Charles Bowden and the myths and lies behind the so-called "Drug War"

Interview with Charles Bowden, journalist. Has been covering C. Juaréz for decades.



Charles Bowden

....and that was in 2011. A much larger stack of bodies now.

The video presented a thinking man's view, IMO. Thanks, casi nada.

Appears to make good sense to me the hard realization is how do we convince the people to force the politicians to make this happen?

Very interesting. Can't disagree with a thing he said. Thanks for posting this.

Thank you, Casi Nada, absolutely spot on!

There is no solution to the 'war on drugs'. "You have to BE on drugs to favor the war on drugs", my favorite line of all.

You know what they say about someone who keeps doing the same thing expecting different results.

I don't believe it's possible to 'force' politicians to do anything. They will always do what is in THEIR best interests. It's the nature of the beast.

For sure, neither of the two main political parties is going to do anything different. Both will continue to embrace foreign military misadventurism, bloated and failed government programs, and deficit spending. It's their career and they are good at it.

I've read some of his books "Down by the River"is a good one,"Blue Desert"also.

Yep. And to further complicate matters, our entire systems (both of us - US and MX) are broken and not likely to get 'fixed'.

Trailrunner wrote:I don't believe it's possible to 'force' politicians to do anything. They will always do what is in THEIR best interests. It's the nature of the beast.

We get to vote every two to four years, it’s reaching the voters that can make a change. We just haven’t figured that out yet, however Obama did pretty well with the computer era so maybe, just maybe.

How shall I say this. . .voting is almost irrelevant.

In this country many people will vote for a particular candidate in exchange for a full meal.

In terms of the US, do you remember that whole section of FL (who HAPPENED to be poor black Democrats without cars) who were kept from voting by the roadblocks?

These are small examples only meant to illustrate my point that I believe voting is almost irrelevant.

Trailrunner wrote:How shall I say this. . .voting is almost irrelevant.

In this country many people will vote for a particular candidate in exchange for a full meal.

In terms of the US, do you remember that whole section of FL (who HAPPENED to be poor black Democrats without cars) who were kept from voting by the roadblocks?

These are small examples only meant to illustrate my point that I believe voting is almost irrelevant.

You could be right but that doesn’t mean you have to be right, No?

Parker, no one would like to see it change more than I, I just don't realistically see how it can happen.

At least in my lifetime, I should add.

The message is, whether in Mexico or the U.S.:
"Just follow the money". As per usual.

It's not that drugs haven't been popular for decades; they have...but bear in mind that we now have several generations out there in their peak earnings years (in the U.S.) who got it in their heads that drugs were a good thing.
Right now, in addition to the regular illegal drugs and the legal ones, there is an epidemic of people on legal prescription pain pills. And NOW they're getting around to worrying about it?

Hevvin forbid we should have to live our lives in the stark reality of it all without a little drug induced softening at the edges......or suffer a pain or so.
Unthinkable. Thus, we have the whores in the south and the johns NOB. Works just fine.
No wonder there's no solution. Those who think there is one........are dreamers.

I'm also disgusted by the politicians who allowed our industries and the jobs they supplied to get sucked over the border where the workers aren't even paid enough to support themselves. I think "economic slavery" applies. But: FTM again. People are disposable.

One of the most significant things he said in this interview was that capital is mobile but labor is not. A very succint summary of what drives outsourcing.

This fellow Bowden says nothing of consequence. Nothing of which all of us are not already aware. Curmudgeonly wanderings in the dust. A blathering old man stating the obvious.

Anyone with the least understanding of what is going on here can see that acccomodations will be made with the new administration which, in all likelihood, will be PRI and the carnage will stop and Calderon´s miserably failed war will become the past.

Nothing has changed in Mexco over the past few centuries except that a naiv, recently elected president upset the apple cart. His PAN predessor kept the bañl rollong and the next president will keepn the ball rolling as well.

Let those morons NOB have their drugs and open the avenues through the plazas without hindrance. Provide clouds of happiness for the denizens of the weathiest place on earth with safe routes to their border properly allocated according to plan.

Dawg is correct, nothing has changed in mexico for centuries. Drugs have always been here and will be here.

Legalize drugs and tax them NOB. At least legalize Marijuana which is totally harmless. Alcohol is far worse. I know some of you will say they'll have more addicts. Drug addicts are weak people who cannot cope with society. Some of them go to treatment 10 times and never get cured. I don't know if they really want to. I cannot feel sorry for an addict.

johninajijic wrote:Drug addicts are weak people who cannot cope with society. Some of them go to treatment 10 times and never get cured. I don't know if they really want to. I cannot feel sorry for an addict.

As someone who was married for ten years to a full-time pothead, I say amen.

Of course, marijuana and hashish should be legalized in the U.S. and Mexico and should never have been outlawed in the first place. I would say the same for cocaine and heroine. Meth is more problematic but perhaps meth as well. In the absence of legalization, I say provide safe avenues to deliver drugs to the U.S. and feed those morons their habits without hindrance. They´re happy; we´re happy. Obscene killings decline.

Mc, so true. Money truly is the root of evil. NAFTA only got the ball rolling.

hound dog wrote:Of course, marijuana and hashish should be legalized in the U.S. and Mexico and should never have been outlawed in the first place. I would say the same for cocaine and heroine. Meth is more problematic but perhaps meth as well. In the absence of legalization, I say provide safe avenues to deliver drugs to the U.S. and feed those morons their habits without hindrance. They´re happy; we´re happy. Obscene killings decline.

"Meth is more problematic but perhaps meth as well"you think that's a good idea?What a moronic,simplistic answer to a very serious complicated problem,but coming from an old fart who doesn't give a shit about the country that allowed him the opportunity to make enough money to retire in"Paradise"I'm not surprised.

[quote="viajero"]

hound dog wrote:
"Meth is more problematic but perhaps meth as well"you think that's a good idea?What a moronic,simplistic answer to a very serious complicated problem,but coming from an old fart who doesn't give a shit about the country that allowed him the opportunity to make enough money to retire in"Paradise"I'm not surprised.

And you, brainless jawbone, call Dawg a moron? Old fart? Conceded. You are also on the mark that Dawg would not give you two cents for that shithole from which I could not wait to escape, pissant.

Well. It WAS a good conversation.

Why do so many good discussions turn into this kind of $hit?

They each got a shot in and now it's over, please do continue.

Personally I would love to see drugs legalized. I don't use them myself, but I would love to see the TV commercials that would arise when the drug cartels begin to compete the capitalist way, by advertising rather than killing each other:

"I don't always use cocaine, but when I do, I prefer Dos Burros."