The Other Wars

It’s been said that war is hell and who could argue with that? The “war” refers to military campaigns. It is bloody and many lives are lost in an attempt to achieve specific objectives. There are, however, other kinds of war that have been waged within this country over the past forty years, or so. These are social wars and most notable among them are the war on poverty, the war on drugs, and the war on terrorism. Let’s take a few minutes and see how those campaigns have gone.

In January of 1964, President Lyndon Johnson declared a war on poverty. This declaration ushered in programs such as Head Start, Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps. These programs exist to this day yet, while the rates of poverty declined initially, they have remained steady since the 1970’s. What happened? Why did things start out so good and then level off? We can start with the bureaucratic beasts of fraud, waste, and abuse. For every multi-layered organization, within the government or outside of it, these creatures will lurk. Money meant for good purposes ends up in the wrong pocket to the disadvantage of those intended. Political will slackened over the years and big government foes whittled budgets and limited resources whenever the opportunity presented itself. This more than likely culminated in Ronald Reagan’s 1988 State of the Union Speech when, in referring to the War on Poverty, he said, “Poverty won.”

In 1971, President Nixon declared a war on drugs. This war has raged ever since and our current drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, recently conceded that it has not been successful. Over a trillion dollars has gone into the fight, thousands of lives have been lost, and, according to Mr. Kerlikowske, the problem is “if anything, magnified, intensified.” Once again: what happened? Not so much a bureaucratic mess and lack of political consistency, but perhaps the wrong strategy. Much like prohibition showed, a government cannot legislate the desire for a substance and, if the desire exists, one will find a way to fulfill it. (President Reagan’s “Just say no” campaign was naive, at the very best.) Incarceration has only resulted in a prison system bulging at the seams and crimes associated with drug use continue seemingly unabated.

The war on terror is our latest social declaration and it was instituted by George W. Bush. While we do not have decades of experience on this front, I think that we can say that bureaucratic malfeasance and political inconsistencies are sure to arise and the idea that repeated bombing, strafing, and the like will change the hearts and minds of would-be terrorists is misguided. Yet another war to ultimately fall short of its objective.

So do we give in to poverty, drug use, and evil-doers? Of course not. But a change in strategy seems long overdue. How about admitting that there will always be a hard core, unemployed, welfare-supported segment of our society and concentrating on those on the cusp of success? How about legalizing and then controlling drugs? (California has such an initiative slated for November.) And how about admitting that being #1 inspires many to resent us. Terrorism will never be defeated. It may be minimized or localized, but a shock and awe approach seems only to exacerbate the problem.

In the meantime, keep in mind that these “wars” were thought up in the marketing department. They make great campaign slogans and stir up the emotions, but generally fall short on substance. Much is spent, lives are lost (in one way or another), yet a failed strategy survives. The outcome of any war ultimately relies on the those in the trenches (you and me) rather than the generals and an indifferent of society is as much to blame as anyone or anything else.