Imagine a country where the military occupies one of its own cities to stop rival gangs from killing people in a war over the right to supply drugs to a neighboring country. Oh wait, you don’t have to imagine that, because it’s happening right now to a country that borders these United States of the War on Drugs America: Mexico.
More than 1,500 Mexican troops have moved into a city on the US border being fought over by rival drug gangs.
Soldiers moved into Ciudad Juarez to try to regain control of a city in which more than 2,000 people have been murdered over the past year.
Officials say they intend to have 7,000 troops and police in position by the end of the week.
This occupation force is in addition to the 45,000 troops already deployed by Mexican President Calderon to combat the drug gangs. This also is one of the bitter fruits of the worldwide economic crisis. Just as bootleggers became rich and powerful during the Great Depression because they were selling one of the few products that was relatively immune to the ups and downs of the legal economy, so have drug cartels maintained their profitability while other “legitimate businesses” around the globe are tanking. Since drugs like Marijuana, Meth, Ecstasy, etc. are as illegal (and as profitable) as alcohol was during the Prohibition era, murderous criminal gangs have been fighting to control the drug trade. And Mexico, particularly Northern Mexico, where unemployment and poverty has soared because the Great US Consumer Machine has ground to a halt, has literally become a battleground.
I don’t have the answers to all the problems associated with the use and abuse of recreational drugs, but it doesn’t take a genius to realize that all our efforts over the last half century or so in the Drug War have done little to stem either production or consumption of these substances. What the War on Drugs has accomplished is to put more Americans in prison than ever before, increase exponentially the power and reach of the drug cartels and create a full blown crisis on our borders. The corruption of politicians and law enforcement officials both here in the US and in Mexico is another consequence of our failed policies, one that was entirely predictable based on our own history.
Any government can be corrupted by the influence of money (see, e.g. the undeniable corruption of members of Congress associated with K Street Lobbyists during the last two decades). That the Mexican government is sending in troops to occupy one of its own cities is a sign of desperation. It’s evidence of a complete breakdown in civil society, and of the possible descent of Mexico into chaos and lawlessness. And the spread of such chaos would not be easily limited by national borders. It could quickly move into regions of the United States if our economy continues to decline at the same pace it did in the last quarter of 2008, when our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell at an adjusted annual rate in excess of 6 percent, a drop so precipitous that it has even doomsayers like Nouriel Roubini alarmed.
I have to wonder what contingency plans for use of the US military inside our borders are already in place. We know that Bush had legal opinions written to provide him with the cover necessary to justify use of US military forces inside the borders of our country. We also know that in the last year of the Bush administration a separate command or “response force” of thousands of troops was created specifically for the purpose of “homeland defense” including instances of “civil unrest.” To date, I’ve seen nothing that shows that Obama and/or people in his administration have ordered the elimination of this “response force” which is under the direct authority of Northern Command. Indeed, plans continue for the construction of six FEMA detention centers on US military bases.
This isn’t a Left vs. Right issue, at least in in my mind. It’s a civil libertarian/constitutional issue that President Obama must address sooner rather than later. I’d hate to see the occupation of a major American city by the military such as the one we are witnessing in Ciudad de Juarez by Mexican troops. I’d hate to see similar instances of civil disorder in the US which could tempt President Obama to take such extreme extra-constitutional measures as the ones President Calderon has employed.
Gives a whole new meaning to the stated desire of certain conservative leaders that Obama’s economic recovery program fails, now doesn’t it.
The Reich wing of the Republican Party is just itching for a breakdown in law and order so it can promote the rise of fascism in the US. Mexico may be just the curtain raiser for a period of prolonged disorder in North America.
Whew, the times keep getting scarier and scarier and I don’t even listen to those apostles of hate on Fox TV, like Limberger, O’Reilly, Savage, Hannity, Coulter. God, why don’t they just wear arm bands with “SS” sewn on them?
Here I was hoping that my retirement would be calm and peaceful. Well, that isn’t going to happen; not now, maybe, not ever.
What is your sig about? It does not work as a link to me.
Kabir* means live a full life now before you die. Be open, love the Beloved because if you don’t break the restraints of conventional life while you are alive you certainly won’t do it when you are dead.
*Fifteenth century Indian poet wrote his poems in Tagore, a language of India.
