Cartels are armed gangs. They are oppressors, they are violators, they are terrorists. That is their nature. Currently the cartels in Mexico have plunged that country into a bizarre kind of civil war. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed. Per year. Massacres of civilians by the cartels have been common. Assassinations of judges, prosecutors, and police has been routine. Nearly 60 reporters have been killed. Nearly a thousand children. 1.6 million people have been internally displaced and made refugees in trying to escape the violence.
And this is just in Mexico.
None of these things are natural consequences of giving money to corporations.
That's a real strawman argument. There are real, tangible, and very good reasons for wanting drug cartels to go out of business, starting with the fact that they play fast and loose with the lives of humans, traffic drugs through sex slaves across borders, dump their stuff on kids, get children involved with gangs when they're young, cheat their own customers by cutting their drugs w/ what boils down to poison to save a penny, promote drug-related gang violence resulting in mass shootings and the death of innocent bystanders, make money without paying taxes, and so on and so forth.
Whereas me opening "Mike's Magic Marijuana Stand" next to the corner deli means I get my shipments via UPS, I pay my taxes, I sell directly to the clients that want it, I don't exploit children and women, I don't involve myself in bribery, I make sure my customers are over 21, I don't smuggle arms to defend my turf, and overall I'm not a blight on the face of the planet.
1) The tax money does something tangible for my state right here. Whether it's education, tax cuts on other things, or increases in the civic services, I will get a direct benefit from my state government making more money as opposed to the cartel.
2) Is there anyone on earth worse to give money to than the cartels? I guess terrorists, but these guys are killing literally thousands of people. I don't care what moral equivalency you try to make, the fact is they're pulling the trigger and causing many innocent people to die.
