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So I'm watching the Ken Burns documentary on Prohibition and as I am getting into it I'm getting goose bumps as I hear and
see things that are happening today that happened back then.

In the beginning of the episode 1, it has several quotes.
...it was meant to eradicate an EVIL. Instead, it would turn millions of law-abiding Americans into law breakers.
It's this question about how much can we tell other people about how to live their lives? How much can we regulate society? Can we really fix all the problems that we see around us? It's the great example of different groups thinking how much we see around us is acceptable.
Prohibition would pit the countryside against the cities.
...it would raise questions about the proper role of government, about individual rights and responsibilities.

How does a freedom loving people, one that is built upon individual rights and liberties, decide in one kind of Crazed moment it seems that we can tell people how to live their lives.

And then it also went into that the Temperance Union was able to force text book publishers to include curriculum about the evils of alcohol. Pressure applied to local school boards as well. They included lurid information calculated to "terrify." Does that sound familiar? How things are going at schools now regarding guns.

It seems that we are in the midst of history repeating itself.
 
Although applicable, I think in this case drug control is the more appropriate analagy. Its a growth industry, keeping law enforcement, weapons manufacturers, courts, prison staff and prison builders both fully employed and forever growing. Just like Prohibition.

Keith
 
I find it rather interesting that for the first approximately 150 years the people of this country ran around with whatever firearm they pleased, drank when and wherever they pleased(if they could find it) and were free to ingest, smoke or whatever any drugs they pleased. How we became a great nation with everyone drunk, high and shooting at each other I will never know? :rolleyes: At least that seems to be be the opinion of the prohibitionists of anything. It is all about control which is the exact opposite of freedom
 
GG got it right, it is all about controlling the populous so that the elite ($$$$$) can rule them through the corrupt lawmakers :)::::) who are bought instead of elected!!!
The US government has ZERO credibility through these eyes. Time for a positive change... Clean the houses & take out the trash!!!
 
Another nice little benefit of Prohibition was shutting down all of the little independent alcohol stills in rural towns that supplied cars and other motor vehicles with fuel, giving the oil companies dominance over that part of our lives. The Model T ran on pure ethanol.
 
At the time prohibition was deemed necessary, it was largely due to the huge amount of drunkenness.
To pass, they had to combine forces with the suffrage movement. Why -
Who suffered most from intoxication - Women and Children.

But what was the root cause?

Lack of clean water. You could safely drink brewed beverages - ie beer. But not water. If you look at a different documentary series - How the States Got Their Shapes - and the one including Maine. The rich would take leave to a resort, where they would simply consume clean water and get well.


On to the Needless / Endless War on Drugs - and all the evil it has spawned.
When I was in high school the potency of pot was quite little as compared to today. Someone equated it to the difference between having a beer and a whisky - (not sure if it is an accurate comparison)
If we had truly decriminalized POT - then I think many of the current drug problems would not exist.

Sure, there is always a percent who get addicted. But in general - even when drugs like cocaine was legal - most of the population was law abiding.

So I say - end the war on drugs.

A few years from now, much of this will have settled out.
And most, I would hope, of the tyranny would end as well - why do you use a SWAT team to arrest a pot smoker with no criminal record? The idea that cops are warriors first, needs to end too. End the war, end the need for warriors. Let the police get back to being servants -- to Serve and Protect.

Too many people on both sides of the aisle have too many careers and too many union members invested to make this an easy fight.

Something to think about if you disagree with me on ending the war on drugs is that we need to end the war on pain.
Can you agree we should let doctors treat their patients with the appropriate pain management - and keep the police out of it? Today, some people have to go the pharmacy every time they need a pain medication - the law does not allow them to have more than 1 dose. Stupid and needless.

Not easy. Some will be hurt. Some may die. Some will loose their careers. But necessary to save the republic.
 
The war on drugs is the present day prohibition. The results are the same as the original.

Tomorrows prohibition (if the anti crowd gets their way) will be hunting and firearms. and the results will be worse than either previous ones.

Interestingly, Senator Paul said a few weeks ago what my dad said many years ago... "You cannot legislate intelligence, or morality" (BTW: my dad was a Lutheran pastor)
 
There are no paralles.
Prohibition was done by the federal government following the constitution and actually going through the amendement process. (I don't agree witn what they did, but they did follow the supreme law of the nation).

The anti-gun laws are done outside the constitution, and are very much so unconstitutional.


Same goes for drug laws.
 
There are no paralles.
Prohibition was done by the federal government following the constitution and actually going through the amendement process.
Um, yes there are parallels. I'm talking about that it all started with a small set of people who organized and then acquired more people to their cause and also got anti-alcohol propaganda put into the nation's text books and then they finally had enough people who were part of the legislatures to be able to pass the amendment and then ratify. It actually took them 100 years to accomplish it (yes, the movement started in the 1830's). So, draw from history and see the warning signs NOW and fight them. And yes, they are doing things now that are Unconstitutional but if given enough time and enough people buying into their propaganda, it could very well end up with a repeal of the 2nd Amendment. Complacency and a failure to understand history is a path to destruction. We need to educate people on the parallels and help them to see that what is happening now, is just as it was with Prohibition.
 

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