You recognize a "slippery slope" when you see one? Good. Recognize this one.
Whatever bad consequences you believe come from interdicting drugs pales in comparison to the bad consequences which come from not interdicting drugs.
Posted on 02/10/2015 2:03:02 PM PST by ThethoughtsofGreg
There’s an Adventure Pass that is REQUIRED to park at trail-heads to hike, in Cali. Another tax/penalty/revenue generator, compliments of Big Brother.
I know I have posted this before on other threads, but I will do it again. I had a very low volume Etsy shop selling mostly baby bibs and burp cloths. I came across information, rather accidentally, that FedGov requires all clothing items to be permanently tagged with info such as manufacturer, country of origin, fabric content, tracking numbers, small batch generator numbers, etc etc etc etc. If it’s a clothing item for anyone under 12 years old it must be tested for lead and flammability, but if you apply for your small batch generator number you can use certs from the company you bought your supply from to cover this. I thought, well, I’m only making bibs and burp cloths, not clothing. Oh no, bibs are considered clothing. There are regulation after regulation after regulation for a simple baby bib that must be followed. If the government decided to go after you for not following these rules, they could fine you $10,000 per item that you sold that does not follow their rules.
I closed my shop.
There are just and unjust laws. How to determine which is which. read this: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/letter-birmingham-jail one of the many ideas that made MLK awsome.
then if you disobey you might need to suffer the consequences. If juries and defendants understood their role in eliminating unjust laws most of this crap goes away.
If you believe that drugs are a threat to society, then he puts you into the “Jackbooted thug fascist Dictator opposed to freedom” camp.
Libertarians cannot refrain from being childish about their pet drug issue.
After all why would anyone be concerned, as long as the law is enforced and the police get to go home and the end of the day? Everything else is just the price of freedom. /sarc
you also can’t sell baked goods from you home oven. in most states. you need a license to charge people to cut their hair.
I didn’t say a word about “drugs”.
On the other hand, I was pulled over by a state trooper a few weeks back. He supposedly “smelled alcohol”.(alcohol has NEVER been in my vehicle)
I got the full treatment with the field sobriety test, which I passed, but he have me the breath test anyway, because me eyes “looked red”. After blowing a 0.0 BAC, he gives me a ticket for failure to obey a road sign. (which was covered up by a fallen tree)
I didn’t even bother with arguing with the asshole, because I was afraid he might “see”, or “smell” something else....
The ticket netted the state over $150. Not bad for a few minutes of harassment I reckon....
(you actually DEFEND such things?...)
Were it not for the fact that every department of government has expanded to the same extent or worse, you would have a point. Since every aspect of FedZilla has also expanded far beyond where it started from, you don't.
The Bloat in the War on Drugs is the same bloat as in the rest of the government. The whole thing is way outside it's appropriate boundaries.
Well, in that case it's no problem.
So there ya have it.
Those damn libertarians:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3256317/posts
You recognize a "slippery slope" when you see one? Good. Recognize this one.
Whatever bad consequences you believe come from interdicting drugs pales in comparison to the bad consequences which come from not interdicting drugs.
The usage of unsupportable tactics is not limited to the war on drugs. They do the same thing in all sorts of situations having nothing to do with drugs. (Such as suspicion of terrorism.)
The problem is not specific to the efforts to interdict drugs, it is a systemic problem occurring from having an activist government. We need to reduce the whole thing, and not waste our time pointing out specific abuses involving drug enforcement. They are abusing us for all sorts of other reasons too. The IRS and the Agriculture Department are also now carrying guns.
This is what is so irritating about Libertarians, they only want to focus on federal abuses regarding drug enforcement, and they never devote the same degree of attention to abuses in any other area.
The ticket netted the state over $150. Not bad for a few minutes of harassment I reckon....
(you actually DEFEND such things?...)
No, i'm not defending such things. I acknowledge that the entire Law Enforcement mindset is out of whack and that civil abuse is far too common. But that is a separate matter from the war on drugs. I think it is wrong to conflate drug interdiction to police abuse. They are abusing people in all other aspects of law enforcement as well, not just drug enforcement.
I know I came across a bit harsh on this. Yes, given the burden, they could have forgiven the “infraction”. Perhaps I focus too much on those scum that game the system and should be penalized. I truly despise those people, and it may not be the case here, MAY...
If you have hiked at any time, you would know that there is work required to maintain the trails from washouts, more safe trails for the average hiker (e.g., adding steps, etc.), cleanup after slobs that leave trash, clean dog crap, overhanging limbs, brush, signs, and so on. This includes parking, of course, and maintenance of the parking area. I have hiked in many areas with the parking was non-existent except on the road shoulder, which is an accident waiting to happen.
Don’t get me wrong, I hate paying for parking and all the other fees, but for parks, national forests, and the like, they may actually be reasonable and warranted. The other ticketing examples on this thread, don’t much care for.
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