Police keeping the country safe from marijuana

The police recently raided this house in Columbia, Missouri. A large group of police officers with nothing better to do stormed into action, kicking down the door to protect the community from a guy who likes to smoke a bit of dope. The most poignant thing we learn is that this evil marijuana-user loved his dog, a point he passionately made after he learned that the storm-trooper cops shot it, and all for what? And keep in mind that this is how the drug police act when they know that there is a video camera running. Make no mistake that these cops were on their best behavior -- this was a sanitized version of a raid. As I've argued many times, it's time to put an end to our pointless and violent "war on drugs." There are many better ways to deal with the urge of some adults to get high using substances other than prescription drugs and alcohol. It's time to just say no to the "war on drugs." I'm fully aware that we need brave police to protect us from violence and to solve crimes that have hurt people. I admire those brave police officers. We need sophisticated law enforcement to storm the ledger books of Wall Street Banks, and we don't have nearly enough of them. But this kind of "police protection" is pointless. It doesn't stop drug use--it only makes drug use violent. This use of police is as pointless as the practice of having traffic cops park behind bushes and waiting to nab people going 38 in a 35. This post is not pro-police or anti-police. It is anti-this type of activity by police.

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It’s time to start paying as we go

I would think that the economic collapse of the United States has clearly demonstrated that the "free market" is not benevolent when those holding great power in society are not benevolent. Consequently, the best way to run society is to use government to make sure that powerful interests don't run roughshod over regular folks. But what are the proper functions of government, to the extent that government works with markets to allocate goods and services? This question was addressed by economist Jeffrey Sachs in the May 2009 edition of Scientific American:

The reasons include the protection of the poor through a social safety net; the correction of externalities such as greenhouse gas emissions; the provision of "merit goods" such as healthcare and education that society deems to be essential for all its members; and the financing of scientific and technological research that cannot be efficiently captured by private investors. In all these circumstances, the free market system tends to under-provide the resource in question.

Sachs ends his article by indicating that there is no alternative to raising taxes to pay for the services Americans want and need. In particular, this year's deficit "will reach an astounding 1.7 5 trillion, or 12% of GDP." Further, the government debt held by the public will rise from 40% of GDP in 2008 to 65% of GDP in 2013. According to Sachs, this continued buildup of public debt "will threaten the well-being of our children and our children's children."

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