Philosophies
Kabir was influenced by prevailing religious mood such as old Brahmanic Hinduism, Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism, teachings of Nath yogis and the personal devotinalism from South India mixed with imageless God of Islam.[9] The influence of these various doctrines is clearly evident in Kabir’s verses. Even though he is often presented to be synthesizer of
Wiki:
Hinduism and Islam: the observation is held to be a false one.[10]
The basic religious principles he espoused are simple. According to Kabir, all life is an interplay of two spiritual principles. One is the personal soul (Jivatma) and the other is God (Paramatma). It is Kabir’s view that salvation is the process of bringing into union these two divine principles. The social and practical manifestation of Kabir’s philosophy has rung through the ages. [11]. Despite legend that claims Kabir met with Guru Nanak, their lifespans do not overlap in time.[12] The presence of much of his verse in Sikh scripture and the fact that Kabir was a predecessor of Nanak has led some western scholars to mistakenly describe him as a forerunner of Sikhism.[12]
His greatest work is the Bijak (the “Seedling”), an idea of the fundamental one. This collection of poems demonstrates Kabir’s own universal view of spirituality. His vocabulary is replete with ideas regarding Brahman and Hindu ideas of karma and reincarnation. His Hindi was a vernacular, straightforward kind, much like his philosophies. He often advocated leaving aside the Qur’an and Vedas and to simply follow Sahaja path, or the Simple/Natural Way to oneness in God. He believed in the Vedantic concept of atman, but unlike earlier orthodox Vedantins, he followed this philosophy to its logical end by spurning the Hindu societal caste system and worship of murti, showing clear belief in both bhakti and sufi ideas. The major part of Kabir’s work as a bhagat was collected by the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev, and forms a part of the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib.
While many ideas reign as to who his living influences were, the only Guru of whom he ever spoke was Satguru. Kabir never made a mention of any human guru in his life or verses, the only reference found in his verses is of God as Satguru.
[edit] Poetry
“The poetry of mysticism might be defined on the one hand as a temperamental reaction to the vision of Reality: on the other, as a form of prophecy. As it is the special vocation of the mystical consciousness to mediate between two orders, going out in loving adoration towards God and coming home to tell the secrets of Eternity to other men; so the artistic self-expression of this consciousness has also a double character. It is love-poetry, but love-poetry which is often written with a missionary intention. Kabîr’s songs are of this kind: out-births at once of rapture and of charity. Written in the popular Hindi, not in the literary tongue, they were deliberately addressed–like the vernacular poetry of Jacopone da Todì and Richard Rolle–to the people rather than to the professionally religious class; and all must be struck by the constant employment in them of imagery drawn from the common life, the universal experience. It is by the simplest metaphors, by constant appeals to needs, passions, relations which all men understand–the bridegroom and bride, the guru and disciple, the pilgrim, the farmer, the migrant bird–that he drives home his intense conviction of the reality of the soul’s intercourse with the Transcendent. There are in his universe no fences between the “natural” and “supernatural” worlds; everything is a part of the creative Play of God, and therefore–even in its humblest details–capable of revealing the Player’s mind.” [13]
His poems resonate with praise for the true guru who reveals the divine through direct experience, and denounced more usual ways of attempting god-union such as chanting, austerities etc. His verses, which being illiterate he never expressed in writing and were spoken in vernacular Hindi, often began with some strongly worded insult to get the attention of passers-by. Kabir has enjoyed a revival of popularity over the past half century as arguably the most acceptable and understandable of the Indian saints, with an especial influence over spiritual traditions such as that of Sant Mat and Radha Soami. Prem Rawat (‘Maharaji’) also refers frequently to Kabir’s songs and poems as the embodiment of deep wisdom.
O SERVANT, where dost thou seek Me?
Lo! I am beside thee.
I am neither in temple nor in mosque: I am neither in Kaaba nor in Kailash:
Neither am I in rites and ceremonies, nor in Yoga.
If thou art a true seeker, thou shalt at once see Me: thou shalt meet Me in a moment of time.
Kabîr says, “O Sadhu! God is the breath of all breath.
–SONGS OF KABÎR, translated by Rabindranath Tagore, New York, The Macmillan Company 1915)
Are you looking for me? I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
You will not find me in the stupas, not in Indian shrine rooms,
Nor in synagogues, nor in cathedrals
Not in Masses, nor Kirtans, not in legs winding around your own neck,
nor in eating nothing but vegetables.
When you really look for me, you will see me instantly —
You will find me in the tiniest house of time.
Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath.
–Mitchell, Stephen A. The Enlightened Heart (1993) p.72. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-092053-X
[edit] Religious
Kabir did not classify himself as Hindu or Muslim, Sufi or Bhakta. The legends surrounding his lifetime attest to his strong aversion to established religions. From his poems, expressed in homely metaphors and religious symbols drawn indifferently from Hindu and Muslim belief, it is impossible to say of their author that he was Brâhman or Sûfî, Vedântist or Vaishnavite. He is, as he says himself, “at once the child of Allah and of Râm.”
neat quote!
Hi…you changed your sig. Could you post the other sig for me as a comment?
