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Everybody thinks the War on Drugs is about "keeping people safe". It never was, it was always about manufacturing a tool to oppress "others".
by pstuart 7mo ago
Everybody thinks the War on Drugs is about "keeping people safe". It never was, it was always about manufacturing a tool to oppress "others".
- convolvatron 7mo agofrom that lens it was almost necessary to invent a pretense since people got all huffy about overt oppression at the end of Jim Crow.
- nielsbot 7mo agoYou can add The War On Terror to that list. Where do think US police get all their fun toys to play with? "How 9/11 helped to militarize American law enforcement": https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-9-11-helped-to-militarize-american-law-enforcement/ https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-9-11-helped-to-milita...
- pstuart 7mo agoYep. But the War on Drugs has been around much longer and is more relevant to people's day to day lives. And people buy into it. I hear this all the time "Sure, weed should be legal, and cocaine too because I like to party now and then, but the 'hard stuff' should definitely be illegal because its dangerous". To make matters worse -- people think that those who advocate against it are doing so because they want to do drugs (and some may) but it's a civil liberties issue and is the foundation for the militarization of the police.
- TRiG_Ireland 7mo agoThe War on Drugs is more relevant to your day-to-day life, perhaps, but people in the Middle-east are also people, in case you forget that.