America: Pursuer of Failed Policy

A couple days ago I had a minor epiphany. I think a majority of our country's problems can be summed up by the idea that we are unwilling to admit our mistakes and therefore insist on following policies that have failed pathetically and resolutely.

The most obvious example of this is the war in Iraq. Anybody with a pulse (or a pulse that reaches their brain anyway) can tell you our little escapade in Iraq has been a monumental catastrophe with no hope for redemption. The smarter among us even predicted it beforehand, but that's beside the point. Even those who insist we stay have trouble giving a reason outside of "well, we can't just leave". Bullshit, we can too. We fucked up, failed miserably, and now it's time to go. Will staying any longer make the situation any better? Will leaving now make it any worse?

And of course there's the war on drugs. What's the war on drugs done for us? Well, it's filled the prison system with largely nonviolent criminals for one. It's also created more violence within the drug trade, as prohibition always does. And driven up drug prices, thereby increasing profits for the dealers, who are of course the dangerous element I mentioned just a moment ago. But it's curtailed drug use, right? Well, not exactly. Since the drug war began, we've had two major drug epidemics spread through our nation. Crack starting in the late 80's and methamphetamine beginning in the early 90's. So that's worked well. Yet we continue to pursue the failed policy.

What if a candidate, as part of his or her platform, promised to end the war on drugs. Would they be greeted with rational debate or hysteria?

Lastly, let's consider republican fiscal policy. We've been trying this for 26 years now, even though it was obvious it was only benefiting the wealthy by five or six years in. Please tell me again exactly how cutting the taxes of the richest people helps the poor-to-middle classes? Why is it that we give corporations free, unregulated, reign while the small business owner gets reamed? And more importantly, where have these policies left us? We've got a wealth divide that's reached staggering proportions, jobs flying out of the country, and a housing market that's in danger of disintegrating and leaving millions of people with less than nothing. And yet we continue to pursue the failes policies.

Well fuck all that. I want real change, god damn it. Now who's going to step up and offer it?

I'm going to kick this just once before letting it go quietly into the night.