My friend M. Simon has reposted an essay comparing the police state of the current War On Some Drugs with the police state of Nazi Germany, written by someone who had witnessed both. I had been more inclined to think in terms of the Stalinist police state. When I was growing up, back in the time of the Red Scare, one of the things we were told in grade school was evil about the Soviet Union was that people were encouraged to inform upon one another; even family members. Today, grade school students are being encouraged to inform upon family members. I remember reading of one specific case of a young man whose mother was self-medicating her depression with methamphetamine, once the standard prescription for her condition. He turned her in believing he would get her help but instead she was imprisoned for drug possession. Hopefully that young man will never again trust his government.
Posted by triticale at September 29, 2007 08:25 AM | TrackBack