Re: Re: What kind of pirate am I?

On Monday 18 October 2010 19:40:15 you wrote:
> On 10/18/2010 4:49 PM, Muriel Lede wrote:
> > On Monday 18 October 2010 16:50:19 you wrote:
> >> But laws change if enough people disobey them. One way to look at the
> >> law is as an ambit claim put forward by the government: 'This is how we
> >> would like people to behave'. It can cope when only a few people are
> >> unwilling or unable to behave in that way, but when large numbers of
> >> people refuse to follow the law the only options are to keep quiet about
> >> it -- which works for a while -- or change the law. Keeping futile laws
> >> on the books only makes a government look stupid in the long run.
> > 
> > The war on drugs alone is ample proof that you're mistaken.
> 
> Funny, I was about to say that the "war" on drugs is ample proof that
> he's correct ;-).

Here's a link to a relevant Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_drugs

Quote:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid being 
undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of 
participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug 
trade.[1][2] This initiative includes a set of drug policies of the United 
States that are intended to discourage the production, distribution, and 
consumption of illegal psychoactive drugs. The term was first used by 
President Richard Nixon on June 17, 1971.[3][4][5][6]
On May 13, 2009, Gil Kerlikowske, the current Director of the Office of 
National Drug Control Policy, signaled that although it did not plan to 
significantly alter drug enforcement policy, the Obama administration would 
not use the term "War on Drugs," as he claims it is "counter-productive".[7]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Simply put, the citizenry has widely disobeyed a set of laws that have been 
aggressively enforced for nearly four decades, and it's unlikely to change 
anytime soon. This contradicts the original poster's statement:

> >> But laws change if enough people disobey them.

Strangely, the original poster argues against himself in the same paragraph:

> >> Keeping futile laws
> >> on the books only makes a government look stupid in the long run.

Either he meant that it cannot happen because governments never look stupid, 
which is delusional, or that it can happen, which is a contradiction.

Hope that helps.

Respectfully yours,
Muriel

-- 
Visit Muriel Lede's Official Blog! 


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