The Reich wing of the Republican Party is just itching for a breakdown in law and order so it can promote the rise of fascism in the US. Mexico may be just the curtain raiser for a period of prolonged disorder in North America.
Whew, the times keep getting scarier and scarier and I don’t even listen to those apostles of hate on Fox TV, like Limberger, O’Reilly, Savage, Hannity, Coulter. God, why don’t they just wear arm bands with “SS” sewn on them?
Here I was hoping that my retirement would be calm and peaceful. Well, that isn’t going to happen; not now, maybe, not ever.
Oops! Sorry, BooMan.
Violence in Mexico is truly tragic with many factors contributing, and not that I have any answers, but I have been interested in understanding the problems. Occupation of a city is the culmination of militarizing the fight against the trafficantes rather than handling through police (which would require building an effective police force – including training, substantially higher pay and separating out those employed by the trafficantes). Mexico has not been a big consumer of drugs, just a transport route from Colombia (though I understand that is changing). Drug consumption in the USA is part of the problem and imo big $$ for drug treatment in the US part of the solution.
– and imo the prison industrial complex and the high incarceration rate in the USA is connected – we need more $$ for drug treatment, end of three strikes, etc and something more constructive than more and more incarceration
It’s not all hell in a handbasket just yet – we have a move:
Legalize and sensibly regulate drugs (prices not so high as to support a big black market) from production to distribution.
You can throw the Law and Order Types a bone and let them murder/incarcerate/enslave people in the black market that survives, but that won’t be required (yes, CA, TX and the private prison system, I’m talking to you).
End of widespread violence.
Or we can continue to fight an endless war that basically everyone acknowledges cannot be won, only ‘managed’ or lost.
“legalizing” is everyone’s throwaway line about how to solve it, but I don’t buy that. it’s fine for people in a house or suburb to talk about legalizing “recreational” drugs – what about people who have to live with crack smoke, or marijuana laced with crack smoke pouring into their apartment from next door while they’re trying to study for college exams. I’ve been there and frankly I now have 0 tolerance for the “legalize” so called arguments.
– and do we legalize all the problematic activities? femicides is a big problem in Ciudad Juarez – the high murder rate is rape-torture-murder of young women. are we saying legalize that to make people stop doing it?
Luckily, thanks to years of European experimentation, there are many learned lessons we could apply to skip the learning curve on those nuisance issues.
This is where ‘sensible regulation’ comes into play. Few, other than some Libertarian purists, would suggest that we just disengage from the issue as long as the crack smoke is coming from behind a closed door.
There are, luckily, other countries that have traveled down this very road and saw a large REDUCTION in drug-related nuisances. I am sure there are implementations of legalization and regulation that could really damage society, but we could trying informing ourselves of the options before making policy or shooting it down..
I don’t think the legalization argument is that people stop doing drugs because it is legal. Do you?
I’ve seen that argument – drug use is so high in USA because it’s illegal and people are drawn to forbidden. We can learn from Europe, but their cultures are very different as well. I mention the femicides in Ciudad Juarez because it’s a major aspect of the violence in Mexico. Also kidnappings all over the country, all connected with absence of effective policing but not the trafficantes per se.
I have a lot of thoughts about this, but am supposed to be working!!!!
Just think if US demand for imported illegal drugs were greatly reduced – then there would be much less to fight over and one might assume that such horrific crimes might also decrease.
No “turf”, no war.
Re: ‘legalization’ (a term that’s yet to be precisely defined by anybody): we’re not talking about the elimination of human behaviors in any case. We’re talking about harm reduction to those people who will be engaged in those behaviors regardless, in addition to the reduction of prohibition’s disastrous effects on families, communities and nations.
There really isn’t any way to equate drug use with murder, so this is an apples & oranges type of comparison.
Not to worry, anyhow. Far too many people benefit from the ‘drug war’ for there to be any meaningful change in national policy. Along with employees of incarceration & recovery industries, for example, we have the pols who benefit from the additional bodies in their districts’ prisons without having to do anything for the prisoners.
I speak from personal experience when I say that an addict’s life is only suffering & isn’t worth living. However, the 100 year ‘drug war’ has not served the greater good; it serves industry, both legal & illegal, while allowing some of us to feel superior over others. Period.
One more thing after the period, I think: the Drug War is also a price control/support mechanism who’s primary effect has been to increase profit margins for the ‘bad guys’. Risk and reward go hand in hand!
Yes, of course.
One of the massive glaring holes on the ‘war on drugs’ is that as far as I know almost no money has gone into drug treatment clinics. For the almost 2 Trillion dollars spent these last 40 or so years on this ‘war’ none has gone into clinics and creating jobs for people. Given the scope of drug addiction there should be a clinic in every damn neighborhood to my way of thinking…and legalization of at least marijuana and different drug laws. The U.S. is about 5% of the worlds population yet we consume about half of all the worlds drugs but only people like Rush get to go to fancy 12,000 a month rehab clinics.
