...legalizing it and therefore taking away the drug cartels number one source of income. The U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy ... says that more than 60 percent of the profits reaped by Mexican drug lords are derived from the exportation and sale of cannabis to the American market (Armentano2). It is ridiculous to think that the United States can put out a statistic like this and ignore the fact that if they legalized the drug there would be less violence because there would be no point for Mexican drug cartels to try and smuggle the drug into the U.S. In the article “Blame Prohibition, Not Pot Smokers for Violence in Mexico”, published by AlterNet.org, Tony Newman tells us how the people who run the “Just Say No” campaign against drugs have a new scheme in which they plan to blame people who smoke pot for the violence in Mexico. They are hoping to stop younger people from smoking marijuana if they associate it with the murder of people by the drug cartels in Mexico. There are a few problems with these campaigns: They are inaccurate in some cases, and downright dishonest in others.Office of National Drug Control Policy It is disingenuous to connect the average American's marijuana consumption to the horrific violence of Mexico's drug war. The average pot smoker's growing and purchasing of marijuana has no relationship to the violence along the border that is the result of large-scale drug trafficking. It isn’t hard to understand that the legalization of marijuana...
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...Position Paper Khadijah Shabazz CNSL 5203 Dr. Sampson Prairie View A&M University 9/20/2015 The legalization of drugs is one of the most controversial and debated topics of the 21st century. There are both negative and positive reasons to legalize them as well as negative and positive reasons to keep them prohibited. According to LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, drug prohibition is the true cause of much of the social and personal damage that has historically been attributed to drug use. It is prohibition that makes these drugs so valuable – while giving criminals a monopoly over their supply ("Why Legalize Drugs? | LEAP").LEAP goes on to say that criminal gangs are driven by the huge profits from this monopoly, criminal gangs bribe and kill each other, law enforcers, and children and as such their trade is unregulated and they are, therefore, beyond our control ("Why Legalize Drugs? | LEAP"). It is LEAP’s belief that by eliminating prohibition of all drugs for adults and establishing appropriate regulation and standards for distribution and use, law enforcement could focus more on crimes of violence, such as rape, aggravated assault, child abuse and murder, making our communities much safer ("Why Legalize Drugs? | LEAP"). Another positive aspect of the legalization of drugs is financial gains. According to the International Business Times in a study for the Cato Institute, Jeffrey A. Miron, senior lecturer on economics at Harvard University and a senior...
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... But there have always been varying ulterior motives. According to Baylor University Professor of Sociology, Dr. Diana Kendall, the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed solely to criminalize marijuana by taxing it; this would dissuade migrant Mexican workers who smoked marijuana to seek employment elsewhere and not take jobs from U.S. citizens as the country struggled during the Great Depression (Kendall, 2010). Last year, voters in Colorado and Washington State approved legislation that supported the commercial growth, sale, possession and use of recreational marijuana. In response, United States Department of Justice, Deputy Attorney General James Cole, promulgated policy that established the posture for enforcing marijuana laws against people or organizations to that: Distribution of marijuana to minors; revenue from the sale of marijuana from going to criminal enterprises, gangs and cartels; the diversion of marijuana from states where it is legal under state law in some...
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...Global Politics: The feasibility of universal drug liberalization as an emerging phenomenon RWaterhouse Globalization & The War on Drugs: Assessing alternatives to criminalization The purpose of this paper is to address universal drug liberalization as a feasible alternative to the current drug control regime specifically in North America and potentially applicable elsewhere. With an in depth analysis of the historical regulation, implementation of law, and resulting consequences we will be able to see how nations are effected by complex drug politics and why there has been a global paradigm shift in looking spiritedly at the ideal of decriminalization. I argue in favor of liberalization by bringing to attention the violence associated with the commodification of illegal drugs, what the re-directed costs of control could mean for domestic investment into proactive drug awareness education, and finally recognizing Portugal’s success and weaknesses in the adoption of a compete legalization agenda. Following will be a discussion of concluding thoughts centered on the efficacy and feasibility of universal liberalization in today’s globalized world. Historical Context Libertarianism has almost always had position in political discourse but has been majorly popularized through public attention within the era of globalization. (article) Control of drug consumption has always been a contemporary ingredient in the political reform of Canada and the America’s and...
