“War on Whatever”

J. Mastracchio
(10/23/07)

The “War on _____,” you can fill in the blank with “whatever” you want; it is a
politically charged phrase that serves as a means to an end. War on Terror, War on
Drugs, War on Poverty, War on Drunk Driving, War on Gangs, War on “whatever” word
or idea you can think of. One of the easiest ways to get backing on an agenda is to
declare “war” on something. War means “we” oppose whatever we are at war with, “we”
will fight our “enemy” until it is gone. The sad truth is, as far as policy goes, the war on
anything seems to have no end and serve no purpose other than to push a political
agenda.
War on Poverty was legislation introduced in 1964 by President Lyndon B.
Johnson. The program’s aim was to assist poverty stricken individuals and families. The
War on Poverty was Johnson’s response to a 19 percent poverty rate; it was essentially
another name for of social welfare. The program seemed to wane around the 1980’s as
other issues came into political focus. The remains of the War on Poverty can be seen in
federal programs like Head Start and the Job Corps. Today around 12 to 15 percent of
the American population is poor; it doesn’t appear as if we won that war. While the
figures are better than when the “war” began, it is doubtful that there will ever be an end
to a War on Poverty. There will always be poor, just as there will always be rich.
War on Alcohol is apparent if one looks at prohibition, the era of the Eighteenth
Amendment, between 1920 and 1933. During this time the sale, manufacture and
transportation of alcohol was banned. The government went to great lengths to try to
stop the flow of alcohol. If you know anything about prohibition, you know that it did
not work. Speakeasies sprung up all over the place, some say that more people drank
during prohibition than before it. Where did the all the booze come from; the gangsters
of the 1920’s. Many notorious gangsters, like Al Capone and Bugs Moran, made
millions of dollars through illegal alcohol sales. Numerous other crimes, including theft
and murder, can be linked to the criminal activities of bootleggers and gangsters. The
War on Alcohol led to a war against citizens and a war against gangsters. It seems as if
prohibition created more problems than it solved.
War on Drugs, the term was coined in 1971 by President Richard M. Nixon to
describe a new set of initiatives to enhance drug prohibition. The programs aim is to
crack down on users, crack down on dealers, and crack down on the international
suppliers. Drug convictions have mandatory sentences, often disproportionate to any
actual crime. Longer prison sentences for drug charges leads to more inmates with long
sentences in an already overcrowded prison system. Since “drugs” are illegal, users are
forced to find their fix through illegal means. This creates the same problem as in the
1920’s, today instead of gangsters we have gang members. Gangs operate in order to
make a profit; ask a cop and he/she will tell you that gangs traffic and sell drugs. Illegal
drug sale leads to gang violence as groups fight for the best selling territory. Policy
dictates that the best way to stop illegal drug us is to nip it in the bud, stop the
international suppliers.
Drug Cartels are the gangs of the world. Cartels reap huge profits from the sale of
illegal drugs in the United States. Cartels are just as bad, if not worse, as gangs when it
comes to drug related violence. The huge profits from illegal drug trade help fund
paramilitary or guerrilla groups in Latin American countries. These groups only create
more problems for countries that already have criminal and political problems. Huge
profits create a reason for poor citizens to break their own laws and supply the drug trade.
Poor farmers often stop growing fruits and vegetables in order to grow a “cash crop” that
they can sell for a greater profit. To ask them to stop growing is asking them to take a
pay cut over fifty percent. It seems as if the War on Drugs creates the economy for
illegal drugs we are trying to control.
War on Terror, a campaign initiated by in 2001 by President George W. Bush,
includes various military, political, and legal actions to "curb the spread of terrorism."
Terrorism is a real threat; it comes from both domestic and international sources. When
boiled down a War on Terror means a war on groups of people with beliefs different then
our own. During the Cold War major threats came from Communists, today it is
Muslims. A War on Terror is an international war, it says we will police the world
against those “we” deem “terrorists.” Any international war should have international
approval; groups should be deemed terrorist by an international community, not one
country. The current War on Terrorism is a war without end; people will always use
violence to force their ideas on others (the US included).
I suggest we declare start one more war, a war to end ideological wars, a War on
the “War on _____.” A War on “Whatever” is almost always motivated by those in
office; it gives the people something to stand behind without fully understanding the
issues or problems that may result. Declaring War on “Whatever” is a political tactic to
push a political agenda. Wars on “Whatever” are backed in good faith; they are a means
to an idealistic end. Ideological wars seek to solve societal problems that stem from the
fact different people live together and try to function in the same society; they do not and
can not have an end.