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Nick Pandelidis: A Libertarian perspective on the Baltimore riots
Read the complete posting here:
I deviated from the planned discussion of K-12 education reform to offer some reflections on the Baltimore riots. My purpose is not to present rigorous arguments regarding causes and potential solutions but rather to make a few broad observations from a libertarian perspective.The first observation is the changed nature of inner-city policing. Not so long ago, inner cities were composed of mostly civil neighborhoods where police protected and served the law-abiding citizen majority from a small population of criminals. Now, those neighborhoods have morphed into war zones where many young black men are (often not inappropriately) designated as criminal elements and have their constitutional rights routinely violated — including being beaten or killed for "resisting arrest."
On the other side of the equation, police legitimately fear for their lives patrolling armed-drug-gang-controlled neighborhoods. And law-abiding citizens are caught in the crossfire.Watching the upside down reality where police killed a young man in the process of arresting him and yet had to stand idly by as rioters looted and destroyed property was dumbfounding.The second observation is that a misguided and failed war against drugs has significantly contributed to the breakdown of inner-city civil order. Criminalization of drugs has driven up prices and made drug dealing the most profitable and seemingly most glamorous employment option available to many inner-city youth.U.S. taxpayers have spent more than $1 trillion over the four decades of the war on drugs.
And yet, the U.S. is the first in the world in illegal drug use, addiction rates are no lower, overdose death rates are at all-time highs, and tens of thousands of persons have died in drug-related violence in the U.S., Mexico and South America. In addition, our legal system has more than 500,000 individuals in prison for drug violations.
Last edited by Common Sense (5/11/2015 8:04 am)
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I thought this was a weird commentary.
"Poverty does not have causes"........what? Just because you are born naked and without any money in your wallet does not mean that poverty has no causes. The cycle of poverty is perpetuated by human beings of all shapes, sizes, skin colors, and religions through a wide variety of attitudes and behaviors.
I also disagree with his assertion that sprinkling some individual rights and economic freedom around will lead to prosperity. If it did, I think more folks would skip over the Berenstain Bears and read Locke, Hayek, and von Mises to their babies before bedtime. Some people have used those individual rights and economic freedoms to step on others in their quest for wealth.
As one who identified as a libertarian for several years, I hope Nick continues to learn and widen his perspective. The world is much more complicated than the idealistic libertarian mind is led to believe.
Last edited by opendoug (5/11/2015 12:31 pm)
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Talk is easy, solutions not so.
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Yea, Doug's right, after-some good observations, Nick falls way short of the mark on this one
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I was pondering prohibition earlier today and considering the parallels between that and the war on drugs.
Prohibition created multi million dollar criminal empires.
The war on drugs created trillion dollar empires.
We've learned nothing.
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Prohibition was one of the high water marks of Nanny-statism.
Nany-statists continue to want to prohibit:
Guns
Cell phones in cars (unless hands-free)
Smoking in cars with children
Smoking out of doors
Smoking indoors (with children)
Fatty meats
32 oz sodas
Snack foods for children
ad nauseum.
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And we still believe we're free people.
What a joke.
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Well,,,, do speed limits make you unfree?
Immunizations, fire codes, setting a minimum wage, limited what can come out of your company's smokestack?
How important is the freedom to kill some one because you were texting while driving?
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We shouldn't confuse regulations and laws with 'freedom'. That is what people collectively decide to do in a civilized society.
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