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POPSZero Tolerance Policies: Are the Schools Becoming Police States? We have moved into a new paradigm in America where young people are increasingly viewed as suspects and treated as criminals by school officials and law enforcement alike. A 12-year-old was handcuffed and jailed after he stomped in a puddle, splashing classmates. After students at a Texas school were assigned to write a “scary” Halloween story, one 13-year-old chose to write about shooting up a school. Although he received a passing grade on the story, school officials reported him to the police, resulting in his spending six days in jail before it was determined that no crime had been committed. A 12-year-old New York student was hauled out of school in handcuffs for doodling on her desk with an erasable marker.
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POPSGrowing Marijuana was Once the Law (1619). So Why is Marijuana Illegal Now?
America's first marijuana law was enacted at Jamestown Colony, Virginia. This law ordered farmers to grow Indian hemp seed. There were several other “must grow” laws over the next 200 years (you could be jailed for not growing hemp during times of shortage in Virginia between 1763 and 1767), and during most of that time, hemp was legal tender (you could even pay your taxes with hemp — try that today!) The United States Census of 1850 counted 8,327 hemp “plantations” (minimum 2,000-acre farm) growing cannabis hemp for cloth, canvas and even the cordage used for baling cotton. In the early 1900s, the western states developed significant tensions regarding the influx of Mexican-Americans. Later in that decade, bad feelings developed between the small farmer and the large farms that used cheaper Mexican labor. One of the “differences” seized upon during this time was the fact that many Mexicans smoked marijuana... I can recommend reading the full story
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POPSCRIMINALIZATION OF AMERICA Just look at places like North Korea. Even though the rest of the world is sending them huge amounts of food starvation is still quite common in that totalitarian regime. That is why it is so disturbing that it seems like almost everything has become a crime in America now. As we continue to criminalize relatively normal behavior our slide toward becoming a totalitarian state. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, as of the end of 2009 a total of 7,225,800 people were either on probation, in prison or on parole in America. That is a sign of a very, very sick society. Either we have a massive crime problem or the "control grid" that our leaders have erected for us is wildly out of control. Or both.
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POPSThings you need to know to live on the streets Picture the Homeless, a social justice organization founded and led by homeless people in New York City, has joined The Nation to come up with a list of things you need to know to live on the street--and ways we can all build movements to challenge the stigma of homelessness and put forward an alternative vision of community. Don't go it alone! Always be part of an informal network of trust and mutual aid. Start your own organization, with homeless people themselves shaping the fight for a better life and world.
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