Seeing people OD

[Heatman]

While riding up here (a year ago this week),  I got to reminiscing about the old Burma Shave signs, which I'm just old enough to remember.  This article

http://burma-shave.org/jingles/

tells about them.  They were brief poems posted one line at a time on small signboards about a hundred feet apart.  It occurred to me that a similar format for liberty messages would be ideal.  When I passed the Free State Project "Adopt a Highway" segment on 101, it seemed a perfect stretch to put the idea into practice.  But I was told that the signs would be removed by the highway department, so gave up on my plan for spending a bit of cash to make them look really good.  (I've since redirected both poetry and signs into other areas, but I still think the original idea was a good one.)

Here are some of my
LIBERTARIAN BURMA SHAVE SIGNS

This we say
To our last breath:
Give us liberty
Or give us death.

For those who have
Secured election:
Who protects us
From your protection?

Be nice to
Us porcupines:
We're gentle, tame--
But watch those spines!

[H]*:  The major cause
Of violent thugs
Is all the laws
Forbidding drugs

This we say
(And even wail out):
We won't pay
For your damn bailout!

[H]:  States forge chains
That free men must sever.
Liberty
Is now or never.

No modern bureaucrat
Ever bothers
With the intent
Of the founding fathers.

We want you free
And not a slave.
(Thanx for this format,
Burma Shave!)

_____________________
*Indicates a candidate for another poetic form I've been developing: the rhyming haiku.

I'm good with that, except the drug part.  As a former EMT I have seen to many kids OD on heavy drugs and have friends who have OD'd on drugs and are no longer the person they once were.  One guy I went to school with that was an honors student now has the mental capacity of a 5 year old because of an OD.  Don't get me wrong, although I've never tried any type of illegal drugs, I don't have a problem with people lighting up a joint if it is not impacting others.  I believe that the reason Ron Paul wasn't considered a likely candidate by the news outlets is because so many people have seen the adverse affects of drug use and think that suggesting legalizing everything is an insane proposal.

[Moebius Tripp]

I split this off from the freeway signs thread... (obviously)

Two thoughts on your comments, Heatman.

Forbidden fruit is far more seductive than that which is unrestricted.

The "War on Some Drugs" is the result of an exercise in control via Hegelian dialectics.

A major tenet of freedom is the idea that each individual "owns" his/her/neuter/hermaphrodite/other body exclusively.  The notion that a group of people can dictate to the individual what can or cannot be ingested strikes at the heart of freedom.

Big Pharma, Law Enforcement, and the Intel community are the benefactors of the war.  The popularity of a forbidden substance drops when it becomes un- or less- regulated.  Black tar heroin probably wouldn't be as prevalent if opium hadn't been outlawed.  Crack probably wouldn't have hit the streets as hard as it did if coca leaves had been commonly available all along.

The rapid expansion of a monolithic superstate at the expense of individual civil freedoms has been enabled by this so-called war.

It's time for armistice.

----------

I, too, have seen the ravages of substance abuse; I've lost 3 friends to death by heroin overdose, and seen far more than I care to mention here.  The only way to win this thing is to take away the means of coercion on both sides of the equation.





Oh, and btw, great stuff Sam!

[thinkliberty]

How can people OD on drugs when they are illegal? If drugs are illegal no one can buy them or use them.

Are people "caught" with drugs better off spending their life locked in a cage involuntarily? Is it okay to force other people to pay hitmen to kidnap and cage them?   Is it okay to kill people that have not hurt anyone for trying to resist being kidnapped or trying to escape from the cage they are being held in?

I can see drunk people at the bar any night, most of them are addicted. We tried prohibition with it and pushed people to harder alcohol and brought violence in the streets with gangsters to defend a "black" market. What makes prohibition of alcohol wrong and the prohibition of other drugs okay?

[Kat Kanning]

Have you ever seen someone all torn to pieces after a car wreck?  Maybe we should ban people from driving cars, too, so they won't hurt themselves.  Maybe we should wrap them all up in a protective layer for life so they never do anything dumb to themselves.  Maybe we should lock everyone up in a little cage for life so they can never be harmed.

[Russell Kanning]

how do you think we should stop these people from ODing?

[Lloyd Danforth]

There is tons of stuff about consuming Alcohol safely. Legal drugs would be more pure and uniform than those made underground and instructions would be available for safe dosage.

[highline]

how do you think we should stop these people from ODing?

Legalize drugs. Let the open market regulate them for quality.... and encourage parents to responsibly teach their children the real truth about drug use/abuse

[JJ]

People OD on water. 

[highline]

People OD on water.

That's absolutely correct.