The ‘war on drugs’ is a incredibly corrupt boondoggle of taxpayer money that could be better spent on just about anything else.
The Mexican cartels are arming themselves in Texan, Coloradan and Arizonan gun shows. They go to these shows with straw purchasers, purchase huge quantities of weapons, and get them over the border to murder Mexican police.
Is the NRA being funded by Mexican drug runners?
Yay, gunshows!
“Scary News from Mexico”
Scarier still is the fact that American policies in the past few years have enabled the Mexican drug gangs to exponentially expand across America. They are better organized, better armed and more ruthless than anything America has ever seen. And, as every government drug war escalation in Mexico has proven, the anarchistic gangs will intensify their atrocities against any authority that tries to oppose them. This includes military authority.
The cartels have billions in profits to protect and they will do so by any means as long as the drug war gives them exclusive control over those profits. The U.S. government promises to keep the cartels firmly in control of the markets so get ready folks because it will get much worse long before it gets any better.
Latin American military people, often trained by America, are recruited into the cartels. Their active duty cohorts transfer heavy military ordinance and anti-personnel explosives to the cartels. Weapons that the U.S. provides under military assistance programs. And U.S. policies have, since 2005, empowered these cartels to rapidly expand across America. WHEN the U.S. militarizes this war the cartel military people will already be in every American city. They will be highly armed. And they will be as aggressive and brutal toward innocent American citizens as they have been toward their own Mexican population. See my essays:
The Drug War Immolation of Uncle Sam
US Planning Militarization & Escalation of the Drug War
President Obama: Save the world…End the war on drugs!
The U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee is holding hearing later this month about escalating the drug war and militarizing the border. There is talk of U.S. military and intelligence advisors inside Mexico. I have written extensively about these issues on my blog: Aid & comfort blog.
The drug war is not about reducing drug abuse, the drug war is about maintaining Jim Crow control of the electoral process in America. that is the only success of the drug war.
“Illegal” drug money creates the cartels and encourages their violence.
The federal government is planning to escalate the drug war and militarize the U.S./Mexico border with the Senate Homeland Security Committee holding hearings on March 25. Please, all concerned Americans, contact the Committee and express your opposition to America escalating the drug war by militarizing the Mexican border. Here is a URL with contact information for the Senate Homeland Security Committee
IF THEY DON’T HEAR IT FROM US THEY WON’T HEAR IT!
Drug legalization, is a major national security issue.
Simply put the cartels would not have the power they have if they did not have the money they have. They have that money ONLY because drugs are illegal.
Prohibition creates a regulatory vacuum without responsible adult supervision in control of the distribution. Addict dealers, gangsters and cartels fill that vacuum and self regulate with violence. The consumer demand for drugs is so lucrative that it has inspired entire industries dedicated to circumventing our best security efforts. No amount of police and militarization of the border will change this economic paradigm. Regulating the criminal anarchy out of the distribution is the ONLY solution.
Solutions:
California is considering a piece of legislation, AB390, that would legalize marijuana. Marijuana is estimated to be 80% of the drug market and profits for gangsters. Even if passed, the California bill cannot be implemented until the federal government decriminalizes marijuana. Everyone across the nation has a big part to play in getting AB 390 implemented. It can’t happen without a national effort. Decriminalizing pot will deprive the drug gangsters and cartels of literally tens of billions of dollars each year.
In order for AB390 to be implemented without federal interference it will require support from across the nation. That means other states must also take up the issue. And lobby their congressional delegations to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. I have put together this essay for a reform lobby effort in Pennsylvania: Marijuana Legalization in Pennsylvania in 2009
Getting hard drug addicts out of the hands of the gangsters will deprive the gangs and cartels of most of their most dedicated sales force. The addict dealers are the people with a vested interest in turning on new generations of children to drugs. America could adopt the Swiss heroin maintenance program that prescribes drugs to addicts cheap along with getting them out of their economic dependence on drug dealing and crime to sustain their addictions. Here is an article by the Swiss government information agency on the program. September 4, 2006, Swiss heroin model reporting benefits
“Nordt and Stohler’s research shows that in the canton of Zurich, home to more than a fifth of Switzerland’s addicts, there were 850 new heroin users in 1990 but just 150 in 2002.”
Putting the sale of drugs under responsible adult supervision would FINALLY put the morals and ethics of society in control of drugs rather than the morals and ethics of users, abusers, addicts and gangsters who’s values dominate the sales of drugs today.