Micah discusses how criminalizing victimless vice crimes are wrong from almost every angle you can look at it. Phil discusses why he believes it only benefits the for profit prison system in the US and there is too much money made from legal slavery for it to ever change. K Sera, after even much more discussion, has a plan (when elected) to save money, reduce crime, create jobs and all of this can be done with a very simple first step: watch yourself (with cameras)!
Show Notes:
Economics Explained: For Profit Prison System
50 years of the US War on Drugs
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K Sera’s Afterthoughts
- OMG. We all kinda agree?
- Vices aren’t super great, that’s true enough. There are socially negative consequences to over indulging or being irresponsible – of course – but making activities illegal because they might cause social friction is kind of… shity? Can’t we have a more nuanced approach?
- Legal consequences should not be for using substances or engaging in ‘vice’ activities - legal consequences should apply to those who abuse or misuse their vice of choice in excess to the point where they are compromising the safety of others. Where to draw the line, however… well, that requires a lot more thought than I can spare at the moment.
- President Sera wishes to create a task force. Perhaps two? Three? Covering: sex work, recreational substances, gambling. Am I missing any? (While we’re at it, let’s throw in one more for public surveillance rules and requirements for accessing surveillance data.) Each task force shall be responsible for establishing protections and occupational requirements for their particular vice, ideally led by qualified individuals with knowledge of the potential risks involved with their assignment. Yeah. No more of this group-of-white-men-in-a-room deciding what is appropriate for the health and safety of millions in need of diverse and nuanced protections.
Phil’s Afterthoughts:
-Of course Micah is 100% correct. I tried to side-step the conversation about how I honestly believe that entire business of illegal narcotics is not a victimless crime. The supply chain, management, labor, and funding to support the shipment of terrible substances is not trivial nor is it a negative externality for someone else to take care of. Users of these harmless drugs seriously do not even think about how it was delivered, not realizing that their funds are going to an illicit authority that cares very little about the concept of human life. To quote a New York Times op-ed from Mario Berlanga: “They think this drug use is a victimless crime. It’s not. Follow the supply chain and you’ll find a trail of horrific violence.”
-Despite that, Micah is still 100% right. The prohibition should be a gold standard case study of how organized crime can wield serious power with little to no consequence. The very fact that the United States government is directly creating a vacuum of services where illicit markets thrive is exactly the reason why systematic violence and drug use is rampant. From a moral perspective, supporting cartels and horrible crime syndicates for recreational use is abhorrent but systematically speaking the consumer has no choice but to go through a horrendous supplier.
-Ultimately the problem is that the common constituent sees our drug laws with very little trust that there is any science or logic behind why alcohol is fine to purchase (for those 21 and older) but cannabis is a Schedule 1 drug (with no redeeming medicinal value and considered highly addictive, according to the Justice Department). There is no scientific backing or truly any honest argument against this “whatabousim” attack. So clearly the public servants that we elect in good faith to represent us are literally lying to our face about this War on Drugs. And so rightfully the question is “well then what else are they misleading us about?”
-The right to Human Autonomy has not been advanced yet in this country of ours. The right to our own self, to treat our body as we see civilly fit, is not recognized in our laws or constitution. I have a right to decline quartering soldiers, but I do not have a right to what I can do with my own flesh. It is madness, but from a civic leadership perspective, a general welfare issue that needs to be reckoned with someday. No mayor or governor wants a population of mind-numbed fools, heavily anesthetized to the pressing demands ahead of our city, state, and nation. I understand that a moderate approach must be pursued and that we cannot afford to have our cities filled with those that use biochemical escapism while serious work remains. But the pendulum for fifty years of draconian drug policies is not the solution, nor has it ever been.
-Micah is right, it is time to chime a new paradigm of no vice crimes.