Such naivete even at high levels
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Eastern Time Zone
Posts: 1,011
Such naivete even at high levels
Gosh. Tough weekend. Saw and read 2 things that hit me in the gut.
Saw on TV Vincente (sp?) Fox, the ex-president of Mexico, give a talk about why narcotics should be legalized. During this talk he gave the reasons that young people get involved in drugs to include: 1) No access to good education including college. 2) Parents who fail to do their job in various ways. Mr. Fox said that no young person chooses to do wrong if they are given the opportunity to do right.
This guy is at the upper levels of our political system, and some people are going to believe this crap.
The second thing that got me was reading Tim Russert's book on fatherhood featuring short stories by regular people. In one of those stories, a man tells the story where his father gave permission for him to go into the service at age 17. This son was starting to run the streets, drinking, carousing all night. Years later, the father says that he gave permission for this 17-year-old son to go into the service because he (the father) "could not have lived with himself if he had lost his son to the streets."
Gosh, is that why my son is an addict, because he did not go into the military at 17? How many of our beloved addicts went into the service only to become more entrenched in their addiction.
I gotta admit I spent the better part of Sunday listening to stories of recovering addicts to get over all that.
I'm venting. Thanks for reading.
Saw on TV Vincente (sp?) Fox, the ex-president of Mexico, give a talk about why narcotics should be legalized. During this talk he gave the reasons that young people get involved in drugs to include: 1) No access to good education including college. 2) Parents who fail to do their job in various ways. Mr. Fox said that no young person chooses to do wrong if they are given the opportunity to do right.
This guy is at the upper levels of our political system, and some people are going to believe this crap.
The second thing that got me was reading Tim Russert's book on fatherhood featuring short stories by regular people. In one of those stories, a man tells the story where his father gave permission for him to go into the service at age 17. This son was starting to run the streets, drinking, carousing all night. Years later, the father says that he gave permission for this 17-year-old son to go into the service because he (the father) "could not have lived with himself if he had lost his son to the streets."
Gosh, is that why my son is an addict, because he did not go into the military at 17? How many of our beloved addicts went into the service only to become more entrenched in their addiction.
I gotta admit I spent the better part of Sunday listening to stories of recovering addicts to get over all that.
I'm venting. Thanks for reading.
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: In a good place
Posts: 4,482
Ignorance is everywhere. I've heard very intelligent acquaintances bash addicts, while they're three sheets to the wind. I freely admit I've told a few alcohol is a drug and ask if they're abusing it. Some people probably hate me right now, but I don't care.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 115
It is so much easier for people to simplify the issue. People like black and white . . .shades of gray make the world a far more complicated place. No one wants to face that their child could be an addict despite all the best parenting in the world, so it is easier to think that someone did something "wrong". Feels safer than considering the uncertainty of life! It drives me crazy too, so thanks for venting 
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