I can’t omit the inspiration for this post…. Here’s an excerpt from 2Pac’s Changes: “Instead of war on poverty they got a war on drugs / so the police can bother me.”

I’m not sure if I give 2Pac too much credit for his lyrics, imposing unintended meaning, or perhaps he wasn’t paid due diligence by the majority of listeners….. but I think the excerpt is critically relevant.

To what extent do we approach problems by addressing symptoms instead of causes? You could argue (and some have) that drug usage is a cause and a symptom, but I’d say it falls much more to the side of symptom. If you fixed poverty, the drug problem would make more progress than poverty would if you fixed the drug problem. In other words, 2Pac’s lyrics are well received, and if he’s saying what I think he is, then I whole heartedly agree.

So other examples….. teen pregnancy, Islamic culture clash, obesity. Others?