Recall the scene in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” when the Joker threatens to kill innocent people each day until Batman reveals his true identity.
This makes for an entertaining storyline, but has this ever happened in real life? A variation of this scenario is being played out in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Banners hang throughout the city warning that a police officer will be killed every day until Julian Leyzaola, the city’s new police chief, resigns. This message of fear is fabricated by the drug cartels that have been playing a tug-of-war for power with the government for decades.
Analyzing this problem by focusing on the big picture shows that gangs, cartels, the mafia and most forms of organized crime draw their power and thrive because of their reliance on a key term: illegal.
How would you like to get into a multi-million dollar business that gives you a tax-exempt status and one in which the government takes out your competition? Al Capone ruled Chicago starting in the 1920s because prohibition introduced the opportunity for a government-created monopoly. The operations of underground crime obtain as much power and resources due to illegal competition. This means the guy with the most guns and money is usually the winner. This complete world of violence is created by the enforcement of laws put in place by people who want to force you to make “good” or “moral” choices.
After billions of dollars wasted and millions killed and incarcerated for victimless crimes, it should be clear that the war on drugs has been a complete failure. Actions and crimes that have adverse effects on others, such as murder, rape and theft, should obviously remain illegal. But what about the actions only affect the individual committing them?
What if we chose to stop eating healthy and decided to eat 15 pizzas a day? It is clear that this would be harmful to our health, but should anyone have the authority to force us to stop? And would it make it any better for us to promote a law that forced you to stop? The answer, based on personal responsibility and freedom, is no. Unfortunately, many people want to utilize force to stop us from making decisions that should be within our scope of rights as free adults.
A government that is not interested in protecting freedom but rather works toward planning our choices and behavior is detrimental to prosperity. Such a government would be composed of people who make laws telling the population how to behave and what to choose. I hope most people will see how these actions violate human rights and lower standards of living.
As for the cartel, the answer is found in simple economics: open markets. The demand is uncontrollably and abundantly existent. Both the Mexican and American governments have failed to stop or even control the supply, distribution or use of the cartels product. These governments successfully provided an environment for gangs and cartels to succeed. We need to mature as a society to the point where the freedom of choice and personal responsibility is valued and respected, only then can we defeat organized crime.
Reach the columnist at calfaro2@asu.edu
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