Why the US shouldn’t build more foreign bases

LTC (Join to see) - The consensus on the Central and South America regarding the cause of mass immigration *to* the U.S. is a combination of economic crises, breakdowns of civil institutions, fear for one's safety, and desire to reunite with family members who have already settled in the U.S. I invite you to look at the below for some perspectives on the migration issue.

Have we (the U.S.) really addressed the root problems giving rise to the influx of illegal drugs across our borders? I'll agree to disagree with you about the political part about the drug war. Stamping out temptation with the "War on Drugs" like we attempted to do with Prohibition in the early 1900's drives the drug supply underground. The issue of drug addiction is far more complex and requires a public health approach with NGO involvement rather than just more of the same. We kicked this thing off since I was a kid in the 80's - fast-forward to today and I find little has changed, aside from the steady decrease of addiction rates in those states which have legalized marijuana and have collected enough data to conduct a preliminary analysis on any causal outcomes. The statistics point to prior history of addiction, rather than geographic origin or post-surgical exposure to opioids, as the critical precursor to addictive behavior.

Arbitrary labeling of people as "liberals", "druggies", and "idiots" when it comes to discussion on policy weakens your otherwise valid points, MAJ Conway. This country has grown too diverse to arbitrarily label groups you don't happen to agree with. We need to return to an environment where we can actively seek out commonalities and develop workable solutions to our national security and policy issues. Otherwise, we only risk repeating the same old tropes, reliving the same old history, and compromise our ability to actually discuss these issues freely.

https://justiceforimmigrants.org/what-we-are-working-on/immigration/root-causes-of-migration/
https://www.vox.com/2014/7/20/5916443/what-the-us-can-do-to-address-the-root-causes-of-the-migrant-crisis
https://www.lclaa.org/images/pdf/DISPOSABLE_WORKERS.pdf
https://reason.com/reasontv/2018/06/01/how-the-government-made-the-opioid-crisi

MAJ (Join to see) I don't know how the illegal aliens came in to be part of this conversation but I can tell you that many of them are fleeing those countries who have major parts of their large cities controlled by drug cartels. When I talk about druggies, I'm not talking about it from someone was up off 50 story building looking for a penthouse down to the ground. I'm talking about two stepdaughters of mine 22 and 20 who have been druggies off and on since age 15. Who are both on welfare and drop outs of from high school even though I put them in a junior Air Force ROTC and Catholic School. They have family members that have been involved in drugs even there grandmother, my mother-in-law, is a pothead period in Canada, both of them are on the welfare rolls and the government does not ask for verification of looking for jobs and they just pay the money out. They take the money and they go get drunk or Go on karaoke or they go by pot and they stay up all night and sleep all day. I'm off to do an errand but I will write more on this subject later. I meant to Alcoholics Anonymous, I support Narcotics Anonymous and I support sobriety because I am at Ground Zero dealing with two Walking Dead step daughter's that all they care about is music. They're not too different than Timothy Leary from the sixties who would say tune in, turn on, and drop out! Taking acid and other kinds of extreme drugs that affect your mind like mushrooms or magic mushrooms how fried the brains of both these 20-something kids and I mean kids because they live life from one cigarette to another. Yes, they have mental health problems but I think the mental health problems were fostered by an estranged father that raped one of them and who is now in jail and dealing with the family social structure that has been destroyed over time by drugs and alcohol. This was caused because of residential schools which basically destroyed a generation of people by forcing them to go to Catholic or Protestant parochial schools that were actually prisons where they were often abused and sexually abused and sometimes murdered. Anyway, I'm off topic I'm just saying that we should have bases worldwide. We used to have a hundred thousand troops in Germany, we have a lot less now. Germany should put in 2% of its GDP and get it's military up again. President Trump has made that clear and Poland wants us there. Anyways, I'll get back with you with some more. By the way, I can say liberals. I live in a liberal Utopia called Canada. I can call them stupid if I want to. There are such thing as smart liberals and smart Democrats. But there are also stupid people from all walks of life and all races, religion or sexual orientation. If they do drugs and are druggies, and they refuse to seek help even when help is given to them, then I can call them stupid. My 22 year old step-daughter has a heart problem probably caused by drug addictions yet she's too afraid to get a pacemaker with a promise will pay for but yet she smokes every single day and has a cough that I hear every 32 seconds to a minute and I know she's home. Some people are stupid by choice and not by accident.

LTC (Join to see) - I can see the pain in your response wherein you talk about the tragic journey of your step-daughters' lives. The drugs were an escape from the hell that was their childhood tainted by the horror of sexual abuse by someone they were supposed to trust implicitly. My wife went through this hell in her own childhood; fortunately, she had the wherewithal to realize she was on a bad path after a near-death experience with drugs. She had since turned her life around significantly well before I ever met her.
Go ahead and say what you like, MAJ Conway. I'm not arguing about your right to say your piece. The story of your family experience is tragic, unfortunate, and was beyond your control to fix no matter what. However, I would contend that the downward spiral you described was borne of ignorance of a better alternative for a future, rather than just "stupidity". Some experiences are just so painful and terrible for some to endure, with an irreparably broken psyche as a consequence of the hopelessness they internalized from an early age. That hopelessness and pain can prove to be an insurmountable barrier to the most well-meaning of efforts to help. One of my sisters-in-law is a "shining" example of doing more of the same self-destructive things, yet expecting a different result every time. It's frustrating as hell, and I can understand your anger and frustration when you want something better for that person when that person can't seem to want it for themselves.

MAJ (Join to see) thank you for your empathy.