Water in reality is more dangerous than Marijuana.

[thinkliberty]

People OD on water.

That's absolutely correct.

Water in reality is more dangerous than Marijuana.

In reality cops kill more people than marijuana every year.  We should outlaw the police.

I have seen the damage they have done, making it so children can't see their dying parents (those that have MS and cancer) that use and grow marijuana to ease their pain while they die, sometimes marijuana can save people's lives so they don't have to die, but the police don't care about that either.

Marijuana does not force itself on people it's an inanimate plant. Cops force other people to do things against their will every day, it's their "job" to hurt people.  You can see the cops committing violent acts on youtube, if you want there are 1000's of examples there.

My solution to the drug problem is to stop supporting the people committing violent acts over inanimate objects that don't even belong to them, it's too bad I will be thrown in jail by the police, if I stop paying them to kidnap people and kill  people (for resisting them or trying to escape) for using and/or growing a medicinal plant. 

Most cops believe violence can be used to get what they want. Most importantly a pay check from corrupt politicians. They have no problem kicking people out of their homes for refusing to pay extortion. They sell other people's property at "auction" year after year.

It's disgusting.

[CJS]

 Had the conversation about owning my body at physical therapy again this week . I just do not understand how anyone disagrees with this concept. The topic this time was suicide , not a spirit lifting topic i know , but I did not bring it up . Of course the Chicago liberal / socialist lost their minds and I believe they wanted to physically hurt me when I said again " it's a privacy issue , just like a woman's reproductive rights ". They could not continue their argument , but that never stops them from telling me I am wrong .. i want to bang my head on the table .

I may not like what some of the people in my life do with / put into their bodies ... but it is none of my biz until it starts to have a negative effect on those around me ... how can people not see this ? Are they brain dead or just so conceited that they think their way is so much better they feel justified in forcing their will on every one else ?

[Moebius Tripp]

It's the tyranny of good intentions, with the premise that "they" know better than "us" and are justified in using an armed gang to impose their way on all.

[highline]

Had the conversation about owning my body at physical therapy again this week . I just do not understand how anyone disagrees with this concept. The topic this time was suicide , not a spirit lifting topic i know , but I did not bring it up . Of course the Chicago liberal / socialist lost their minds and I believe they wanted to physically hurt me when I said again " it's a privacy issue , just like a woman's reproductive rights ". They could not continue their argument , but that never stops them from telling me I am wrong .. i want to bang my head on the table .

I may not like what some of the people in my life do with / put into their bodies ... but it is none of my biz until it starts to have a negative effect on those around me ... how can people not see this ? Are they brain dead or just so conceited that they think their way is so much better they feel justified in forcing their will on every one else ?

I just tried to explain this idea to a group of Canadian law enforcement people.... And their lashing of me as a result is quite intense.

If you have a few minutes, check out this thread:

http://forums.blueline.ca/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20524&p=425425

I would welcome any criticism of my attempt to be persuasive. Unfortunately, someone brought up child pornography, and I gave my honest opinion that I believed mere possession is a victimless offense. This collapsed my efforts to change opinions on drug rules. 

[highline]

My apologies for the bad link:

Here is the discussion I referenced: http://forums.blueline.ca/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20524

Apparently, I'm not so good at explaining libertarian ideals 

[CJS]

I just tried to explain this idea to a group of Canadian law enforcement people.... And their lashing of me as a result is quite intense.

If you have a few minutes, check out this thread:

http://forums.blueline.ca/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20524&p=425425

I would welcome any criticism of my attempt to be persuasive. Unfortunately, someone brought up child pornography, and I gave my honest opinion that I believed mere possession is a victimless offense. This collapsed my efforts to change opinions on drug rules.

  I went to that LEO forum from a link at freekeene forum already. I think you handled you self great and made excellent points , but I think you're wasting your time in LEO forums if you're spending a lot of time trying to change their minds ... better to plant a few seeds and move on instead of getting their panties in a bunch... hard to win the hearts and minds of people you spend time fighting with .. and even though you're not fighting them , they are fighting you. You message is much more powerful given to the general public IMO .

As far as your using the child porn thing as a victimless crime , the walmart example was weak in that it was not true child porn and to suggest that there is no victim for possessing the real thing it is beyond my understanding ... how does a 4 or 6 year old consent to be photographed in a sexual manner ?

And of course real LEO's will hate , disregard and disrespect liberty minded people , we are the ones who refuse top play along in the charade of doing everything they say .. how could they do their jobs if they admitted most of the time they start asking questions they are not doing it under the color of law .

I used to have a bunch of cop friends .. but that was when they were peace officers and not militarized LEO's .