I guess my point is that in NO way can America (North America, either nation) be blamed for massacres committed by Mexican cartels upon Mexican police. Our 'War on Drugs' wasn't responsible for their actions. We have enough gang murders to deal with ourselves; how can we be responsible for gang murders elsewhere?
And why are we to be held responsible....by anybody?
The War on Drugs is what makes the drug so expensive, which is why there are lucrative profits which are most certainly attractive to those who have been born into extreme poverty and deprivation. Plus, because it is illegal and underground, those who operate those businesses are unable to call the police or bring a lawsuit in court or anything that might be done in the "legitimate" business world. So, they have to fight it out in the streets in these gruesome bloodbaths we keep hearing about.
If it was decriminalized and treated more as a medical problem than a criminal problem, I would bet that the vast majority of this violence could be avoided. It's not a panacea, nor am I claiming that it will solve all the problems at hand, but at least it would be some progress.
I'm not saying that "we" should be held responsible. I'm not blaming Americans for the actual murders that took place here. And we're relatively safe up here from all that violence; it's the people of Mexico who are bearing the brunt of it and suffering the most. But "we" are still connected to it, and it seems clear that problems in one country invariably spill over into neighboring countries. Even if we manage to build a wall all across the border, we won't be able to fully prevent that.
And we are working with these countries (Mexico, Colombia, and others) to try to deal with the problem, but they're all still thinking in terms of a "War on Drugs." Trump and Lopez Obrador have tried to establish a cooperative relationship. I don't know if Lopez Obrador's approach is really working, though. That's what appears to be at issue here. Trump's approach might be to bomb the hell out of 'em, but I don't think that would work either.
But let's say, for the sake of argument, that the cartels become even more powerful to the point that the Mexican government collapses or becomes totally co-opted. We won't be able to just sit behind our wall and hope for the best, not if there's a land of chaos and anarchy south of the border. If we don't take steps to restore order, then some other country probably will - and that could lead to even bigger problems.
Either way, it's a problem we're going to have to deal with one way or the other. Sticking our heads in the sand and hiding behind a wall might make some people feel better for a while, but it's not going to last - and the problem will just continue to get worse.
