In today's news limelight, one would normally see headlines related to the Middle East, Immigration, the Republican nominees, and various Pop culture scandals. While all are obviously strong points for further inspection, no one truly hears about the close-to-home issues we have to our Southern boarder. Why has no one given more attention to the drug wars in Mexico when such a threat looms so close? Perhaps due to more immediate concerns, this has been pushed out of the view of our society for some time. Sometime soon, this issue will rear its head into national policy and will raise major questions. How will we handle death caused over money and drugs? How can we deal with the drugs that come into the United States from these cartels? Why haven't we stepped in to stop the corruption and control so openly flashed about?
Prompt 7:
ReplyDeleteAfter reading through several comments on the first two pages, I believe this youtube video has effected its viewers. But the reaction is not one that I believe the uploader of the video expected. Most comments revolve around Americans wishing for something to be done about the violence and the cartels, but not with physical enforcement in the form of our troops; "I just hope if our [United States] government gets involved they send down "law enforcement" and NOT our troops!!!." I assume the point of this video was to show the horrible events happening right next door in Mexico and gain a response from the American military. But, the video does prove a point. Few people know about the corruption in Mexico because they're too busy with the problems in America. The saying "ignorance is bliss" applies to everyone who has seen any news clip and then thought nothing more about it because it does not directly affect them.
In response to this post:
Dealing with death caused by money and greed has been done since our government was created. Every time you hear of someone being murdered, it almost always stems from money, greed or drugs. I think the bigger problem would be how the United States would handle drug cartels if they rose to power like they have in Mexico. I don't know the best way to combat such corruption when it is occurring internally in our government, police force and military.
Another aspect to this entire issue is the effect that these drug cartels/illegal immigrants have on the labor market in our country. Putting drugs aside for a second, we must realize that the credibility of who is receiving minimum wage is questioned now because of the aliens who are coming into our country and getting hired left and right into low-quality jobs like working in meat-packing industrial plants and other such jobs. Why does it seem so easy to absorb these aliens into our labor markets? Is it because they are cheap labor? It's not like we have an unemployment issue or anything in our country, and couldn't find jobs for OUR citizens.
DeleteThe second point to this issue is that geographically, our border with Mexico is so wide and broad that it is hard to concentrate on a single area and divert our forces to that spot. Yes, there are hotspots along the border, but isn't possible (and very likely), that these cartels are avoiding our areas of focus, seeing that there are border patrol agents swarming strips of our border. It will be interesting to see how widespread our enforcement becomes as these cartels grow, especially with violence involved.
I'm pretty baffled to know that people go to such an extent for drugs and money. We've all seen it happen in movies and T.V. shows, but who really knew that it happened in the real world? The worst part is that the viewers of the video seem to side with the fact that drugs should be legalized. Is that really going to help stop the mass chaos in the world or just make it worse? Even if they legalize drugs in America, there are other things that are still illegal and could result in acts of violence just like the one in this video. By broadcasting it to the world, are we really making a difference, or are we just trying to scare the viewers? "You see traffickers shooting into the home; who it is, we're not really sure but does it really matter?" It seemed as if the reported didn't even care much to the fact that people were getting killed over drugs but he was really getting a hit out of the footage. It's good for the people of America to see what's going on around the world, but how many of us are actually saying, "Let's put a stop to this right now!"? I'm sure that instead of legalizing drugs, there are other ways to help stop these crimes once and for all.
ReplyDeleteIn reply to the comment of legalizing drugs, if drugs were to be legalized in America it would do nothing but make things worse. On one hand it would be beneficial because the government could then put a tax on the substance and have it more controlled. But other than that it would just lead to worse things. Part of the attraction of drugs is the idea that it is forbidden. By legalizing some drugs people would look for other ways to make money illegally. Therefore people would be getting into worse trouble and causing greater harm than the current "drug wars" are already at fault for.
DeleteNot too long ago, America had a similar type of organized crime that ran rampant, bootleggers. Much like cartels, they had control of their governments because they had the ability to pay off the police. Unfortunately, the cartels in Mexicio essentially have the ability to do whatever they would please because of their controlling power. However, if there was not a demand for the substances, would acts of violence like this occur? Would it be a better strategy for the United States to educate people about the drugs through programs, like D.A.R.E., and show them videos of the violence associated, then to try and remedy the situation by sending a group to try and clean up the affected by the violence?
ReplyDeleteThe United States has tried methods of prevention of drugs for years, including programs like D.A.R.E. While these programs might help some, never could they cut down the demand for drugs enough to discourage drug cartels and bootleggers. Like most thing in life, the drug business is fueled by money. As long as there is a dollar to be made, there will be people doing whatever they can to sell drugs and other illegal substances.
DeleteNow i watch the news, and the only thing that really seems to come on is just local stuff. there really isnt any more reporting on any thing in foreign lands, it kind of just makes people relax and feel safe at home in my opinion, out of sight out of mind.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the ideas and comments given by everyone on the topic that I uploaded. In response I have a couple of things to say for a couple posts. Keep in mind that since the facts/ideas are subject to reader interpretation, my ideas may not be the totality of what someone wanted to convey.
ReplyDeleteTo Kelly Straniero, After reading what you said, I feel that I may have been too narrow in my statement related to "death over money and drugs" in the regard that I didn't specifically point out suffering/death caused by the cartels. . Also, I agree with the sentiment that the U.S. shouldn't send troops, as of yet, to deal with the drug cartels. More aid for the law enforcement of the area should be implemented in order to help Mexico fight its own battle of drugs. However, since Mexico's drug war is constantly spilling over our boarders into various boarder cities, I feel a more dominant military presence on our side of the boarder would only tighten security. Mexico has had a "Zero Tolerance" policy for hard drugs for some time now, and I think that us saying the same thing would only help to tighten the noose around the cartels. Sadly, this would probably also fuel the violent acts of the cartel. I completely agree on that there are no easy solutions to this problem.
To Sean Hensler and delay.15, The sad part is is that today's global drug trade runs off of supply and demand. As long as demand for a product is existent, someone will always be there to supply it. Perhaps the best avenue of approach would be to inform people on the totality of drugs and hope that an educated populace can make the healthiest decisions possible.
To anyone, Why would the United States media focus on Pop Culture more than it would focus on the plights of people around the world? Just a question that popped into my head as I was reading posts.