- Dr. Ferris, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, p.404, 50th Anniversary Edition, Signet Books
http://www.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/HadenEconomicFactSheet.pdfI never intended this blog to become political. It was just a place for me to complain. I'm not an unhappy or unsatisfied person by nature, but every once in awhile one just needs to vent. And so this was going to be my place to do it. And you can tell by the sparseness of the posts, that I feel pretty good about my life and my environment. But then I read a book. A book that changed the way I thought about everything. Well, perhaps not..... yeah, actually EVERYTHING. (That sounds like this book changed me into an unhappy or unsatisfied person. It didn't, I am just more aware now.)
Enter Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Although it changed the way I thought, I must tell you it did not change my opinions, desires, or values - only the way I thought about them.
Now before I get into my opinions and beliefs, let me tell you that I don't know everything, and I'm not a good debater, at all. I'm no challenge, so if you are looking to debate something I've said, I'm really sorry, but you won't get much of a debate. Unfortunately, my mind just doesn't work like that. I really wish it did though. And if you really want a debate, I'll try and indulge you, but just know that most likely, I will be going to my hubbie as a resource. Cause he's a genius. No question about it, and he always seems to know just the right way to put the thing that I am trying so hard to orate. And one more thing. My BIGGEST pet peeve is the person who believes in something and has no idea what it is. Like the person who I spoke to while I was in college who claimed to be a Christian because she believed in Jesus, but knew nothing about Him. Mind you I was a religion major and knew more about most people's life long religions than they themselves did. I almost could not discuss religion with people because I would get so frustrated at people's ignorance in their own faith. But I digress. The same principle applies to politics. There is nothing more irritating and infuriating to me than the person who voted for Obama because "America needs a change." Or the person who voted for McCain just because they didn't want Obama or Democrats in the White House. Shoot me now. Wait, what I meant to say was, shoot them now. Those are the kinds of people who go to celebrities and those women on The View for political advice and direction. (Not that there's anything wrong with celebrities or those women on The View.) And who deserve to be misled my the media. Whichever way that is. I'm off topic again though. So, I may not address all issues within a particular topic - like this one today - but that's because I won't take a stand on something I don't understand or know anything about, and I hope that you will give me the same courtesy. If not, know that I will make fun of you - a lot. And the word moron may be used - a lot. On the flip side, I totally respect and even admire those who have different opinions as I do (as wrong as they may be) as long as they can back them up. Because you see, opinions are just that. Opinions, and I can admit that everything is relative.
So, we come back to a nation of law breakers. I have thought for a long time that drugs should be legalized. (And have recently added prostitution.) Bottom line: people are going to do drugs whether they are illegal or not. If drugs were legal we could be making billions of dollars in taxes, instead of spending trillions - that's right TRILLIONS, for the war on drugs. Thousands of lives could be saved every year from the law enforcers to the innocents caught in between. Even in healthcare. How many people do you think lie about illegal drug use when giving their medical histories? The money saved and made could go to better health care and programs for addicts and their families or victims of addicts. This is one of those things that is just like "Duh..." for me. I mean I don't see how this doesn't make sense. Have we learned nothing from prohibition?
And did you know that more people are killed by alcohol and tobacco each year than cocaine, heroine, and marijuana combined? The the tune of more than a half a million people. That's right. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse around 520,000 people are killed each year from tobacco, alcohol, and sidestream smoke from tobacco. Whereas cocaine kills about 2,200, heroine about 2,000, and marijuana 0 - that's ZERO. There has never been a recorded death due to marijuana in all of US history. Aspirin kills around 2,000 people every year, but marijuana? None. Perhaps we should add Aspirin to our list of illegal narcotics.
And prostitution is kind of the same thing. The government could be taxing these people if they were legitimate. Professional and legitimate prostitutes could also be getting healthcare and other benefits - like regular STD tests or whatever.
I want you to know that I don't condone or participate in any of these practices. I only think that everyone should be able to choose that for themselves - not have it forced upon them. Government's primary purpose should be to protect it's people. That includes their right to choose.
There. I've said my peace. Amen.
But I'm not done. Look for a whole series of political opinion posts inspired by quotes from Atlas Shrugged. And even a light book review of Atlas Shrugged. And feel free to ask me any questions. Not that you all want to know anything about me, or any of my opinions, honestly, they aren't worth a whole lot and they probably aren't very original, but I just want it out there that I welcome questions and comments. At the risk of sounding like my least favorite political female you should know that I really do want this to be conversation.
PS - Here are some of my resources. Although I recognize that there are resources out there that could refute or backup any of my resources. That's just the way research, trials and surveys work.
http://www.druglibrary.net/schaffer/Library/basicfax.htm#q2
http://www.idpi.us/dpr/facts.htm
http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/34
