Why do we show more sympathy for drug abusers than self-educated individuals?

We need to destigmatize drug abuse… I mean recreational use. That way, people with problems will be more likely to seek help. These people are victims of a disease, and it's not their fault that they become addicted. We should feel sorry for them.


By contrast, learning outside of the schools is completely unacceptable. Never mind that learning in school is never effective. We need to do all we can to eradicate society of the education children deserve. Everyone needs a high school diploma. Everyone needs a college degree. We can feel completely free to discriminate against self-educated individuals since self-education is inexcusable. How can we bring an end to such a heinous act?

Obviously, I don't get it, and this isn't what I believe.

To me, experimenting with drugs is a choice that should be discouraged. I don't mind a stigma. Education should be a pursuit to encourage, even if it occurs outside of the schools. We seem to have it backwards. There should be a stigma associated with drug abuse… I mean recreational use. It’s the pursuit of a proper education that needs to be destigmatized. The way we treat well educated individuals who lack a piece of paper is inexcusable. We treat them like crap while insisting that drug abusers users deserve our sympathy. I mean recreational users.