The marijuana situation is a great example of precisely why that assertion is wrong. Public opinion shifts, and within a couple of years, places all over the country are decriminalizing. You think the corporations have let up in the last couple of years? What's the more rational explanation of the data?
And how long did it take? And how many staes is it legal in? Surely, at some point politicians have to bend in and go with the voters, but it takes such a long time and so many people suffer in the process, that you start asking yourself, is this democracy thing worth all the people to rot in jail for victimless crimes?
Read the Pew poll I linked. The attitude among the population as a whole only crossed over last year, and already its being legalized in several places. Moreover, remember, voters aren't the same demographic as the whole population. They skew older and more conservative. So its quite likely that even though 51% or something of people support legalization, the majority of voters in most places don't. My mom, my wife, and I all are registered in VA. My wife and I support legalization. My mom thinks pot will destroy your life. We don't vote. She always votes.
Tell this to people in jail. Anyone can change rather fast. You don't need government or political authority to change. The only thing a society has to change together is to realize that (quote from Leo Tolstoy): "without Authority there could not be worse violence than that of Authority under existing conditions... it [anarchy] will be instituted only by there being more and more people who do not require the protection of governmental power and by there being more and more people who will be ashamed of applying this power."
Comments
The marijuana situation is a great example of precisely why that assertion is wrong. Public opinion shifts, and within a couple of years, places all over the country are decriminalizing. You think the corporations have let up in the last couple of years? What's the more rational explanation of the data?
And how long did it take? And how many staes is it legal in? Surely, at some point politicians have to bend in and go with the voters, but it takes such a long time and so many people suffer in the process, that you start asking yourself, is this democracy thing worth all the people to rot in jail for victimless crimes?
Read the Pew poll I linked. The attitude among the population as a whole only crossed over last year, and already its being legalized in several places. Moreover, remember, voters aren't the same demographic as the whole population. They skew older and more conservative. So its quite likely that even though 51% or something of people support legalization, the majority of voters in most places don't. My mom, my wife, and I all are registered in VA. My wife and I support legalization. My mom thinks pot will destroy your life. We don't vote. She always votes.
The US has a population of 318 million. We would expect change to be slow.
Tell this to people in jail. Anyone can change rather fast. You don't need government or political authority to change. The only thing a society has to change together is to realize that (quote from Leo Tolstoy): "without Authority there could not be worse violence than that of Authority under existing conditions... it [anarchy] will be instituted only by there being more and more people who do not require the protection of governmental power and by there being more and more people who will be ashamed of applying this power."