Blog Stage Eight

On December 8th, 2010 my fellow classmate wrote the editorial entitled "What to do about these pesky drug cartels..." which dealt with the topic of how to handle the increasing violence in Mexico and other nations of Latin America due to the drug cartels and drug trade.

In many editorial pieces, the writer is trying to achieve an end goal within their article. This goal may be to better inform the reader, to reinforce a decision the reader has already made or to persuade the reader to change their position on any given topic. No matter what scenario the author is pursuing, the end result is that things are usually black and white in the article and clear right and wrong. These articles are reminiscent of the view Hollywood has taken on life where all life's problems can be addressed within a half hour sitcom and everything ends with a feel good wrapped up ending. Everything has and does have closure.

The article written by Dan bucks against this trend and better mirrors the reality of life and its choices. When dealing with the topic of what to do with the drug cartels, he points out several choices that the government can make or already has tried leading to results not as successful as projected or defined as failures. The end result is an article that ends without a Hollywood wrap up but leaves the reader with the question of "What is the right solution, if there is one, in handling the drug cartel and the violence associated with it?" It is a great article because it causes the reader to use critical skills and cognitive thinking to define the problem and come up with a proper solution of their own. The article can and does create discussion with others which creates better informed individuals as they debate the pros and cons of each choice that has been made or can be made.

I agree wholeheartedly with all of Dans assessments on the choices that the government may make in the future or already have in the past. We have already sent troops to other countries to the south to better deal with supply issues through the use of seizure techniques and training locals only to be greeted with limited success and failures. Even then, if we are not even able to police the production of marijuana or other narcotics in our own nation, how are we expecting to achieve total victory in other foreign nations? How are we to proceed without stepping on the sovereignty of other nations in a bid to fix a problem that we have helped to create and fuel in our own nation?

We can decriminalize marijuana and make it legal but there are many other drugs out there such as cocaine that add a power base to drug cartels. Even then, drugs are not just fueling the drug cartels as they dabble in other areas including human trafficking for prostitution or smuggling of immigrants and racketeering amongst many other illegal activities.

In my childhood a character appeared on a television show called "The Simpsons." One of his famous lines quoted were "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" which summarizes the view Dan has expressed in his article in a round about manner. No matter what choice our government may make in handling the rise of drug cartels and their violence, no choice is exactly a solution yet to not do anything is an even worse solution.

In the end, what can we truly do about this problem if anything at all?