By Carol Harper
Not generated by AI!
As we brought in the New Year, it seems there was a lot of focus on President Trump's recent action in Venezuela. Happening at the same time is the Buddhist monks' Walk for Peace, which started back in October. As I occasionally (and hesitantly) glance at the 'news' these days, the words of the police officer I met in the park in Washington D.C. echo through my mind: "Same shit, different day."
The War on Drugs?
As those on the right and left tussle and argue their points about past administrations taking actions without Congressional approval, I have my own views on the subject. Yes...in history, past administrations have had to make decisions without such approvals, especially in situations where a president receives intel and the window of opportunity doesn't allow a lot of time to act.
The War on Drugs was (officially) declared on June 17th, 1971, by President Nixon. The DEA was formed in 1973. President Reagan added the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act. President Clinton passed the 1994 Crime Bill. (He also sends $1.3 billion in US aid to 'Plan Columbia'.) With these and other presidential and legislative actions, where are we presently when it comes to the actual war on drugs? Are we any more ahead now than we were then? There's been plenty of time to act.
It's been 50 years...how effective can this action towards Venezuela actually be? To me, sending troops into other countries and removing/assuming power is a very expensive and temporary 'fix', and lame justification for spending taxpayer money. It's like cutting one single snake head off a Medusa's head, where it will only grow another in its place.
And as I do concur with Trump's recent designation of fentanyl as a 'weapon of mass destruction', it is just one of many drugs that are in the arsenals of the enemy, whether in Big Pharma labs or on the streets. When I was in Washington, D.C., I could not believe the number of pharmaceutical drug commercials that were constantly being aired (I don't watch network TV, so I wasn't used to all those annoying commercials). Sheez, many of the side effect disclaimers include death! But how many laws protect Big Pharma, right here in the U.S.?
It seems we have the workings of a corporate government now, so I find it an idiocracy when so much money is being wasted on illogical whack-a-mole strategies, yet funding is cut from programs that could help addicts (including our veterans!) get clean and sober. Cuts to Medicare have resulted in millions of people losing their health insurance coverage...how many have and will become casualties of those decisions? American workers are struggling paycheck to paycheck just to survive; how is that a healthy mental or economic state? Then you have ICE that deports workers (documented or not) who paid into the sales and income tax systems...so now billions in tax revenue, gone. Families torn up. People who sought refuge in the U.S. are forced to return to the cartel-ridden countries they fled in fear from in the first place! Don't get me started on Social Security.
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
We the People of the United States are a sick, addicted, and dying people...not in Venezuela, not in Mexico; here. You want to make America great again? End what is bringing out the worst in America! The real front lines of the war on drugs and crime are anywhere our local first responders are; therefore, doesn't it make sense to support and fund our first responders and target the actual enemies that plague our communities? Law enforcement, fire, EMS...these are the real troops on the front lines.
All of them know and have seen the first and second-hand effects of addiction and overdose, vehicle accidents caused by DUIs, drug and alcohol related abuse/assault scenes. Unhealthy, impoverished habitats with malnourished children and elderly; very little or no food in the cupboards, no water/sewer/electricity...but plenty of empty beer cans, liquor bottles, and paraphernalia. Sugar is a very dangerous drug for diabetics! Many doctors just prescribe instead of actual healing. There are sex/human traffickers who use drugs as bait...recruiting from detox and rehab centers. Families are torn apart by alcohol and drugs; bickering, bullying, fighting, and killing (including accidentally). Leaders hide their vices and addictions at the cost of sober, rational decision-making. And the media and entertainment industry romanticizes it all!
This has all been going on for a very, very long time and has never brought out the best in people! So how does anyone expect America to ever be great "again" if it never was? The root problems never go away simply because a leader is overthrown or is no longer in power. It's just another delay of the "same shit, different day". So why use strategic denial or villainization to mask the actual intent of gaining control in other countries? Just call it for what it really is; don't make it into a red herring.
This administration needs to do a reality check and get oriented as to where the actual front lines of the war on drugs are, then invest in and equip those who know those battlefields the best. Stop the whack-a-mole war strategies; they aren't working. They're just costly, and what are they good for?
Now that's how you do it!
Following the Walk for Peace has been quite interesting. A 2,300-mile journey of Buddhist Monks that will end in Washington D.C.
It's not a march, it's not a protest...not a divided, angry mob. It's a walk for peace, forgiveness, love, kindness, and compassion. When I read about how these monks are inspiring and affecting the communities they walk through, I think: "There you go, that's what I'm talkin' about! Show us all how to do it!" I think of how Jesus, with the story of the Good Samaritan, said, "Go and do likewise." (Luke 10:37). Help the hurting. Feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty. Heal the sick; don't harm or damage. Make peace, not war. Are tax dollars being used for the things that bring peace and healing to the nation...that reduce stress instead of causing it? I don't know; it sure doesn't feel that way. However, I do think that, through good (legit) charitable organizations and good people with goodness in their hearts...maybe we could finally do what Presidents and administrations, leaders and governments can't seem to accomplish.
"Our ancestors, all those people who sacrificed their lives for freedom and peace, died so all of us here could live free of hatred and free of all kinds of suffering, to have a peaceful life. They have done their part, and we are still struggling with our lives. We carry that hatred and anger from generation to generation...Even though there are many people who hate us, shout at us, and curse at us, we respond with 'May you be well, happy, and peaceful.'" - Venerable Bhikkhu Paññākār
Be good, be nice, be strong!
Carol
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