This summer Toronto is welcoming athletes from all over the
Americas to participate in something called the Pan Am Games. Most Canadians
have very little knowledge or understanding of the many Latin countries which
are outside the winter vacation spots they like to escape to. Most importantly they
are unaware of the destabilizing effect our (and the USA war on drugs) policy
of prohibition is wreaking on both Americas.
Western governments seem to have learned little from history
and once again they are doomed to repeat their mistakes. The conviction that government
sanctions will protect our children from dealers of addictive self-destruction has
had the depressing effect of exacerbating the problem on every front. The
finest intentions have realized our greatest fears.
It is time we were appraised of the consequences of our
actions and begin to empathize with the victims of our rectitude. In the late
Nineteenth Century the crusading zeal of militant Christianity had imposed upon
the world a rigid morality which endorsed a style of political correctness
where the appearance of respectability was valued above all else. In an
unregulated society this expectation of self-moderation had many beneficial
effects and was an impetus for the great social and economic achievements of
the Victorian era. At the time there was a strong belief that mankind was
existentially evolving into a more perfect society. The great institutions that
were built during this time were the edifices of confidence. But, behind the
veneer of decorum existed an underworld of human frailty. It is instructive to
note that during this period of morality nascent industries of vice were
happily and profitably operating out of view. The brothels, opium dens and myriad drinking
establishments served as pressure relief values for many who desired respite
from the culture’s overbearing expectations.
As we know vice can lead to many social and physical ills.
The destruction wrought by participating in the forbidden world of debauchery
(mainly men) repulsed the guardians of respectability (mainly women) and they
demanded that something be done. Good people took up their crusade with the
moral equivalence of the abolitionist movement to end slavery. They demanded
the institutions of government step in and save the population from itself.
Thus the legal prohibition of drink, drugs and sex was imposed for the greater
good.
Safe from the distractions of vice, humanity could at last
achieve another evolutionary step on the road to perfection. Yet, something peculiar
happened almost immediately after the “Greater Good” was served. The demand for
forbidden fruit strengthened and the revenue netted by those supplying it
increased. Attempts by authorities to stop the trade in contraband only seemed
to produce a more creative entrepreneurial response. Average citizens were
being rounded up and charged with criminal offences simply for possession of
something they chose to consume. Suppliers operating in the Black Market meant
that product quality control was hit and miss – without legal recourse many
customers were cheated or poisoned. Colossal profits financed sophisticated
criminal organizations that could bribe or extort government officials and
prosecute a relentless public relations battle in the press. Operating outside
the law required an armed security infrastructure that would not only ward off
the police, but also other criminal competitors. They were well armed and would
defend their source of revenue by any means possible – killing both themselves
and innocent bystanders. Taxes had to be raised and fines increased to pay for
the ever increasing demands for police resources to combat the threat. Young
men were enticed to forgo the traditional path of fatherhood in order to chase
after the riches promised by the dangerous Black Market adventure. Within a
short span of years the majority of people had had enough, at least when it
came to booze.
The end of prohibition was a great reprieve which forced the
engorged criminal organizations to look elsewhere for profitable opportunities
created by laws that would restrain legitimate competition.
Today many people cannot even comprehend a world where
self-moderation is not accompanied by volumes of rules and regulations that
govern every aspect of their lives. As in the past we have chosen to outlaw
certain vices for the “greater good” and not surprisingly we are enduring the
same results. A critical difference is that the world is a much smaller place.
If prohibition is enacted in one country the black-market demand will be supplied
by resources that could come from anywhere around the globe.
Contraband is produced and delivered by ruthless criminal
gangs in South America and the Far East.
Prohibition laws in North America are enabling these lawless
organizations to operate off-shore and reap obscene profits. Our laws are once again enriching criminals.
They are still bribing and extorting officials and in some countries have
become so strong that they control the entire government. High profits mandate
that markets have to be defended from other criminals as well as the police.
This has led to turf wars where hundreds of thousands of people in Latin
America have been slaughtered. Our very civilization is being challenged by
enriched warlords who are terrorizing entire populations in countries like
Mexico and Columbia.
Banning products or services simply to protect citizens from
themselves will only empower those who seek to subvert our purpose. Prohibition
corrupts our government by providing a reason to bribe, extort or terrorize
those who operate our institutions. The cost of maintaining police resources to
counter the lawbreakers escalates year upon year as the futility of their
mission puts them at odds with the personal freedom enjoyed by the citizenry.
The work ethic of our young people is undermined by temptation
to reap a higher income within the Black Market. It degrades their respect for
legitimate authority and encourages them to shun the responsibly of a
traditional lifestyle. In effect they become the pawns within vast criminal organizations.
So what can we do?
Do we double down by increasing the power of the state? Do
we treat every human being as a potential criminal by watching and cataloging their
every move? Or, do we adopt a Freedom Agenda that is based on the respect of
each individual?
Foundational documents like the Magna Carta sought to
prevent the damage that cascades as a result of laws enacted to protect society
from “potential” injury. A man should be judged by his peers and not subject to
regulation without just cause. Re-adopting
respect for the freedom of individuals would have the wonderful effect of
defunding and disarming criminals, lowering the cost of government and the
police, promoting a responsible lifestyle for our youth, reducing the subversion
of many third world nations by criminal elites and ending a major source of
corruption within our own government. It will give us a chance to demonstrate
the true compassion that grows out of our principled empathy for our fellow
man.
Those who benefit from the status quo will fight
the Freedom Agenda tooth and nail. Fear, uncertainty and doubt will be
broadcast from every organization or institution that stands to lose funding,
status or most of all control. Yet at the end of the day it is we people working
for our personal self-interest who hold the power. We must expose the
Prohibitionists for the paper tiger they are simply by demanding our legitimate
right to freedom.
