The War on Prosperity

For a great example of what the War on Drugs does to developing economies, check out this Reuters report on the Swaziland front in the war.

Police in impoverished Swaziland say that despite dousing acres of towering plants with deadly insecticide, they are losing the war on marijuana to dirt-poor peasants bent on protecting their most lucrative crop.

No official word on whether some of those peasants might be slightly better off than "dirt-poor" if they could take their goods directly to market without having to deal with cartel overlords looking for a cut or police doing their damndest to destroy the crops.

This month in Reason, Toby Muse detailed the futility of the Colombian drug war. In January 2002, Michael Lynch interviewed three former professional drug warriors who soured on the project through first-hand experience.

By the way, I'm Dan Koffler and I'm the Burton Gray memorial intern at Reason this summer. In the fall, I'll be a senior in college; my major is philosophy. I also have a personal blog, which you can peruse here if you're so inclined.

Comments

Ken Shultz | June 14, 2005, 3:50pm | #

Welcome to the Thunderdome Daniel. Don't take anything personally.

...Unless it's personal. Then, when you strike back, aim for the eyes! . )

Hmm. | June 14, 2005, 4:04pm | #

Grab nice tall glass of blended puppy and get to work.

Ira Weatheral | June 14, 2005, 4:10pm | #

Do you get a nice dorm room, a workout area, and a $2,500 stipend like the Heritage Foundation interns?

raymond | June 14, 2005, 4:12pm | #

Oh good. A sensitive college boy to harass.

"Yeah. She won't have any trouble finding a job. There's a new philosophy factory opening up on the edge of town." (That 79s Show)

Ruthless | June 14, 2005, 4:16pm | #

"No official word on whether some of those peasants might be slightly better off than "dirt-poor" if they could take their goods directly to market without having to deal with cartel overlords looking for a cut or police doing their damndest to destroy the crops."

Daniel,
If all drugs were legal, those peasants would be unlikely to be growing the raw material for drugs.
They would be financially better off, but it would be in a more indirect way than you imply.

zach | June 14, 2005, 4:23pm | #

why's that?

Ruthless | June 14, 2005, 4:25pm | #

zach,
If you're asking me: because all drug raw materials would be grown by Archer Daniels Midland.

Larry A | June 14, 2005, 4:32pm | #

Ruthless: Peasants who can take their goods directly to market without having to deal with cartel overlords looking for a cut or police doing their damndest to destroy the crops will be better off regardless of what goods they are taking to market.

I think that's what both of you said.

saw-whet | June 14, 2005, 4:34pm | #

OK, that's it. When your regional capital is named Pigg's Peak, I dunno, but I guess you should expect to be fucked.

Mo | June 14, 2005, 4:34pm | #

Welcome Dan. Remembr, don't take anything personally, Gary is a French marine and good luck dealing with the regulars. We're quite a bunch of characters (though for all I know, you could be a longtime lurker/commenter).

saw-whet | June 14, 2005, 4:36pm | #

How about Pooh Bottom.

saw-whet | June 14, 2005, 4:44pm | #

Congratulations on your internship, Dan. Good to see that you don't have to worry about living in Pigg's Peak "selling shiny stones to tourists at the side of the road", what with philosophy factories popping up all over.

Number 6 | June 14, 2005, 4:52pm | #

Welcome, and congrats on the internship. Now, for some advice from a former Poli Sci/ Phil student: for god's sake, pick up a major that will allow you to make money. Seriously. Poverty sucks. Really sucks.

Dan Koffler | June 14, 2005, 5:06pm | #

I agree---poverty does suck, which is why I think I might skip grad school and head for the lucrative world of freelancing.

Guy in the back row | June 14, 2005, 5:07pm | #

Dude,

My brother in law was a philosophy major in Berkley in the 60s and now he drives an ice cream wagon.

Take some accounting courses, just in case.

Number 6 | June 14, 2005, 5:12pm | #

"Lucrative world of freelancing"? Please tell me you're joking.
Grad school is the way to go. Sure, it's more debt, but there's more money and a good life on the other side. It's coming up on ten years now, and I still kick myself in the ass everyday for not getting a PhD.

Yo | June 14, 2005, 5:16pm | #

"...because all drug raw materials would be grown by Archer Daniels Midland."

So bullshit it's obvious.

I hope this was a joke.

Dan Koffler | June 14, 2005, 5:24pm | #

Joking, just joking, I swear.

Ammonium | June 14, 2005, 5:28pm | #

"...because all drug raw materials would be grown by Archer Daniels Midland."

I think that's close, but not the whole story.

ADM will be turning corn and soybeans into marijuana. It will cost several times what real marijuana costs, but after subsidies it will be dirt cheap.

Happy Jack | June 14, 2005, 5:44pm | #

Dan, a few pointers on generating comments to your posts.

A) Post a story about some crazy-ass conspiracy theory; or

B) Post a story about religion, and un-ban "He Who Cannot Be Named."

Of course, if you choose A, it doubles as research into the electoral prospects of the L.P. by confirming pre-conceived notions of said party's members.

blammo | June 14, 2005, 5:51pm | #

Wouldn't "deadly insecticide" help the plants grow, by preventing insects from eating the crop? Do they mean "deadly herbicide"? Or is the only reason to spray it to get the cultivaters sick?

