Very good point, Richard. I'll also add that it's important not to be defeatist. Defeatism discourages people. Being realistic is important too, when it comes to things like specific political campaigns, but larger issues are uncertain enough that the best strategy for achieving positive change on a larger scale is to be optimistic. "Never" (as your example illustrates) is also an awfully sweeping word, and such sweeping claims frequently turn out to be inaccurate.
If you have your private doubts about the success of the libertarian venture, or of a large part of it, such as defeating prohibition laws, please respect your fellow activists and keep them to yourself.
We shall overcome!
<<< Starchild >>>
P.S. - Please do not post the same message to <lpsf-discuss> AND <lpsf-activists>, as I believe the memberships of these two lists are largely overlapping.
All those arguments were brought up in the 1920's, to
explain why alcohol prohibition would never be
repealed.> Rob,
>
> Ron Getty posted these persuasive arguments (see
> below) on our Libertarian Party of San Francisco's
> (LPSF) Email List.
>
> Perhaps you can offer a more hopeful perspective.
> Thanks
>
> Best, Michael
>
> From: Ron Getty
> To: Libertarian Yahoo Group ; LPSF-ACTIVISTS
> Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2005 10:16 PM
> Subject: [lpsf-activists] Why Pot WIll Not Be
> Legalized!!!
>
> Dear Everyone;
>
> We have had various discussion at one time or
> another about legalizing pot and repealing the war
> on drugs and today stopping the DEA from raiding a
> medical pot store and getting stuck with a pot store
> as a next door neighbor.
>
> All discussions about legalizing pot and repealing
> the war on drugs are fruitless.
>
> WHY?
>
> Think about these impediments to legalization or
> repeal:
>
> 1. Finding new jobs for the cops who fight the drug
> wars.
>
> 2. Finding new jobs for all those 22,000 (!) DEA
> government employees.
>
> 3. Finding new jobs for the prison guards
>
> 4. Finding new jobs for all those prison
> administrators.
>
> 5. Finding new jobs for all other prison employees.
>
> 6.. Finding new jobs for the attorneys who
> prosecute.
>
> 7. Finding new jobs for the attorneys who defend.
>
> 8. Finding new jobs for the judges who hear those
> trials.
>
> 8. Finding a new source of prisoners for all those
> empty prisons.
>
> 10. Finding a new type of construction work for all
> those prison construction firms.
>
> 11.Convincing the liquor lobby legalized pot/drug
> stores won't put liquor stores out of business.
>
> 12.Finding politicians who are willling to see their
> political careers come to a stop.
>
> 13. City - county - state - federal governments
> finding new sources of revenue other than seized
> goods which were taken because they were bought with
> drug money.
>
> 14. Finding new things for all those drug sniffing
> dogs to sniff. ( poor doggies)
>
> 15. Finding new uses for the military forces used to
> interdict drugs internationally.
>
> 16. Finding new jobs for drug kingpins and their
> gangs and distributors.
>
> 17. Finding enough money to overcome the massive
> amounts of funds the above people will contribute to
> stop legalization
>
> Ron Getty
> SF Libertarian
>
> SPONSORED LINKS U s government grant California
> Activist
> U s government student loan California
> politics
>
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