Seven defects of American governance

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Seven-defects-of-American-by-Harold-Hellickson-110529-774.html

Just as there are seven dwarfs, seven virtues, and seven deadly sins there are seven major policy defects of American governance; the policies of war, empire, monetary, fiscal, trade, income inequality and social justice. This article is a summary statement of these seven defects. A more detailed discussion of these defects will be published as a four part article beginning next week.



The war on terror was stupidly enacted and is stupidly conducted. The cost of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq has exceeded $1 trillion and Islamic civilian dead are numbered in the hundreds of thousands; the great recruitment tool of terrorists. The true cost of National Security exceeds $1 trillion every year. Were we to remove all our military from all of the Middle East and Central Asia, the probability of a major terrorist attack on American soil would be reduced, not heightened. We cannot afford the war on terror; not financially, not morally.



Then we have the wars on poverty and drugs; both long lost. Since 1973 the war on poverty has seen a near steady increase in the number of families living in poverty reaching the highest ever recorded in 2009, the last year of Census Bureau data. It is undoubtedly significantly higher today.



The war on drugs, again stupidly enacted and stupidly conducted. Last May, the AP reported, "After 40 years, President Nixon's declaration of war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of lives, and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence even more brutal and widespread. Even U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske conceded the strategy hasn't worked." Drug addiction is a medical problem, not a criminal problem. A 2008 Harvard study estimated that legalization of drugs would provide $44 billion in annual savings plus $33 billion in tax revenue.

More at the link --

Bummer.