I know that you don't smoke weed, I know this; but I'm gonna get you high today, 'cause it's Friday; you ain't got no job...and you ain't got shit to do.
Friends, happy Friday. It's raining in Chicago, and it seems like this is the first gloomy day that we've had in a month, so I guess we can't complain. People DO seem to complain about the weather all of the time. How pointless. Obviously it is something that we can't control, so why waste your breath? One of the worst things that people do is complain when it's super cold outside in the winter, but then when it warms up in the summer time, they bitch and moan about how hot it is. You can't have it both ways. If you like it cooler, don't bitch about it being cold out. I've always enjoyed hot weather myself. It can't be hot enough. Which makes one wonder why I've stayed in the midwest all of my life. Family I guess, but it sure doesn't make a lot of sense to live somewhere that is completely miserable for about four months out of the year (six if you're in Chicago), when we could easily move to a place such as San Diego where it's consistently in the mid-seventies year 'round. Why do we put ourselves through this? I don't know either? I DO know that I've just written an entire paragraph about the weather. Wow. I'm willing to bet that this is an all-time low, even for "Webby Files."
Now we need a topic that is the COMPLETE opposite of "talking about the weather." How about race/sexual orientation relations? Too edgy for you? That would definitely "pick it up a notch" around here. I do find it hilarious how talking about race in this country makes people SO uncomfortable. Obviously, being a strait white male, I've never experienced the negativity of racism/sexism/homophobia that others have, so naturally it's twice as difficult for me to grasp the magnitude that this topic carries with many individuals, but I do know that in order for strides to be made, people are going to have to stop sweeping this conversation under the rug and start attacking it head on.
The fact that homosexuals STILL don't have equal rights because of the ideologies of crusty, old, religious white dudes is beyond me. For some reason, the idea of Adam and Steve sharing the same rights as Adam and Eve just consumes the thoughts of these cats. They can't get away from it. How about this: Stop having affairs on your wives, or worrying about your guns being taken away, or forcing YOUR religion into schools where not all people share YOUR ideas, or stealing from your employees, or trying to "shoot down" the efforts of preserving our environment, or trying to KEEP health care as expensive as you possibly can, or trying to preserve the "war on drugs." Stop! These are REAL issues. Leave the gays alone! Just let them have equal rights so we can ALL pull together to solve the REAL problems of our country. That would be a good start.
Speaking of REAL issues...I believe that we should legalize all drugs. Yes. ALL DRUGS. Now I know that we're not all going to agree on this, but hear me out. I've never done drugs in my entire life (marijuana doesn't count, and I've barely done that.) This is NOT one of those stoner presentations that we all sat through in High School where the class pot-head shows off his psychedelic poster board on why marijuana should be legal so he can go smoke it during study hall. This is an important issue and I'll tell you why. I believe that legalizing drugs will solve a ton of the major problems that this country faces every single day.
First of all, if we legalize drugs today and release all of the NON-violent drug offenders that over populate our prisons, we'll save trillions of dollars every year from here on out. Trillions, all while decreasing the over-population problems that we're currently dealing with, and ending the constant need for tax payers to fund the opening of new facilities. That's a good start, huh?
How about this? If we legalize drugs today, the recession ends...TODAY. Instead of being a black market product like drugs currently are, with their legalization, American farms would immediately begin to grow everything from marijuana to cocaine and everything else in between...LEGALLY. Next to all of your corner liquor stores, there would be weed stores. This may sound weird to you, but you're taking a multi-trillion dollar economy that already exists, and simply making it legitimate (and everybody knows that alcohol/tobacco is just as/more harmful than drugs...and we've got NO problem with drinking our booze and smoking our cigarettes). All while creating billions of jobs in the process. Farmers, wholesalers, distributors, stores, etc., etc...the possibilities are endless. All on American soil, instead of illegally smuggling it in from Mexico, South America, and so on. We'd be back as an economic world power instantly.
Still not convinced? How about this one? Legalizing drugs will dramatically decrease the violence in our inner-cities. FACT. Remember Al Capone? During prohibition, ol' Al used to illegally smuggle alcohol into the speakeasies. That was one of his biggest products. He'd kill whoever was in the way of him making the money that he wanted to make by illegally distributing alcohol. Well guess what? You don't hear of people shooting each other over alcohol anymore do you? You know why? Because it is LEGAL. If you legalize drugs, and take them off of the black market by legitimately selling them in stores just like you do alcohol and cigarettes, all of the violence that comes with them will immediately fade away. 99% of gang violence IS drug related. Now I'm not saying that all of the violence will go away. These people will still find products to sell on the black market such as guns and other illegal things, but if you take drugs out of the equation (which legalizing them will do), you're taking a lot of ammunition from the hands of our American gangs. A good thing, me thinks.
So let's see here...we've effectively ended the recession by creating billions of jobs and creating an entire new economy, found the answer to our over-populated prisons (while saving tax payers billions), and essentially ended gang violence in our inner-cities. Not enough for you? Well, we're going to get this nation out of it's little debt that it's accrued by taxing the HELL out of these drugs as well. There's NO reason why our deficit should continue to climb when there's a product being sold on our streets every single day that we're not able to tax because it is illegal. It just doesn't make any sense. Tax the hell out of this stuff, and make money on both ends like the government does with everything else. Also, we'll have to regulate this just like we do alcohol. You must be 21 to purchase it, and you obviously can't drive while under the influence.
Of course, with an argument like this, there are always going to be those who say that if we legalize drugs, then there will be anarchy on our streets. It's simply not true. If heroin was legal tomorrow, I can guarantee you that I'm not going to go buy heroin. I'm just not. I'm smart enough to know how dangerous the stuff can be, so I'm not going to try it. I imagine that you reading this are in that same boat. It's no different than cigarettes. Cigarettes are legal, but now that our country knows how harmful they are, the percentage of smokers is going down every single year, but we still keep them legal. Why? Because we make a ton of money off of those who choose to lead a harmful life of smoking by continuing to grow/produce and tax them. We also have NO problem with gambling. There are casinos everywhere, yet I don't see anarchy on the streets (some would argue that that is what Vegas is...but I digress). The people who are doing drugs now will continue to do them...the people who aren't, will continue to be drug-free. The difference is that instead of drug lords/dealers/gangs/etc. reaping the benefits, the American people will be the benefactors. I've also heard that some people believe that if drugs were legal, the consumption would actually go DOWN. It's the whole "people won't be enticed to do them anymore because they won't get the rush of doing something that is illegal" (kind of like drinking/smoking not being anywhere near as cool when you're actually over 21.) As great as this theory sounds, I'm not sure that I buy it, but hey, if it IS true in some sense...then I guess it's a bonus.
We sure came a LONG way from talking about the weather didn't we?
Hit me up on facebook or in the comments section of this blog. Right now I'm listening to "Blood Brothers" by Bruce Springsteen. Drinks of choice: Livin' the High-Life. Make it a great weekend y'alls.
Peace the F.
Webby
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