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Essay Subject: Analysis of Steven Soderbergh's 2000 film dealing with the drug trade.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Analysis of Steven Soderbergh's 2000 film dealing with the drug trade. Issue of why drugs are grown in poorer countries of Latin America & smuggled into rich countries. Drug cartels. Failure of U.S. War on Drugs. Economic law of supply & demand that governs the drug trade. Plot and motifs of film. Paper Introduction: The recent film Traffic (Steven Soderbergh, 2000) suggests many of the reasons why the war on drugs has seemed doomed to failure, based on the economics of the international drug trade today. The film tells several stories at one time, but at heart, all relate to the central issue of why drugs are grown in poor countries like Mexico and then smuggled into richer countries like the United States, why desperate people will enter the drug trade to make a living, and why huge cartels have come into being to oversee the drug trade. The failure of the war on drugs has been much discussed, and even conservatives are beginning to express doubts. A recent article in The Washington Times asks, For decades, we have been grinding away at the dope trade, spending hugely, putting appalling numbers of Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. The economic laws of supply and demand govern the drug trade as everyother form of business, and the market price of drugs is determined bysupply and demand. The cartels are shown as constantly at war. Thecartels in the film have certain territories they protect, but always othercartels, or "companies" are waiting to take over that territory and settheir own prices. (2 ). For many, experimentation is allthat is involved. Helena Ayala hasno idea what business her husband is in until he is jailed, and then sheenters the business herself to protect her economic standing, though hersocial standing in the community is lost. Police agencies have trouble cooperating with oneanother because of a lack of trust, and often for good reason. Pressures have also been brought to bear on the countries of LatinAmerica for not doing more to stop the cultivation and production of drugs. C2). Soderbergh, S. Caroline's classmate suggests to her father why people sell drugs.He notes how many in the minority community live hopeless lives and cannotfind any other way out except to sell drugs. One group kills many inthe other group, and the corrupt Mexican drug czar uses his powerfulposition to ruin one cartel and promote the interests of another. So long as drugs are illegal, there will be an economic incentiveto fill the need. Demand for drugs is elastic over time, rising and falling accordingto social attitudes, economic realities, and specifically the number ofusers. When Ayala is arrested, another cartelseeks to move into his business and to cut him out, threatening his wifeand leading her to make a deal with the other cartel because she has a newprocess that will help bring more drugs into the country. Our laws supportthe drug trade--so long as drugs are illegal, there is incentive in theform of high prices for the cartels to smuggle and sell drugs in the UnitedStates. The young man also points out how pervasive drugs areand says that for someone his age, drugs are easier to get than alcohol. They can make more money selling drugs than they can makedoing anything else. He suggests more understanding ofusers at the end, noting that the users we all talk about are our children,our brothers and sisters, ourselves. The United States has laws againstimporting, selling, or using drugs, and much of the drug effort has beendirected toward interdiction, toward stopping the drugs from entering theUnited States. USA Films. When Eduardo Ruiz is arrested and his shipments halted,he names Carlos Ayala as his boss. They are faced with near-permanent unemployment. A recent article in TheWashington Times asks, For decades, we have been grinding away at the dope trade, spending hugely, putting appalling numbers of users and dealers in prison, increasing the powers of the federal police. Additionally,competition has been reduced so that one supplier can set the price. The failure of the war on drugs has been much discussed, and evenconservatives are beginning to express doubts. This is also the answer given by the filmTraffic. These youngpeople are rebelling against society or against parents they do notunderstand or who do not understand them. However, it has often been pointed out that the poor people inthese countries are only doing whatever they can to improve their lot andthat they would not be producing drugs if it were not for the demand in theUnited States. Over and over, people who otherwise might be considered upstandingcitizens are co-opted by the huge amounts of money in the trade. The film tells severalstories at one time, but at heart, all relate to the central issue of whydrugs are grown in poor countries like Mexico and then smuggled into richercountries like the United States, why desperate people will enter the drugtrade to make a living, and why huge cartels have come into being tooversee the drug trade. Caroline Wakefield is a daughter of privilege, but she beginsusing drugs because others in her social group use them. The pervasive nature of the drug problem is seen in the film asusers come from all walks of life, many simply experimenting or rebelling,others turning to drugs as a means of escape from the horrors of theirexistence. The price has to rise to a level that pays all thoseinvolved in production and distribution, and the price is also likely torise and fall according to the supply. In the film, the direction of the drug traffic is clear--it movesfrom the poorer countries of Latin America north to where the market is, inthe United States. Thecartels are competitive, but if one can rise to the top and eliminate thecompetition, it can raise prices and enforce its will. We talk about waging war on thesepeople, but we are not really going to wage war on ourselves. The overalleffect is to emphasize how futile the situation is, with everyone goingthrough the motions though there is no end in sight. (5 Feb 2 ), "It Takes Individual Battles, Not a War, toEnd Drug Abuse." The Washington Times C2. America may complain about the growers, but it is the userswho open the market for all those involved in the drug trade. (Reed, 2 , p. The recent film Traffic (Steven Soderbergh, 2 ) suggests many ofthe reasons why the war on drugs has seemed doomed to failure, based on theeconomics of the international drug trade today. C2).The answer given is, not much: "Because of the drug laws, horrendousamounts of money go to drug lords in Colombia who otherwise couldn't make aliving" (Reed, 2 , p. In the film, when the authoritiesstop a big shipment or remove one group of traffickers from the mix, theprice goes up because the supply has been diminished. Robert Hudson Wakefield enters office believing that the war can bewon. In the film, this is seen as drug czar Robert Hudson Wakefield visits hiscounterpart in Mexico and suggests ways Mexico can stop the production ofdrugs. Javier Rodriguez Rodriguezis seen as remarkable because he is a policeman who cannot be co-opted, aman who cares more for the protection of Mexico's youth than for lining hisown pocket, while his partner succumbs and dies for it. Traffic. This traffic involves the heads of the cartels, thosewho work for them, distributors in the United States, and small-timepushers such as the black man who deals through a crack in his door. What have we gotten for it? So long as there are users, there will besellers. For some, like Catherine, using drugs taps into somepsychological predisposition toward addiction, and the girl sinks furtherinto the drug world and soon cares for nothing except her supply. Allof these people exist in the drug world for one reason--the user who buysthe drug at the end of the line. Collusion among thecartels is difficult because they are more eager to eliminate one anotherthan to work together. Police inMexico and the U.S. become part of the trade. Drug czar Robert Hudson Wakefield has little idea about the scope ofthe drug war, no understanding at all of the nuances of the situationwithin Mexico, and no understanding of his daughter. Many have no education and believe they have noother choice. If one cartel iseliminated, another one appears. He also believes he can help Mexico with its problem by sharinginformation, though all he accomplishes by trying is to give one cartel anadvantage over the others because the general he shares with is part of thetrade. The film tells four stories at the same time, stories that cross oneanother only occasionally, but stories that all tell part of the largerstory of drug use, production, distribution, and interdiction. Yet, as the filmshows, even if he did understand the situation better, he would be able todo very little to make any difference. We feelcomfortable waging war on a foreign enemy, of course, so we target theproducers, distributors, and pushers, seemingly unaware of the fact that weare also the only reason they exist in the first place. References Reed, F. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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