The inevitable legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington has been a signal event auguring the further dismantling of the American patriarchy, or, if you please, the conservative Christian white male (CCWMs) morality/power framework that has brought to our country the failed drug war and the program of mass incarceration which has caused massive human suffering. More states are sure to follow. It has long been recognized that the war on drugs and mass incarceration have their roots in a shameful American tradition of racial intolerance. Unfortunately, these forces are now far more covert than they once were even if they still represent the balance of power in the US. For example, Americans are now just as fearful of crime as they’ve ever been even though crime is at historic lows. Why the fear? Because Americans haven’t been informed of this statistic. Nevertheless, the fear of crime was deliberately made into an electoral issue during the Johnson administration after the Watts riots in Los Angeles, and went by the name of Law and Order. But everyone knew what it really meant–the white establishment answering the uppity, smarting Negroes who were growing restless and demonstrably angry in their urban ghettos. The Law and Order campaign was immensely successful, and has been electoral gold ever since. Nevertheless, what now goes under the anodyne rubric of “public safety”, even if it has been largely divorced in the public mind from any notions having to do with race, still effect minorities in a vastly disproportionate way. Marijuana, needless to say, has been deeply entertwined with our misguided conception of “public safety”.
Now that a great many whites have tried illicit substances criminalized by the government, the pronouncements once issued by authority figures occupying stations of power similar to Harrigan’s that were once unquestioningly believed by a credulous public seem absurd. He makes a buffoon of himself by making wild claims that cannot be sustained under even casual cross examination. Bombast and hyperbole are apparently no longer a substitute for evidence. In a word, he is no longer credible. Personally, I am hoping that this, along with gay marriage, represents a culture shift toward tolerance and liberal values, and away from a set of values that results in scores of our fellow citizens having their lives all but ruined (along with all of the collateral damage to children and spouses) by being arrested and imprisoned in unprecedented numbers for “crimes” which harm no one.
Oh, how I wish that were true. Patriarchy is necessary in order to economically exploit the population. Who would die to fight trumped-up wars? Who would be grist for the prison system? Who would give money to corrupt churches? Who would buy products A, B, C, etc, as an antidote to being fearful? Too much money would be lost by the unseen power elites to allow that to happen.
We also know that marijuana criminalization destroys lives and families, undermines our economy, and insults our common values. There are no sound scientific, economic or social reasons to continue our nation’s marijuana policies
I think you’re severely underestimating the capacity to re-train a dog, and the fundamental difference in level of intelligence of a hunting dog when compared to a politician…
Sure there is a lot of work still to be done–as much as ever, for sure, but I think a good argument can be made that the legalization of marijuana and gay marriage represent cracks in the foundation of the CCWM power establishment.
He had the unmitigated gall to also say, “We should not abandon science and fact in favor of public opinion.” Fucking irony alert. The DEA has not only prevented scientific research from being done, but they’ve ignored what science there is on the subject. Their policy is almost completely fact-free. So yeah, let’s not abandon science and fact in favor of public opinion - the DEA can go first.
Agreed to the substance of your thought, and I’m left wondering a thing or two. Diane Rehm or Tom Ashbrook had a show not long ago on Arizona’s (now-defunct) discriminatory bill (biz didn’t have to serve gay folks), and the arguments being made by the pro-bill speaker seemed to me to be relatively superficial much in the same way that anyone with a deep-seated belief will sputter and squawk inane things when that belief is shown to be demonstrably false.
This all leads me to worry somewhat about reactionary elements striking out against what they see as the downfall of social mores in America, and what that strike might look like.
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