To be edited…
Read: Respected te reo teacher jailed for drug dealing
As a Libertarian, one of the most unpleasant duties is to speak up for the rights of unpopular minorities… like Jews, Muslims,Prostitutes,Cigarette smokers, and Drug users.
Everyone thinks you are a great person when you are defending their rights against some unjust laws or government policy… when you are affirming their values… yet the moment you call them out of some bigotry they themselves harbour… some tyrannical law they support… things get Ugly real fast… and you loose all the ‘Mana’ accredited to your account… because you have dared to stand on an issue that they harbour extreme paranoia and prejudice.
It is very lonely being a Libertarian because so few people want liberty and justice… for all.
Virtually everyone has some pet prejudice they want the state to make a Law… and they will hold you in contempt for not sharing their prejudices.
They will not thank you for challenging their bigotry.
Yet a Bold Libertraian will not shrink from defending the legitimate rights of human beings… even of the least popular and most reviled.
This does not demand the Libertarian endorses all the wild and weird things that free individuals might do in the pursuit of their own happiness… As people of High Ideals a Libertarian may strongly disprove of many of the personal choices other people make…it simply means the Libertarian understands what freedom is and what legitimately within the sphere of free choice and personal ethics and values upon which the State has no legitimate right to encroach.
Prejudices that support persecutions *Always* have some sort of underlying rationale that ‘justifies’ them.
They usually try to morally demonize the focus of their paranoia…
Once upon a time it was fine to run an inquisition… and to burn anyone suspected of witchcraft at the stake…to prevent them flying in on their broomsticks in the dead of night… and stealing your children.
This was a Job for Public Saviour number 1!
The Pious Hammer of the witches! (The manifesto)
It was also an excellent way to get vengeance upon obnoxious old woman.
As a Christian Libertarian I certainly do not endorse witchcraft! Yet nor do I endorse the Burning of witches.
In the 1930s the Nazi party were able to cause the entire nation of Germany to act like people possessed…in support the persecution of the Jew.
This is because everyone knew the Jew was a scheming parasite. They impoverished the Native Germans … and worst of all the Jews were Biological degenerates who were corrupting the purity of the German race!
It was scientifically proven!
Social Darwinism!
Any decent German was outraged and grateful that a Strong German Leader… the Ideal Man… was taking a hard line for the sake of the Volk!
6 million Jews died in the Holocaust.. plus millions more social misfits nobody would miss (Gypsies) and hundreds of thousands of other social threats… less fit (the mentally handicapped and infirm)
Few tears were shed… what mattered was the Future Good of German society.
Anyone who questioned the morality of these laws was suspect!
Unscientific….Deranged!
Subversive!… maybe a Communist!
No Good German questioned the notion that the Jews were evil and dangerous.
Now jump to 2017…. the war on Drugs is raging… Prison business is booming!… and there is blood on our streets.
across the sea President of the Philippines,Rodrigo Deterte, is slaughtering thousands of drug users… the new Jews of our age.
He will save the Philippines!.. by extra legal executions and body bags!
His mass murder barely causes a ripple in the international community… because everyone believes Druggies and dealers are not human… so they dont have human Rights… dont deserve a fair trial… or due process.
^ This is not some Dangerous Drug Lord… its the ‘Hero of the war on Drugs’… the Mass murderer and Tyrant President of the Philippines, Rodrego Deterte.
Back here in New Zealand… a Country with more Social Justice warriors and Pious conservatives per meter than anywhere else in the universe… I read a response to one of my criticisms about the barbarity of Methamphetamine prohibition ‘Just ask the Police and Nurses in the hospitals about all the crazy Drug users they have to deal with’…
That was supposed to be the ultimate justification for the persecution of Drug users and the Bloody and barbarous war on Drugs.
Who could refute the front line experience of those who have to deal with the Mayhem Drugs cause?
Remember that New Zealand is a country where the Militarized Police will shoot you dead during a drug raid…
It is this type of rationale ….that the police are the best people to consult about the dangers of drug use… I want to debunk with this blogpost.
Let me explain just how Bogus such an argument really is!
First of all the argument presented says nothing about what are legitimate Rights and liberties
It assumes that any social chaos is therefore the legitimate domain for Government intervention and coercion.
It completely forgets the lessons learned from the social disaster that occurred when the same arguments that are used to justify the war on drugs were used in the early 20th century to prohibit the dangerous recreational drug…Alcohol.
That was an un-mitigated disaster that resulted in the same sort of Social chaos and Crime wave as we are experiencing with the prohibition of other drugs today!
