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More specifically, the Nixon administration wanted to put down the Yippies and the Black Panthers. It worked. If your reason was controlling, then only addict

More specifically, the Nixon administration wanted to put down the Yippies and the Black Panthers. It worked. If your reason was controlling, then only addictive drugs would be illegal. The U.S. influence over the U.N., and aid and trade leverage, along with China's historic political issues with opium, allowed them to induce ignorant governments around the world to wage war on their own people and create a vast criminal network. It was subsequently used to fund black ops by unaccountable intelligence agencies, and build the prison-industrial complex which has destroyed a generation of Black Americans.

gozur88 10y ago
>More specifically, the Nixon administration wanted to put down the Yippies and the Black Panthers. It worked. Is there any actual evidence this is true? A memo, or even a documented conversation? In any event drug prohibition laws in the US started the year after Nixon was born, so even if Nixon sought to use them for his own nefarious purposes that doesn't address the actual prohibition. >The U.S. influence over the U.N., and aid and trade leverage, along with China's historic political issues with opium... Yes, and what were China's "historical political issues" with opium? That Chinese society was damaged by carrying the dead weight of so many opium addicts, and they couldn't make it illegal because the British wouldn't let them? Tell me again how this supports the argument Western countries forced drug prohibition on China when the reality was exactly the opposite? >It was subsequently used to fund black ops by unaccountable intelligence agencies, and build the prison-industrial complex which has destroyed a generation of Black Americans. That's quite a stretch. Yes, the US supported some groups in Central America that paid the bills with drugs. Just like every group of revolutionaries in Central America. The fact that you support a group with money, information, or advice doesn't mean you own it. This from California: "At midyear 2013, 90% of inmates had a current or prior violent or serious felony conviction, and 16% were registered sex offenders." http://www.ppic.org/main/publication_show.asp?i=702 http://www.ppic.org/main/publication_show.asp?i=702 That "generation of [b]lack Americans" is in prison because of violence, not drugs. The idea there's some big conspiracy wherein The System Keeps The Black Man Down with drug laws just isn't borne out by the numbers.
- beat 10y ago
  Of course it's borne out by the numbers - if you accept a priori that black people are no less intelligent or moral than white people. If two populations are equal, yet one is imprisoned at a much higher rate than the other, an external cause (institutional racism) is the only rational explanation. The alternative would be to just say that black people are inherently inferior to whites, and that's why they're more criminal. But I don't think you want to go there, do you?
  - gozur88 10y ago
    >If two populations are equal, yet one is imprisoned at a much higher rate than the other, an external cause (institutional racism) is the only rational explanation. We know that's not the case. Violent crimes have victims. Whatever the explanation is, blacks in the US commit more violent crimes than whites by a factor of four. We're not playing in the margin of error here.
- aminorex 10y ago
  > Is there any actual evidence this is true? A memo, or even a documented conversation? http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/23/politics/john-ehrlichman-richard-nixon-drug-war-blacks-hippie/ http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/23/politics/john-ehrlichman-richa... > Tell me again how this supports the argument Western countries forced drug prohibition on China when the reality was exactly the opposite? I made no such claim, nor do I consider it historically supported. > "At midyear 2013, 90% of inmates had a current or prior violent or serious felony conviction, and 16% were registered sex offenders." Now you are narrowing the discussion to prisoners. Yes, felons with a record of violence tend to be incarcerated at higher rates than those without. However, making someone an unemployable felon is a kind of low-budget open-air life-long prison, or better, torture, which destroys the productive capacity of the victim.

gozur88 10y ago

>More specifically, the Nixon administration wanted to put down the Yippies and the Black Panthers. It worked. Is there any actual evidence this is true? A memo, or even a documented conversation? In any event drug prohibition laws in the US started the year after Nixon was born, so even if Nixon sought to use them for his own nefarious purposes that doesn't address the actual prohibition. >The U.S. influence over the U.N., and aid and trade leverage, along with China's historic political issues with opium... Yes, and what were China's "historical political issues" with opium? That Chinese society was damaged by carrying the dead weight of so many opium addicts, and they couldn't make it illegal because the British wouldn't let them? Tell me again how this supports the argument Western countries forced drug prohibition on China when the reality was exactly the opposite? >It was subsequently used to fund black ops by unaccountable intelligence agencies, and build the prison-industrial complex which has destroyed a generation of Black Americans. That's quite a stretch. Yes, the US supported some groups in Central America that paid the bills with drugs. Just like every group of revolutionaries in Central America. The fact that you support a group with money, information, or advice doesn't mean you own it. This from California: "At midyear 2013, 90% of inmates had a current or prior violent or serious felony conviction, and 16% were registered sex offenders." http://www.ppic.org/main/publication_show.asp?i=702 http://www.ppic.org/main/publication_show.asp?i=702 That "generation of [b]lack Americans" is in prison because of violence, not drugs. The idea there's some big conspiracy wherein The System Keeps The Black Man Down with drug laws just isn't borne out by the numbers.

beat 10y ago
Of course it's borne out by the numbers - if you accept a priori that black people are no less intelligent or moral than white people. If two populations are equal, yet one is imprisoned at a much higher rate than the other, an external cause (institutional racism) is the only rational explanation. The alternative would be to just say that black people are inherently inferior to whites, and that's why they're more criminal. But I don't think you want to go there, do you?
- gozur88 10y ago
  >If two populations are equal, yet one is imprisoned at a much higher rate than the other, an external cause (institutional racism) is the only rational explanation. We know that's not the case. Violent crimes have victims. Whatever the explanation is, blacks in the US commit more violent crimes than whites by a factor of four. We're not playing in the margin of error here.
aminorex 10y ago
> Is there any actual evidence this is true? A memo, or even a documented conversation? http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/23/politics/john-ehrlichman-richard-nixon-drug-war-blacks-hippie/ http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/23/politics/john-ehrlichman-richa... > Tell me again how this supports the argument Western countries forced drug prohibition on China when the reality was exactly the opposite? I made no such claim, nor do I consider it historically supported. > "At midyear 2013, 90% of inmates had a current or prior violent or serious felony conviction, and 16% were registered sex offenders." Now you are narrowing the discussion to prisoners. Yes, felons with a record of violence tend to be incarcerated at higher rates than those without. However, making someone an unemployable felon is a kind of low-budget open-air life-long prison, or better, torture, which destroys the productive capacity of the victim.