Or does somebody need to do a better job editing their copy?

Ken Shultz | June 14, 2005, 5:56pm | #

"So bullshit it's obvious."

Maybe you were hoping for Monsanto? What's the problem here?

Eric the .5b | June 14, 2005, 6:01pm | #

ADM will be turning corn and soybeans into marijuana. It will cost several times what real marijuana costs, but after subsidies it will be dirt cheap.

*dies*

zach | June 14, 2005, 6:01pm | #

is it just assumed that ADM will never employ these peasants?

granted, when i think, "good pot", i don't think, "swaziland"... but hey, maybe we're all missing out on something here.

R C Dean | June 14, 2005, 6:04pm | #

I agree---poverty does suck, which is why I think I might skip grad school and head for the lucrative world of freelancing.

Ah yes, freelance philosophizing. There's a guy who hangs out near my bus stop who does that. The one with the "will philosophize for food" sign.

zach | June 14, 2005, 6:05pm | #

freelance philosophy can actually be huge if you can work a few miracles into the act.

Ken Shultz | June 14, 2005, 6:49pm | #

"granted, when i think, "good pot", i don't think, "swaziland"... but hey, maybe we're all missing out on something here."

According to this site, Swaziland is a big source of Sativa, aka "skunk", although Transkei Green is probably grown there too.

...I doubt any of it makes it into the United States though, just like when people buy Thai Sticks here, it ain't from Thailand. It's just that the seeds originally came from Thailand. I think most of what's consumed in the United States is grown in the United States.

Phil | June 14, 2005, 7:21pm | #

Don't listen to them, Daniel -- I had a very good friend in college who majored in philosophy for her undergrad. She went from there to law school, and is now a well-compensated labor/contracts attorney.

Ruthless | June 14, 2005, 7:29pm | #

zach,
No, I assume ADM will eventually employ the peasants in Congostan, but long after the War on Drugs is a memory, Berkeleyites will still be nagging the WalMarts and ADM's, just because the latter think big.

Akira MacKenzie | June 14, 2005, 10:57pm | #

Welcome to the Thunderdome Daniel.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, dyin' time is here!

Welcome on board Daniel. Now, spin the wheel, Raggedy Man!

Shem | June 15, 2005, 4:15am | #

blammo, I actually think they maean deadly to human beings.

Welcome Daniel. Always a pleasure to meet another student of the Retail Sciences.

Shem | June 15, 2005, 4:17am | #

/mean, dammit.

tros | June 15, 2005, 6:00am | #

Hi Dan! I am currently a sophomore in college, and hope to eventually get an internship that involves blogging, so I think you might be my new role model. I go to Northeastern, which is a corporate-statist indentured servitude factory, so I haven't really found an outlet for my libertarian ideas. Since giving up on technical education I have been spending a lot of time, uh... studying the social construction of the drug war.

Ironchef | June 15, 2005, 8:28am | #

Alright guys, easy on the n00b.

Who really works in their major anyways?

mk | June 15, 2005, 9:54am | #

I got an IT degree from a school that now markets themselves via pop-up ads.
I work in my major. I'm not too proud of where I got my education, but here I am.

drf | June 15, 2005, 11:23am | #

Hi Dan.

Welcome to the world of reason.

People have been giving great topics for you to post. How about "global warming" or "urban sprawl". Those are good ones. Joe, a regular, is a great poster who never backs down from good debate. He is in the spirit of our dearly-departed regular from two years ago, Lefty of Minnesota. Joe knows lots about urban planning, and he calls out those "libertarians" who would bully others with the tyranny of the majority. It's always a good post when those barbs start flying. (*chuckle*)

Have a great summer. Have lots of fun.

What area of philosophy is your area? Hopefully not the Frankfurt School :)

(does it help that my favorite word is "Schadenfreude"?)

cheers,
drf

R C Dean | June 15, 2005, 11:29am | #

I majored in philosophy, too, and went to law school. That means I am emphatically not making a living in my major.

Law school isn't really a grad school anyway. Its more of a trade school, and the least fun I've ever had outside of a law firm.

Still, judging by recent classes of summer interns, there are hot chicks in law school these days.

Not to go off-topic or anything . . . .

zach | June 15, 2005, 11:46am | #

honestly, while i see pot being legalized in most of the world somewhat soon, i don't really see it happening without a slew of ridiculous trade restrictions, independent to each country. at the very least it's safe to say it won't be treated as just another crop. so exactly who takes the lead in the worldwide production of pot - assuming anyone does - is really hard to tell.

that said, ADM has got the lobbying thing down pat.

Dan Koffler | June 15, 2005, 1:12pm | #

Wow, you guys can keep a thread going. Drf: I'm concentrating on contemporary analytic philosophy, partly by choice, partly because that's what the department at my school is about. Tros: I tend to find that there are pockets of liberated thought just about anywhere you could go.

drf | June 15, 2005, 2:30pm | #

Thanks, Dan!

Have you run into anybody who's into Pragmatics?

cheers,
drf

Larry A | June 15, 2005, 4:31pm | #

If you really want to make it financially, skip college altogether. If I had it all to do over, I think I'd have learned to repair photocopiers or some such.

Decent pay, you can live in a big city or small town, and you always work in a climate-controlled environment.

Starting out of high school, you get a four to six (+) year jump on retirement and avoid the academic debt.