Any social scientist worth his salt will not be able to avoid making the parallels and drawing the same realization that brought alcohol prohibition to an end… Prohibition does not work… it only makes things worse.
That is a well known refutation of prohibition… yet that is not the main point I wish to make against the above assertion that The best authorities on the effects of Drugs on our society are the police and hospitals.
I say if we apply the same logic …lets ask the Police and hospital staff about problems with Alcohol… they will also tell you how many crazy people…comatose… and violent Dunks they have to deal with too!
Yet I want to make a point about these Drunken idiots and Criminals with whom the Police and health system has to deal with… and it is this
:These troublesome souls are not representative of the average Drinker*
Do you appreciate the importance of this truth?
Ex Allblack Mark Ellis … allround great Kiwi bloke fell from grace when he was busted for ecstasy.
While over indulgence is common… and foolery abounds, the average Drinker still is not a drunken freak who ends up in the police cells.
The average drinker is not the person who arives comatose in the back of an ambulance.
The truth is the average drinker has a good time… learns to consume alcohol in a reasonably adult fashion… and dont get into serious trouble…at all.
So the Police and Hospital staff dont have to deal at all with the majority of sensible self responsible Drinkers… they only deal with the Troublesome minority.
And this is also true of other drug users… the majority are no trouble at all! Do you appreciate this?
so The Police and Hospital staff do not have a Representative view of the average drinker or Drug user… their view is that of the worst cases … of individuals who are irresponsible… the large percentage of real social menaces undoubtedly have other serious personal troubles and issues going on.
Apprehend the fact that because Prohibitionist’s think that getting their ‘Evidence’ from The police and hospitals is somehow an ‘Objective thing to do’ rather than a very subjective thing to do… scraping the bottom of the barrel… They get a heavily skewed and *negative* perception of the reality of drug use.
Like the cops and the nurses… they are oblivious to the majority of peaceful, moral, and productive drug users within their communities who are invisible because they cause no troubles… and that makes it easy for prohibitionists to conveniently box all users into the same imaginary category of Wastrel loser criminal misfits… who… ‘Lord have mercy’…Like witches of old…. prey on children!
You get the picture…. they are driven by hysteria… not facts.
Many of the Supporters of drug prohibition are themselves drinkers.
Alcohol is a recreational drug and so most Drug Prohibitionists duplicitous hypocrites… as they themselves dont Identify as the Alcoholic losers you find in police cells and hospitals… yet they are happy to apply that standard to drug users.
Most drinkers know to be careful not to allow themselves to become heavily reliant on Booze… they know it can destroy their lives… yet they also know it is possible to enjoy alcohol in moderation with relative safety.
Yet they do not apply this same rationale to other drugs because even though alcohol is a super dangerous drug in excess… they dont equate Alcohol with other drugs… in their minds the other drugs are super evil… in their minds the drug user is like some sort of psychopath.
This is how they can generate and justify in their own minds the Bigotry and paranoia that allows them to support Brutal and Tyrannical laws and Jack booted police!
Its that easy…. Drugs are Bad… and anyone using them or selling them is Evil and a threat to them and their kids.
Their skewed perception that all drug users and peddlers are Demonic villains spreading social Chaos allows them to condone… even cheer when the Police gun down dead some father… someones son… suspected of selling Meth… their own narrative and warped perspective has rendered their conscience absolutely cold… they dont see a dead human being at the hands of a violent gang… but a dead monster at the hands of Brave heroes!
The drug war… instead of representing the highest Evils of tyrannical government … the Militarized drug squad is thought of as a Righteous Strong arm of Justice!
And as our jails swell with Drug users and dealers… and all the other evils that Prohibition causes… the Bigoted sheeple sit at home …. feeling self righteous… and safe… oblivious to all the heinous evils and injustices They support and maintain.
Read : A life cut short by Police
They go about their lives…. and get their car transmission reconditioned at their friendly local Auto mechanics, and are happy with the service.
They drop their Kids off at school and are very happy that their kids report what an excellent Te Reo Teacher they have… how caring he is… and how excellent is his teaching mannor.
They stop by their Chemist and pick up there regular Meds that he has carefully batched up.
Nek minit…. to their horror… they read in the paper that their Chemist has been arrested for supplying the precursors to manufacture P!
Their lovely Auto Transmission repair guy has been shot dead by the Drug squad!
And their children no longer have their fine tutor … but a young Temp… as the teacher is going to jail for selling Meth!
How could they have been so deceived by these monsters in their midst?
How was it possible that they did not notice the Moral depravity of these ‘terrorists’ in their community?
Thank God the Police saved them from these Criminals before they became psycho killers!
