I give up. You display such an intense ignorance of black market
basics, I guess I have to explain what should be obvious. Many
drug-related "homicides" are no more than drug dealers protecting
their property from theft. But since the whole industry is
illegal, there is no legal defense and every killing is regarded
as a homicide. You have no idea how much drug violence is real
crime and how much is just self-defense. The analogy is
appropriate - you just ignored the illegal-business part.


------------------------


You ask, "If you shot a man robbing your business, would you be
"evil" and committing "murder for profit"?"

No, but I don't see that as an appropriate analogy. I would be
protecting my property, not shooting the thief for profit. The
drug dealer scenario is more like me shooting my business
competitor so his customers buy from me.

---------------------------


You are avoiding the issue of whether drug-prohibition causes the
crime. What about my analogy? If you shot a man robbing your
store in the context I described, would you be a "low-life scum"
who "harms people"?

------------------------

Thanks for reminding me that drug dealers who steal or harm
people are "low-life scum."

I have limited my criticism to those people in the drug trade who
commit other crimes for profit beyond just selling drugs. I have
no complaints against any low-level drug dealer who does not lie,
cheat, steal, or cause physical harm to others.

For example, drug prohibition is not an excuse for random
drive-by shootings intended to stifle competition.

From: ma ni
Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2008 11:29 PM
To: Libertarian@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Libertarian] George Carlin: "We Like War"

Bob,

Your bigoted rhetoric reflects the latest government-sanctioned
prejudice: against drug-dealers. At what point might we hear you
call them "low-life scum"?

Your ignorance of black-market realities is extensive. Casting
the average drug dealer as "evil", and your average drug-related
killing as "murder for profit", reeks of prejudice. Please
educate yourself better about black-market dynamics. If you don't
understand them, you will not be able to understand why drug
prohibition directly causes crime. If you shot a man robbing your
business, would you be "evil" and committing "murder for profit"?
Of course not. But if your store was an illegal enterprise,
official headlines might cast you as such.

------------------------------

To me, the issue of good and evil is HIGHLY relevant. While I'm
not religious, there are some things (like liberty) that are
inherently "good," and other things (like Islamism) that are
quite "evil."

There's a similar relationship of good and evil that can be
applied to the drug prohibition debate, with some drug gang
members being "evil" enough to murder people for profit.