I think generally there are people with all sorts of agendas. Unfortunately, in the current state of society, the ones that stick will always be the ones who drive profits the most.
Fear might be the strongest motivator for the average human being. It's not surprising systems fed by conflict and imaginary enemies seem to thrive so much.
It doesn't mean that there aren't bubbles of people who are different, but they are just ripples among the waves.
We stage coups in democratic countries, then we install puppet leaders. Then we start growing, harvesting, or selling drugs there. Then we move on to the next country.
Check out the history of Captagon.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_haunted_world
Good luck.
It's absurd. The absurd part being, if you told me we actually got rid of it, I wouldn't believe it either. So maybe better keep some, just in case. So understandable and so stupid at the same time--absurdity.
Not really "the US" per se, but the lobbies behind politics (the police likes the war on drugs because they get massive federal grants for it, and equipment resellers are happy to oblige - and where there is big money, there are influencers to make sure politicians go a certain way) in order to thrive.
Add to that that the public opinion is pretty much against drugs in America, and it's fairly straightforward for politicians to double-down on that kind of topic and enforce rigidity.
This is a really good way to phrase it as a marketing campaign. It could be used for global warming, energy problems and like you mention space exploration.
Maybe we ought to instead start a "War on Health" or a "War on Learning" ;)
We lack the social cohesion to exist otherwise. Our nation has lost the grand dreams that drove our forefathers... now we huddle together fearing the nightmares and boogeymen.
That said, I think it might subside for different reasons.
The demographics of drug addiction are changing. Addictive drug use went from being primarily a poor minority inner city epidemic to something affecting affluent white kids, professionals with bad backs and the elderly. The road from Oxycontin to heroin is a well documented phenomenon[1] that has become all too familiar with the people who pushed for severe punishments for drug crimes.
If your kid could be facing 10 years in jail because he was charged with the intent to distribute a bag of heroin, and that same situation is playing out in towns all over America, suddenly the wheels of change get greased.
[1] http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/15/heroin-...
Give me a break. I've never heard a more hyperbolic statement even from diehard warmongers.
There is no conceivable way that terrorists threaten our national existence/security. Even several orders of magnitude more attacks a year would be barely a blip in terms of actual casualties.
Edit: just reread your comment and several orders is 200 buildings?
Realistically, as cold as this sounds, a terrorist attack which managed to level downtown would not even pose an existential threat to the US.
More terrorism might change the nature of US democracy, but it will still be the US.
This statement surprises me. Especially your talk of casualties. I think you miss something important about "terrorism". It is far more than raw casualty numbers. It is about the "fear and uncertainty" they generate in a populace. And that, to me, is a threat to any modern nation's existence, in a world whose economy depends a lot on things like "confidence" and "optimism".
Perhaps I misunderstand developed nations, but from my point of view, your statement seems alarmingly absurd.
Also keep in mind that people are already extraordinarily pessimistic and unconfident about the country.
As much as I'd hate to live in a police state, I don't think you can call that the "collapse of the USA." China is very much alive.
And doesn't anymore.
only allowed a minority of citizens to vote for most of its history
And now does.
These are both examples of how the US has improved over time. I would be very surprised to see a reversal on either of these. If there were, people would similarly question whether it was still the US in anything but name, even if this had been the situation in the past.
There are sizable portions of the US and Europe that believe muslims are terrorist sympathizers who want to enact Sharia law. To them terrorists, immigrants and muslims are existential threats: they want to blow them up, take their jobs and run their lives and government.
> There is no conceivable way that terrorists threaten our national existence/security.
I agree.
Sure, and there are millions of people who believe all sorts of nutty things. Millions of people believe that stars predict the future or that aliens regularly abduct people. That doesn't mean we should legitimize these beliefs.
It's actually not that hard to imagine: dirty bomb set off in midtown Manhattan, kills thousands and sickens tens of thousands. In its hasty reply, the US launches a massive counterstrike against somewhere based on shoddy intel. Putin says, oh hell no, and red buttons are pushed. That's game over folks.
The war on drugs might subside because of the perfect enemy they have now: terrorists. A faceless, ever-present threat that can keep the war drums beating.
What I'd like to see is the military-industrial complex shift their battle to a War on Extinction: space exploration.