Hardin, Montana, the rest of the story...

Not so fast America! There is more to this story that we all need to pay attention to. No, I am not talking about conspiracy theories or some sinister plot from president Obama. Two major problems lie underneath the surface of this story which constitute an alarm toward the destruction of our nation.

One of the positions Dr. Paul has taken that distinguishes him from his political colleagues has been the legalization of marijuana. This stance has been difficult for many in the "conservative" camp to support. However, Dr. Paul does not take this position in order to garner votes or to "pander" to some political group. He maintains this position for the same reasons he supports everything else he is reliably consistent on; personal liberty and economic prosperity.

Although, on the surface, the offer to contract the facility at Hardin appears to have been a con-job by a clever sociopath, in many ways this brave little town exemplifies the struggle of our nation. The area in which I live, Southern West Virginia, has seen several new prison facilities spring up in the past couple of years. In fact, this is happening throughout America. It is a way to create jobs and bring in revenue to an area in need of economic recovery. However, one must look at the bigger picture to see the destruction behind this trend.

For a disturbing look on the "war on drugs" visit DrugSense.org. Here you will find a clock that measures the amount of money spent in this "war" every second. It is quite disturbing, especially given our current economic conditions. Suite101 reports that;

Over 80% of the increase in the federal prison population was due to drug convictions between 1985 and 1995. In addition, a 2006 report claimed that 17% of State prisoners and 18% of Federal prisoners committed their crimes in order to obtain drug money... The average sentence for drug offenses was 75.6 months, while the average sentence for violent offenses was 63.0 months. Someone is arrested for violating a drug law every  17 seconds. Someone is arrested for violating a cannabis law every 38 seconds.

The correctional institutions and programs that house and "treat" inmates do not produce revenue anywhere near the expense required to incarcerate them. Again, Suite101 reports that of the $19 billion spent on the war on drugs "this equates to $600 per second. Of this money, 61% went to criminal justice, and 30% went for treatment and prevention programs". However, government sponsored "treatment programs" are no answer.

With a master's degree in Counseling and over 15 years experience, I can personally attest to the fact that correctional "treatment" programs have an extremely low success rate despite any statistics to the contrary. The reason is simple, recovery must be internally motivated and the recovering addict must learn to maintain a positive outlook in order to succeed. Corrections, by its nature, generally facilitates neither of those two conditions. Yet, we continue to do the same thing expecting different results by feeding the "big government" correctional system.  The public is manipulated by humanitarian concern and misinformation. While it is true that those in the throes of addiction need treatment, the government, and especially corrections, is not able to provide effective treatment by its very nature.

The "iceberg" underneath the detention facility in Hardin, Montana is this: the U.S government has become a beast which is sucking the very life out of the nation it is sworn to protect. Government feeds off of war, just as it feeds off of social programs. Those who work in the system know that it is designed to perpetuate failure. I am not alleging that this is a conscious effort. It is the very nature of government. The government takes money in the form of taxation. It then "gives" money in the form of contracts and programs. Agencies that receive this money are not motivated by a sense of competition or performance but by another aspect of human nature, greed. As an attempt to "account" for the funds given to agencies, the government creates enormous amounts of paperwork, so that even the honest, most well meaning agency is taxed in time and resources simply trying to account for itself. As a result, fraud is rampant as well as injustice. The overburdened system simply cannot keep up with the demand and shortcuts, oversights and neglect become commonplace. Moreover, one would be a complete fool to believe that there are not individuals and corporations who create entities just to take government money, as with the case demonstrated by "Captain" Michael of APF.

This should be enough to make the most humanitarian Democrat as well as the most conservative Republican outraged! It is a total and complete travesty and a blight upon our nation. It is time for us to trim down, change our habits and get in shape and the place to start is with the government! Wake up America!

Oh, we haven't even discussed "Liberty Belle"'s contribution, the second major problem. We will have to save that for the next article.

For More Info:  Suite101; Drug Clock; CASA report; Harvard Economics Report