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...The so-called “War on Drugs,” as declared by the Nixon administration in the signing of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, marked the beginning of the current era of mandatory minimum sentencing, racism, privatized prisons, and a powerful constituency that profits as a result of the prohibition of drugs. Psychoactive substances have been apart of the human experience as long as humans have walked the earth. There is little hope that drug production will ever be curtailed, so long as there is a demand; a demand that has remained steady even though it has been forty years since the beginning of said war. As Judge James P. Gray from the Superior Court of Orange County has so plainly put it: “Where did this policy come from? Unfortunately I have conducted an inquiry into this and I have determined that drug prohibition laws came for reasons of racism, empire building, and ignorance.”(Booth) The War on Drugs is politically motivated as a means of profiting. One may ask them self how government can financially benefit from such policies. In fact, they benefit in a myriad of ways. The government spends an exorbitant amount of money in an attempt to combat drug production and drug usage. The U.S. government has spent over a trillion—that’s right a trillion—dollars in its attempt to eradicate the drug problem. With so much time, effort and money there should be something to show, right? Wrong. Today drugs are more prevalent, more potent and cheaper than...
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...4. Outline the arguments for and against the policy of multiculturalism. What are the advantages and disadvantages of officially promoting multiculturalism? 4. Outline the arguments for and against the policy of multiculturalism. What are the advantages and disadvantages of officially promoting multiculturalism? Background Multiculturalism in Canada is the ideology that all people have equal opportunities and rights regardless of their races, religions and, cultural backgrounds. The Canadian government during the 1970s and 1980s adopted the official policy of multiculturalism in Canada. It originated from the 1960s Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. In 1971, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau declared that the country would adopt multicultural policy. In 1982, multiculturalism was recognized by section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Canadian Multiculturalism Act was then passed by Prime Minister Brain Mulroney in 1988. The Act has two fundamental principles: all citizens have equal rights and it promotes all communities of different origins. (Kobayashi, 1983) Benefits of Multiculturalism policy in Canada Economic Benefits Multiculturalism helps integrate visible minorities into the labour market. Canada has experienced more participation of members of minority groups in different business sectors, such as transportation, communications, and banking. The increased participation is the result of the government's effort...
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...across many multicultural nations because if members do pursue their own ideal way of life they would be “forced to try to execute their chosen life-styles in an alien culture” (Kymlicka 188) These minority cultures are thusly envious of the majority culture as they “get for free what aboriginal people have to pay for: secure cultural membership.” (Kymlicka 190) A primary characteristic of a culture is the language. Language has been identified as “the symbolic representation of a people, since it comprises their historical and cultural backgrounds, as well as their approach to life and their ways of living and thinking.” (Brown cited by Jiang) The importance of language therefore suggests the significance of preserving the cultural language to better protect the minority cultures.; Hhowever the insignificant number of users for the minority language oftentimes leads the majority culture to overlook the language, thereby undermining the culture’s security. In Given Rawls’ theory on justice, unequal product contingencies or morally arbitrary conditions, including minority cultures, are not justified. Explain why minority culture is morally arbitrary. He also “claims that we should have the social conditions needed to intelligently decide for ourselves what is valuable in life.” (Kymlicka 164) These decisions however are made from examining “definite ideals and forms of life that have been developed and tested...
