That’s the war on drugs, of course. Milton Friedman once said that the war on drugs had a “racial” but not “racist” effect in that it disproportionately imprisoned black Americans. He was certainly right about the effect. According to the U.S. Justice Department’s incarceration statistics, “Of the 249,000 state prison inmates serving time for drug offenses . . . [in] 2004, 112,500 (45.1%) were black . . .” I believe blacks are about 13% of the population.
While all those egomaniacal, “cosmopolitan,” libertine libertarians are belly aching away about old newsletters, competing for the title of “The Prettiest and Smartest Libertarian in the World,” and opposing Ron Paul, he’s the only presidential candidate who has said he would immediately pardon all non-violent drug “offenders.” This would probably include tens of thousands of young black men, and many thousands more in the future who would be saved from governmental harassment and imprisonment. Not to mention putting an end to the drug gang carnage that has been created by drug prohibition. All the other candidates are in favor of EXPANDING the war on drugs — especially Giuliani, the favorite of a certain young smear artist punk who writes for The New Republic.
One thing that is very clear by now, is that anyone who calls himself a “cosmopolitan” libertarian is not really interested in achieving a freer society in reality; it’s all about his or her own self image.
7:30 pm on January 13, 2008
