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Sep. 19th, 2008
The Questions Behind Question 2
Sep. 19th, 2008 10:03 amThere's apparently a ballot initiative up in Massachusetts for decriminalizing marijuana, bringing the state back into the drug war debate. One of the bill's detractors from the linked article notes:
"To see all the young black boys I've had to bury ... because of drug-related violence... Show me how marijuana can improve someone's judgement [sic], how it can bring families together, how it can curb the violence that plagues our society. I'd like to see it."
When I read that, I thought it was a good example of how prohibitionists are missing the point. Of course drugs don't bring families together. Of course they don't improve judgment (not in any way the prohibitionists would accept, anyways, and certainly not if the judgment in question is "don't do drugs"). But the same can be said about alcohol, tobacco, and television. They ignore that violence is motivated by the high price of drugs, and little boosts the price of something more than making it illegal. Furthermore, everything on their favored side of the status quo is ignored. What is the effect of arresting nearly 100 people an hour, the vast majority for non-violent offenses?
There are two factors to weigh here. First, what is the social cost of an activity, and does that justify restricting people's freedom by outlawing it? Second, is the cure worse than the disease?
I'm not going to go in depth on either of those questions. I will say that pretty much everyone agrees that the radical prohibitionist stance (anything bad for you is illegal) and the radical libertarian stance (it's fine to have ballistic missiles filled with crystal meth in your backyard) are both absurd. Thus, people need to come together to figure out where to draw the line, instead of the current setup, where pretty much everyone stands on one side of the status quo and opposes any change in that direction. Those on the either side would be well advised to frame their arguments in terms of when things should be illegal and why.
"To see all the young black boys I've had to bury ... because of drug-related violence... Show me how marijuana can improve someone's judgement [sic], how it can bring families together, how it can curb the violence that plagues our society. I'd like to see it."
When I read that, I thought it was a good example of how prohibitionists are missing the point. Of course drugs don't bring families together. Of course they don't improve judgment (not in any way the prohibitionists would accept, anyways, and certainly not if the judgment in question is "don't do drugs"). But the same can be said about alcohol, tobacco, and television. They ignore that violence is motivated by the high price of drugs, and little boosts the price of something more than making it illegal. Furthermore, everything on their favored side of the status quo is ignored. What is the effect of arresting nearly 100 people an hour, the vast majority for non-violent offenses?
There are two factors to weigh here. First, what is the social cost of an activity, and does that justify restricting people's freedom by outlawing it? Second, is the cure worse than the disease?
I'm not going to go in depth on either of those questions. I will say that pretty much everyone agrees that the radical prohibitionist stance (anything bad for you is illegal) and the radical libertarian stance (it's fine to have ballistic missiles filled with crystal meth in your backyard) are both absurd. Thus, people need to come together to figure out where to draw the line, instead of the current setup, where pretty much everyone stands on one side of the status quo and opposes any change in that direction. Those on the either side would be well advised to frame their arguments in terms of when things should be illegal and why.
Podcast Discussion
Sep. 19th, 2008 05:01 pmAs I mentioned before, I've been listening to a lot of podcasts lately. Here's my current list:
EscapePod - Sci-fi "podcast magazine" and one of the best podcasts on the internet (if you like audio science fiction short stories, anyways). Went through all the back episodes, there were quite a few even back when I first discovered it.
Podcastle - Another podcast from that family, this one for fantasy. Also high quality.
clonepod - Basically a clone of Escape Pod, done by some kids. The intros and outros are rambley and a bit annoying (at least so far as I've seen, I'm working through back-episodes since there are only a few). Still, I want to see where they go with it, and the stories are great. In particular, they got some new Union Dues stories by Jeffrey DeRego (a favorite series I first encountered on EscapePod). Haven't heard all the back episodes, since there's just too much.
Cory Doctorow's Podcast - Cory Doctorow podcasts a lot of his short fiction in progress, and it's really good. Episodes of other podcasts in which Doctorow is interviewed are often pulled into the feed. Took quite a while to listen to the back-episodes.
C-Realm Podcast - The C stands for "consciousness". Philosophy, ramblings, and interviews by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kmo. Calm and eclectic. Can get a bit new-agey for my taste, sometimes, but it's thought-provoking, interesting. Have not gone through the back episodes because it's far too much. Only went a few episodes back when I first added it.
Barack Obama's Podcast - Was very good (wish all legislators did something like this), but he hasn't posted anything for quite a while.
This Week in Tech - A panel-style talk show. Didn't bother with back-episodes, since it's current-events discussion and there's a lot of it.
I feel I haven't even scratched the surface with podcasts, though. There's so much good amateur and new professional material, and even some of the old radio players are archiving and podcasting their stuff now (NPR's doing that).
So, how about you? Do you listen to podcasts? What are your favorites?
EscapePod - Sci-fi "podcast magazine" and one of the best podcasts on the internet (if you like audio science fiction short stories, anyways). Went through all the back episodes, there were quite a few even back when I first discovered it.
Podcastle - Another podcast from that family, this one for fantasy. Also high quality.
clonepod - Basically a clone of Escape Pod, done by some kids. The intros and outros are rambley and a bit annoying (at least so far as I've seen, I'm working through back-episodes since there are only a few). Still, I want to see where they go with it, and the stories are great. In particular, they got some new Union Dues stories by Jeffrey DeRego (a favorite series I first encountered on EscapePod). Haven't heard all the back episodes, since there's just too much.
Cory Doctorow's Podcast - Cory Doctorow podcasts a lot of his short fiction in progress, and it's really good. Episodes of other podcasts in which Doctorow is interviewed are often pulled into the feed. Took quite a while to listen to the back-episodes.
C-Realm Podcast - The C stands for "consciousness". Philosophy, ramblings, and interviews by
kmo. Calm and eclectic. Can get a bit new-agey for my taste, sometimes, but it's thought-provoking, interesting. Have not gone through the back episodes because it's far too much. Only went a few episodes back when I first added it.Barack Obama's Podcast - Was very good (wish all legislators did something like this), but he hasn't posted anything for quite a while.
This Week in Tech - A panel-style talk show. Didn't bother with back-episodes, since it's current-events discussion and there's a lot of it.
I feel I haven't even scratched the surface with podcasts, though. There's so much good amateur and new professional material, and even some of the old radio players are archiving and podcasting their stuff now (NPR's doing that).
So, how about you? Do you listen to podcasts? What are your favorites?