You see before they got into trouble with the Police… before the media sensationalized the drama… they did not see anything wrong with these productive and caring members of their community.
In the privacy of their own lives they were going about their business… and enjoying a recreational high… supporting their habits… and other hobbies by hard productive work and a bit of ‘free enterprise’.
*Yet the moment these people were fingered as having anything to do with meth* The Hysterical fanatical prejudice kicked in.. about all the evils that prohibitionists presume *anyone* who has anything to do with such drugs due to their skewed ideas… and this hysteria over-rides all the positive experiences they have had from these people whom until now well loved and accepted members of the community!
Now they are seen as Devils!
Like Rapists… like Murderers even.
And according to their rationale… their prejudice is fully justified… because they get their information on drugs from the Police… and the Hospitals.
They dont bother to get a more balanced and rational view of the drug user community… they are not interested in being objective… they simply want to justify their deep seated prejudice and bigotry.
The prohibitionists have no idea that sensible and adult drug use is even possible!
They believe such absurd propaganda that if you use meth even once… you risk becoming an out of control addict.
They are not even cognizant that sensible Drug users exist!
Their existence is ethereal… because they just quietly go about their lives… under the radar…’Living like it’s legal’… ignoring the oppressive laws… hiding from the bigots… No Drama…until they have the misfortune of get caught smoking a pipe outside a party, etc.. or dobbed in by someone with a grudge.
… and that is why Prohibitionists get such a fright when upright successful people in their community… or celebrities and sports personalities they admire get arrested for possession.
It threatens to burst their closeted perceptions about what Druggies are supposed to be.
Druggies are evil and a Pox on society… and no one will tell them different… end of story… this is not open to debate… Its a fact… just go ask the Cops and the nurses!
Beloved personalities can move from Heroes to zero’s in the blink of an eye.
Some parents will even dis-own their own children!
This is what hysteria does.
I guarantee you … dear reader.. that you have friends and associates… and do business with people you trust and like… yet in private they are smoking meth, pot, etc… yet they dont tell you… and its none of your business… and they know if they did tell you that there is a high likelihood that all of a sudden you would hate them!
You would cease to associate with them and conduct business.
Yet today you are happy to deal with them… because you are blissfully unaware of their personal choices.
As long as their secret is safe… your Bigotry has not been ‘triggered’… and life goes on just fine.
These prejudices need to be smashed!
Like alcohol other drugs can be abused and destroy lives, yet also like the disaster of Alcohol prohibition… the Drug war is also a gigantic disaster generating injustice and chaos on a monumental scale!
Prohibition does not work… it is evil… and it is perpetuated by Lies and bigotry.
The War on drugs is a complete failure!
World leaders are admitting this … yet as long as The Narrative is being framed by the prejudices that lump all drug users as violent Criminals, misfits, and ‘Drug Madness’… Western civilization will remain trapped in a vile cycle of Tyranny, Oppression, and Chaos.
And in generations to come…. when Prohibition has finally been overthrown… posterity will look back at our times as Backward and Inhumane… and they will be right.
Prohibition can be ended without the wheels falling off society… via a transitional program that legalises the Safest/ least harmful ones first.
This was actually happening in New Zealand when BZP was available over the counter… Many Meth users moved off meth, and onto BZP… yet all that came to an end because of a horde of thoughtless and hysterical wowzers marching in the streets…
And that is one of the greatest hurdles to social progress in a democracy… Getting past all the hysteria and paranoia that the Propaganda of the drug war has fostered.
The horde does not even realise they are begging for their own Sons and daughters, friends and neighbors to remain the victims of their Bigotry.
The Boom for social justice will be enormous.
The Law will become more respected… as too will the public opinion about the Police.
*AND THIS IS NOT MERE THEORY*… look at what has happened in Portugal!
Read this article … ‘Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working. Why hasn’t the world copied it?
Since it decriminalised all drugs in 2001, Portugal has seen dramatic drops in overdoses, HIV infection and drug-related crime. By Susana Ferreira’
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Am I trying to encourage people to do drugs?
No.
I am fighting gross injustice and prejudice.
Fighting for a Better, more humane society… more freedom… less government.
This is what Libertarians do.
Yet sheep are terrified of freedom….
Tim Wikiriwhi
Christian libertarian.
More from Tim….
The Speed of Hypocrisy: How America got hooked on Legal Meth. Motherboard.
Forbes: Everything You’ve Heard About Crack And Meth Is Wrong
New Prohibitions. How our Police and Government work for Criminal Gangs.
What you should know about Drug Prohibition.
The Child Casualties of the Jihad on Drugs.
By Richard Goode…. A Transitional Drug Policy