A series of unfortunate events
Apparently, the United States is considering implementing an informer system for illegal drug users, ostensibly to perpetuate the War on Drugs. Rather than being an effective way to keep people off drugs, it appears to be a policy that smacks of Stasi, Securitate, and Gestapo policy towards those who broke the law. I have issues with the current drug laws in the first place, but aside from that, this new programme is an intrusive violation of an individual’s privacy. Why, oh, why do people feel that intrusion is the best way to deal with narcotics?
Another thing that seems to be irritating me lately is incessant comparisons of Bush to Hitler. As much as I don’t like his domestic policy, I don’t think that he should be compared to Adolf Hitler. Bush has supported the Religious Right (who are bad, but aren’t exactly Einsatzgruppen or members of the Sturmabteilung), but I’ve never heard of his advocating rounding up Arabs or gays and shipping them off to concentration camps, or forcing everyone to salute him a certain way, or creating a personality cult about himself, or many of the other things Hitler did. Also, this comparison is insulting to those who have had family members or other people they knew who suffered the dehumanisation, agony, and undescribable despair in the concentration camps. Although Bush hasn’t done much for social acceptance of gays or other maligned groups, he hasn’t gone as far as Hitler with the public condemnation, dehumanisation, and ostracism. There is no proper comparison between the two men.