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...r{,r,, ^'r\. J. L !--.,,r'*- A 4l^ 4^ *- rwc,\ l*"d , Cr^V*Voa^{Y /Aotql [ss^'/> ?**, o^ft*^Na JJ rrr! alt i , 3 cz €);o\t -', , l)*s*xY YUrrur(J Susan Moller Okin "ls Multiculturalism Bad for Women?" Ethics in Society and Profe.ssor o,f.Politiin Western Political Thought andJustice, cal Science atStanford rJniversity, isthe authorofwomen Cender, and the FamilY. Susan Moller Okin, the Marta Sutton Weeks Professor of arise between acceptance of diversity In this article, Okin explores some of the tensions that the rights and well-being of women' (a key telnA of multicultural'ism) and concern for ' As You Recd, Consiiler This: ,'Eeminism" .and "multicultur rtlism" 1. fine each of these terms? aTe two key terms in okin's arlrcle' How does she de- originallypublisheditlheBostonReview,october/November199?'ReprintedinsusanMollerOkin'IsMulticulc' Nussbaum (Princeton: PrinceMatthew Howard' and Martha turalism Bad for women? edited by Joshua cohen, Press, 1999). ton UniversitY Chapter 7 . Gender 287 2. Why, according to Kymticka, do certain minority groups deserve special group rights? 3. \Mhat is the liberal response to Okin's crlttque?'Nhatrejoinder does Olcrn offer to this response? Until the past few decades, minority groups-immigrants as well as indigenous peoples-were typically expected to assimilate into majority cultures. This assimilationist expectation is now often ...
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...Belinda Hill Cover design: Milne Printers Ltd Printed by Milne Printers Ltd Contents List of Tables iv List of Figures iv List of Boxes iv Foreword v Acknowledgments and Disclaimer ix Part One: Introduction and Context of Inquiry 1 Introduction 2 New Zealand Context 3 21 Part Two: Communitarian Responses to Liberalism Introduction to Part Two 61 3 Civic Republicanism: Michael Sandel 63 4 The Politics of Recognition: Charles Taylor 83 Part Three: Multiculturalism Introduction to Part Three 105 5 Multicultural Citizenship: Will Kymlicka 107 6 Common Citizenship in a Multicultural Society: Bhikhu Parekh 151 Part Four: Critical Responses to Multiculturalism Introduction to Part Four 187 7 A Politics of Difference: Iris Marion Young 189 8 Against White Paranoid Nationalism: Ghassan Hage 223 9 Egalitarian Liberalism: Brian Barry 243 Part Five: Concluding Reflections 10 Diversity, Democracy, Justice 271 Afterword 306 References 307 Index of Names 335 iii Tables 1 Levy’s typology...
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...lPolitical Theory http://ptx.sagepub.com Two Concepts of Liberal Pluralism George Crowder Political Theory 2007; 35; 121 DOI: 10.1177/0090591706297642 The online version of this article can be found at: http://ptx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/35/2/121 Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com Additional services and information for Political Theory can be found at: Email Alerts: http://ptx.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://ptx.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Downloaded from http://ptx.sagepub.com at Ebsco Electronic Journals Service (EJS) on September 6, 2008 Two Concepts of Liberal Pluralism George Crowder Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia Political Theory Volume 35 Number 2 April 2007 121-146 © 2007 Sage Publications 10.1177/0090591706297642 http://ptx.sagepub.com hosted at http://online.sagepub.com Is the liberal state entitled to intervene in the internal affairs of its nonliberal minorities to promote individual autonomy as a public ideal, or should it tolerate the nonliberal practices of such groups in the name of legitimate diversity? This problem can be fruitfully approached from the perspective of Isaiah Berlin’s notion of “value pluralism.” According to William Galston, value pluralism privileges a form of liberalism that is maximally accommodating of nonliberal groups and their practices. I agree that pluralism...
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...To what extent are there tensions between multiculturalism and liberalism? It initially appears that multiculturalism and liberalism are highly similar ideologies, championing the rights of minorities. Multiculturalism itself was inspired by liberalism due to such ideas. In addition to this, similarities exist in the multiculturalist and liberal support of principles such as equality, justice and pluralism. However, tensions between the ideologies exist, including the tension between the classical liberal promotion of the rights of the individual and the multiculturalist rights of a culture or ethnic group and the argument over essentialism and the nature of multiculturalism. Despite both multiculturalism and liberalism promoting the rights of minority groups and pluralist societies, tensions lie over the focus of this promotion. Classical liberals such as John Stuart Mill stress the importance of the individual, promoting the rights of the rights and sovereignty of all individuals, and therefore of ethnic minorities; “over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign”. On the other hand, multiculturalists promote the rights of cultures and ethnic groups, assuming that minorities adopt the will of their cultural community over individual self-centredness. Liberals argue that this threatens genuine liberty as cultures can continue to oppress individuals, evidenced in the issues such as forced marriages and the wearing of the burka. As Tariq Modood argues...
