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War on Whatever

J. Mastracchio(10/23/07)

The War on _____, you can fill in the blank with whatever you want; it is a

politically charged phrase that serves as a means to an end. War on Terror, War onDrugs, War on Poverty, War on Drunk Driving, War on Gangs, War on whatever wordor idea you can think of. One of the easiest ways to get backing on an agenda is todeclare war on something. War means we oppose whatever we are at war with, wewill fight our enemy until it is gone. The sad truth is, as far as policy goes, the war onanything seems to have no end and serve no purpose other than to push a politicalagenda.

War on Poverty was legislation introduced in 1964 by President Lyndon B.Johnson. The programs aim was to assist poverty stricken individuals and families. TheWar on Poverty was Johnsons response to a 19 percent poverty rate; it was essentiallyanother name for of social welfare. The program seemed to wane around the 1980s as

other issues came into political focus. The remains of the War on Poverty can be seen infederal programs like Head Start and the Job Corps. Today around 12 to 15 percent of the American population is poor; it doesnt appear as if we won that war. While thefigures are better than when the war began, it is doubtful that there will ever be an endto a War on Poverty. There will always be poor, just as there will always be rich.

War on Alcohol is apparent if one looks at prohibition, the era of the EighteenthAmendment, between 1920 and 1933. During this time the sale, manufacture andtransportation of alcohol was banned. The government went to great lengths to try tostop the flow of alcohol. If you know anything about prohibition, you know that it didnot work. Speakeasies sprung up all over the place, some say that more people drank during prohibition than before it. Where did the all the booze come from; the gangsters

of the 1920s. Many notorious gangsters, like Al Capone and Bugs Moran, mademillions of dollars through illegal alcohol sales. Numerous other crimes, including theftand murder, can be linked to the criminal activities of bootleggers and gangsters. TheWar on Alcohol led to a war against citizens and a war against gangsters. It seems as if prohibition created more problems than it solved.

War on Drugs, the term was coined in 1971 by President Richard M. Nixon todescribe a new set of initiatives to enhance drug prohibition. The programs aim is tocrack down on users, crack down on dealers, and crack down on the internationalsuppliers. Drug convictions have mandatory sentences, often disproportionate to anyactual crime. Longer prison sentences for drug charges leads to more inmates with longsentences in an already overcrowded prison system. Since drugs are illegal, users areforced to find their fix through illegal means. This creates the same problem as in the1920s, today instead of gangsters we have gang members. Gangs operate in order tomake a profit; ask a cop and he/she will tell you that gangs traffic and sell drugs. Illegaldrug sale leads to gang violence as groups fight for the best selling territory. Policydictates that the best way to stop illegal drug us is to nip it in the bud, stop theinternational suppliers.

Drug Cartels are the gangs of the world. Cartels reap huge profits from the sale of illegal drugs in the United States. Cartels are just as bad, if not worse, as gangs when it

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comes to drug related violence. The huge profits from illegal drug trade help fundparamilitary or guerrilla groups in Latin American countries. These groups only createmore problems for countries that already have criminal and political problems. Hugeprofits create a reason for poor citizens to break their own laws and supply the drug trade.Poor farmers often stop growing fruits and vegetables in order to grow a cash crop that

they can sell for a greater profit. To ask them to stop growing is asking them to take apay cut over fifty percent. It seems as if the War on Drugs creates the economy for illegal drugs we are trying to control.

War on Terror, a campaign initiated by in 2001 by President George W. Bush,includes various military, political, and legal actions to "curb the spread of terrorism."Terrorism is a real threat; it comes from both domestic and international sources. Whenboiled down a War on Terror means a war on groups of people with beliefs different thenour own. During the Cold War major threats came from Communists, today it isMuslims. A War on Terror is an international war, it says we will police the worldagainst those we deem terrorists. Any international war should have internationalapproval; groups should be deemed terrorist by an international community, not one

country. The current War on Terrorism is a war without end; people will always useviolence to force their ideas on others (the US included).I suggest we declare start one more war, a war to end ideological wars, a War on

the War on _____. A War on Whatever is almost always motivated by those inoffice; it gives the people something to stand behind without fully understanding theissues or problems that may result. Declaring War on Whatever is a political tactic topush a political agenda. Wars on Whatever are backed in good faith; they are a meansto an idealistic end. Ideological wars seek to solve societal problems that stem from thefact different people live together and try to function in the same society; they do not andcan not have an end.