Pubdate: Fri, 23 Jun 2017
Source: Fresno Bee, The (CA)
Copyright: 2017 The Fresno Bee
Contact:  http://www.fresnobee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/161
Author: Mike Starry

DO YOU WANT BETTER STREETS OR A BIGGER 'WAR ON DRUGS'?

President Richard Nixon did not see the slaughter of innocents when he
launched the "War on Drugs." Of course, his staff thought he did it to
punish hippies, anti-war protesters and blacks. Politicians invent
wars as diversionary tactics when they choose not to take care of
their citizens. They will even tell lies to do so. See Vietnam's "Gulf
of Tonkin Resolution" and Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction."

Now after 40 years and hundreds of thousands of deaths in Latin
America, do U.S. citizens think they are free of this government
crime? When politicians make activities illegal, they may create more
problems than they solve. The dead who lived through alcohol
prohibition could tell you.

Add the past heroin suicides of unemployed America to the future
unemployment provided by automation and pretend that tough-guy wars
work. Only for those who fail to look below the surface. Then consider
guaranteed annual income or civilization's collapse. If I owned a
factory, I would automate.

On Millbrook Avenue, between Shaw and Teague avenues, I usually hit
about 100 potholes. So do you want bigger "war" budgets or smoother
streets in Fresno and elsewhere? Your choice.

Mike Starry, Fresno
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt