Ed Driscoll is discussing the socialist roots of Fascism and how Communists in America followed the Soviet Party line.
Ed notes a bit by Ann Coulter entitled “From meth cook to Hitler apologist.” Which prompted me to leave a comment about Republicans in America following the Communist Party Line.
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Meth cookery is because we have our own communist system in America – supported by Republicans.
What would you call masses of secret police and hordes of informers – definite features of communism? Prohibition. Another feature of communism.
Republicans supposedly abhor communism and love Prohibition. It IS a wonder.
I might note that the Republicans of 1914 opposed the Harrison Narcotics Act because they felt the Federal government didn’t have that power. How times and the Party have changed.
Comments
7 responses to “The Socialist Roots Of….”
I don’t think you meant communism, but totalitarianism. In any case, I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone wishing for the days of a police state. That being said, some laws can only be enforced on a federal level. Imagine having traffic laws that were only enforced street by street, with each little road and path having it’s own officers, fines, judicial system and methods of justice. The same applies to laws that cover an entire nation. Federal law, the laws governing the whole nation, can only be enforced on a federal level.
I do agree that if you have laws that are ignored buy the vast majority of society and the desired result is federal enforcement of those laws then a police state is the only way to make people behave. While I agree with the generalities of drug prohibition, enforcement and judgement has become impracticable. Like the alcohol prohibition of the 1930’s our current system is broken. If the populace want to act irresponsibly, no democracy will be able to control that.
I DO NOT subscribe to the notion that the only solutions are either a police state OR legalization however. I think the solution lies in societal change, not government over-site and control. Rather than spend federal dollars on broken enforcement systems, why not offer local jurisdictions the federal dollars to try to resolve the issue themselves. A better solution would be to just reduce federal intervention and allow local districts to enforce the law as they see fit and let society migrate to those areas that most suit their vision of society. You pick, Baltimore, or Austin….
It all comes from christianity jesus was not a small businessman selling away products. Kierkergaard proficied what would happen when the common man replaced the tyranny of the monarchy with what the common man could accomplish hitler stalin mao ayn rand j. edgar hoover ect.
Ewiggins,
We have had 40 years of Prohibition and respect for AUTHORITY hasn’t been this low since Alcohol Prohibition.
Americans are relearning the meaning of:
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
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I was talking a couple of weeks ago with an old friend who was mildly anti-cannabis. She started reciting to me chapter and verse the benefits of cannabis. You would think I was talking to an activist.
Cannabis Prohibition will never work in America.
In addition it is the height of stupidity to believe that police can solve a medical problem. Or any problem of personal behavior that doesn’t inflict direct harm (assault, fraud) on others.
“Setting a bad example” is a Progressive’s idea of crime. It is not as popular as it once was.
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BTW the Feds have been using the tactic you suggest with asset forfeiture. The policy is widely reviled.
We now have two and a half generations schooled in an anti-government attitude. The country is getting back to its roots.
As much as I dislike Prohibition it has changed American Politics in a fundamental way. For the better. We will see this more in the 2020 election than we will in 2016. Rand Paul is a harbinger.
Or as a friend of mine likes to say in another venue:
You can do anything you want to with laws – except get Americans to obey them.
@ Ewiggins:
Exactly. And you pretty much describe the US at the turn of the last century, before the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act. The FDA has a surprisingly candid history page describing the original reasons for federal involvement in food and drugs:
So started the unholy alliance of food & drug producers and politicians. Crony capitalism. Concentrated benefits and dispersed costs. One step on the road to the mess of the national government we have today.
Simon, you know I support the end of prohibition even to the point of legalizing all drugs. But that won’t solve the existing problem of drugs like meth that are right now cheap to produce and buy. It is taking a terrible toll on children which will not end by making it legal. Rationalizations about PTSD just don’t cut it with this scourge. Watch Winter’s Bone for a good idea of what rural America has become.
Frank,
Meth used to be a widely prescribed drug. Often abused. But it didn’t become the problem it is today until it was Prohibited.
The LEAP Guys, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, are pretty uniform about legalizing ALL drugs.
If we go back in time, cocaine and heroin were over the counter. So they were tolerated tolerably well. Then Prohibition comes along and makes them intolerable.