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...Is multiculturalism compatible with individual rights? Multiculturalism can be defined as a form of identity politics which aims to link personal and social life, seeing individuals as embedded in a particular cultural, social institution or ideological context, advocating equality, rights and cohesion between all different cultural groups. Therefore it is rooted in communitarianism, the idea that we are shaped and defined by the community we live in, and advocates minority group rights. Individual rights are a liberal idea which advances the interests of every individual person, rather than the rights of a group of people. Liberals hold a central belief in the rights of the individual, stemming from the belief that we are all rational, autonomous beings capable of making our own decisions in our own best interests, protecting our own individual freedom. Multiculturalism on the other hand does not specifically extend the rights of the individual, instead, advancing the rights of minority groups as a whole, embedded in the idea of group and social identity. Therefore, Liberals have accused multiculturalists of being ‘just another form of collectivism’ not respecting the rights of individuals. For example, Amartya Sen attacked ‘solitaristic’ theory which underpins multiculturalism. This suggests human identities are formed by membership of a single social group, which can lead to miniaturisation of humanity and increases violence as people identify with only their own monoculture...
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...One example is Will Kymlicka (1989, 1995) who bases his claims on strict liberal ideals. His argument is twofold: he emphasizes the need of group rights for the development of self-identities, but he also sets limitations on the granting of group rights that does not fit into certain criteria. The reason that a rich and protected cultural structure is essential for the development of a person is that they act as the background in which the members are able to build self-respect and the capacity to make independent choices. Language and history are tools for individuals to build a strong identity and the context in which the can build the capacity to make choices about future aspirations. However, critics like Okin counter-argues that instead of focusing on the importance of the role of cultures in the development of self-esteem and social roles, we need to pay attention to where one is placed within than culture and whether the instilled social roles are enforced by that culture. If, for instance, patriarchy is rooted in the culture, girls' development of self-esteem and their understanding of social roles are endangered. For this reason, Kymlicka emphasizes in Liberalism, Community, and Culture that his main purpose is the liberalization of all cultural group, which means that only those cultural groups that accept liberal...
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...have not been registered candidate or enrolled student for another award of the University or other academic or professional institution Material submitted for another award I declare that no material contained in the thesis has been used in any other submission for an academic award and is solely my own work Signature of Candidate Type of Award School ___PhD_________________________________ ___Centre for Professional Ethics___________ 1 Abstract It was long assumed that both multiculturalism and feminism are connected to progressive movements and hence have comparable and compatible goals. However, both in academia and in popular media the critique on multiculturalism has grown and is often accompanied with arguments related to gender equality and/or feminism. According to political scientist Susan Moller Okin for example there are fundamental conflicts between our commitment to gender equality and the desire to respect the customs of minority cultures or religions. If we agree that women should not be disadvantaged because of their sex, she argues, we should not accept group rights that permit oppressive practices. Okin’s claims led to a complex and highly important debate both in academia and in public debates. The main aim of this thesis is to explore in depth the different discourses about multiculturalism and feminism and develop a more inclusive and nuanced...
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...Nevertheless, to the extent that policies and laws are seen as fair or unfair, we are always talking about their moral evaluation that agrees whether people live in a society with such laws and conducting this political line, or they reject it as inhumane, inhuman, degrading or specific groups of people, etc. In 1960-ies, the attention of philosophers began to attract more and more social and political problems. Youth riots, race riots, the Vietnam War, the rise of the socialist system created skepticism against the welfare state. The ideology of political and economic liberalism is constantly criticized by both right and left. Liberal philosophy endured perhaps the worst crisis since the beginning of the century. So, since 1971 was a book that defended brooks collapse of the ideology and later became a classic of neo-liberal thought in the center of lively discussions. It was the "Theory of Justice", written by the president of the American Association of Political and social philosophers, John Rawls. By its nature, the theory...
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