Prohibition Was Wrong, But Is Legalizing Marijuana Right?
The Washington Post ran another insightful article by George Will maintaining that America is ready to once again legislate morality and run the life of American citizens. While I could not share the same literary sidewalk with as George Will, I’m still puzzled. How does one rail against the issues plaguing society (as we routinely do at Crime in America.Net) without trampling on the “rights” of the average American?
From Mr. Wil’ls article: “The evening of Jan. 16, 1920, hours before Prohibition descended on America, while the young assistant secretary of the Navy, Franklin Roosevelt, drank champagne in Washington with other members of Harvard’s Class of 1904, evangelist Billy Sunday preached to 10,000 celebrants in Norfolk, Va., : “The reign of tears is over. The slums will soon be only a memory. . . .” Not exactly.”
“Daniel Okrent’s darkly hilarious “Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition” recounts how Americans abolished a widely exercised private right — and condemned the nation’s fifth-largest industry — in order to make the nation more heavenly. Then all hell broke loose. Now that ambitious government is again hell-bent on improving Americans — from how they use salt to what light bulbs they use — Okrent’s book is a timely tutorial on the law of unintended consequences”. See
So George, what’s the magic formula? Crime in America just offered a rather caustic piece on child abuse essentially calling for society to condemn bad parents. They stated:
“The truth is that few care about hungry, beaten and neglected kids feeding and raising themselves. We could condemn the parents in the harshest way possible, but that’s unthinkable, too many would accuse us of beating up on the previous class of vulnerable people.”
So what’s a very minor pundit to do? What are the unanticipated consequences of social protest? So we condemn bad parents in the harshest terms and what’s going to happen? Are they going to be worse parents? Is that possible?
But we are always wrestling with this issue; what are the rights of American citizens? The Supreme Court settled the issue of gun ownership, but can people carry their firearms everywhere? Can citizens smoke pot to their heart’s content? Can they ride their motorcycles without helmets? At 100 miles an hour? While drinking? You think we don’t have people who are completely satisfied with doing any of the above?
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