FleasTheLemur
3rd October 2005, 07:19
For those of you that may seem confused, this other thread (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=40971&st=25) was originally about congratulating are newest comrade in arms. The thread was derailed, however, and turned into a debate about drugs. It's probably been debated before but eh, it deserves its own thread.
At any rate, this was my thread from that post. I'd also like to say that it's late at night and I don’t know if I typed in everything coherently. I just hope you can infer it.
Originally posted by Me
I hate to come out here and look like an arse, but the nature of drugs, alcohol and to some extent, pornography is holding the working class back to keep them from revolting against the powers that be. There's a reason one can easily link alcohol and drug usage to poverty; it takes the sting out of something he or she has yet to understand.
...and this addictive behavior doesn't stop at booze and bongs. The D&D player spends his days dreaming of an alternate world, the sports fan who becomes absorbed in his pastime, the obese woman who can only find happiness inside of her refrigerator, the gamer spending his nights accomplishing things he could not do otherwise, the furry who is so disgusted with humanity she spends her time drooling over anything anthropomorphized---everyone of either intelligence and/or poverty seems to be escapists trapped by their addictions and unable to surpass them and develop a sense that it's not totally their fault. It's primarily the fault of the capitalist...
Am I totally against these things? No. If I spent all my time raging against the machine, I'd probably die from high blood pressure. However, we cannot take these addictions in such a casual nature or we'll soon become them. Our job is to enlighten the masses so that they may liberate themselves, not to become one of the masses by popping pills in a dimly lit factory.
I'll openly admit the last part was a little harsh and down right anti-communist. I have no real way to describe it, so I'll share a personal story first.
I'm reminded of my friend Jamie and the vicious cycle of poverty. This bright eyed, intelligent baby girl would soon grow to discover that everything she'd ever do would be a struggle. Her parents was a father whom spent his days and nights working and/or getting stone and a mother whom spent her days passed out on the couch, a mixture of drunk and high. Jamie would have to grow up practically rising herself then sub sequentially raising her two brothers in a house with poor heating and spiders.
It is ironic that she too, would slowly fade into to same path as her mother though this new situation would be trickier than before, as she has children from three fathers now. She just eventually snapped one day; doing drugs, doing men and such... She'd only become somewhat clean after she fell in love once more and got pregnant with twins. He first fiancé, Nic, is raising her first two children--one of which might not be his.
We can clearly see that poverty (a situation created by the capitalist so that he might have a large work force) is the majority of the problem. However, drugs were also a part of the problem; it made a horrible situation worse. It took all forms of fight and destroyed it. Why bother with anything when you can find happiness at the bottom of a bottle?
While it may sound like I have something against the masses, I not. I am against falling into any trappings that would prepetuate a feeling of hopelessness or create such an intense addiction that we lose focus on the cause of liberation. We can relate with the masses without using drugs that keep them repressed.
"Opium is the .... opium of the people."
At any rate, this was my thread from that post. I'd also like to say that it's late at night and I don’t know if I typed in everything coherently. I just hope you can infer it.
Originally posted by Me
I hate to come out here and look like an arse, but the nature of drugs, alcohol and to some extent, pornography is holding the working class back to keep them from revolting against the powers that be. There's a reason one can easily link alcohol and drug usage to poverty; it takes the sting out of something he or she has yet to understand.
...and this addictive behavior doesn't stop at booze and bongs. The D&D player spends his days dreaming of an alternate world, the sports fan who becomes absorbed in his pastime, the obese woman who can only find happiness inside of her refrigerator, the gamer spending his nights accomplishing things he could not do otherwise, the furry who is so disgusted with humanity she spends her time drooling over anything anthropomorphized---everyone of either intelligence and/or poverty seems to be escapists trapped by their addictions and unable to surpass them and develop a sense that it's not totally their fault. It's primarily the fault of the capitalist...
Am I totally against these things? No. If I spent all my time raging against the machine, I'd probably die from high blood pressure. However, we cannot take these addictions in such a casual nature or we'll soon become them. Our job is to enlighten the masses so that they may liberate themselves, not to become one of the masses by popping pills in a dimly lit factory.
I'll openly admit the last part was a little harsh and down right anti-communist. I have no real way to describe it, so I'll share a personal story first.
I'm reminded of my friend Jamie and the vicious cycle of poverty. This bright eyed, intelligent baby girl would soon grow to discover that everything she'd ever do would be a struggle. Her parents was a father whom spent his days and nights working and/or getting stone and a mother whom spent her days passed out on the couch, a mixture of drunk and high. Jamie would have to grow up practically rising herself then sub sequentially raising her two brothers in a house with poor heating and spiders.
It is ironic that she too, would slowly fade into to same path as her mother though this new situation would be trickier than before, as she has children from three fathers now. She just eventually snapped one day; doing drugs, doing men and such... She'd only become somewhat clean after she fell in love once more and got pregnant with twins. He first fiancé, Nic, is raising her first two children--one of which might not be his.
We can clearly see that poverty (a situation created by the capitalist so that he might have a large work force) is the majority of the problem. However, drugs were also a part of the problem; it made a horrible situation worse. It took all forms of fight and destroyed it. Why bother with anything when you can find happiness at the bottom of a bottle?
While it may sound like I have something against the masses, I not. I am against falling into any trappings that would prepetuate a feeling of hopelessness or create such an intense addiction that we lose focus on the cause of liberation. We can relate with the masses without using drugs that keep them repressed.
"Opium is the .... opium of the people."